Awesome August Nights...

came to a close at our church tonight. SO AMAZING and AWESOME! I say it over and over, but I love our church family. The Lord is doing some great things through FBC. Here is a picture of some great worship leaders.



Last night, we ran to Tally to run a few errands. I wore my new headband that my friend CBD got me this summer at the mart. I LOVED it and just had to post a picture.



We had a pretty lazy Sunday. Here I am watching tv with a big baby....I love that she'll lay with me and be so sweet.



Tonight after church we had to go to Publix, so we just fixed a quick salad for supper.




Then grilled peaches and ate them in our rocking chairs on the front porch. The breeze felt wonderful! We love juicy GA peaches...especially as summer comes to end.


I could feel Fall in the breeze tonight. So much so, that I just had to go ahead and pull out one fall candle. I picked out caramel apple. Since apples technically go with the month of September..Johnny Appleseed and all. :) It smells SO GOOD!!


And now, children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we'll be ready for him when he appears, ready to receive him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when he arrives.
1 John 2:28 (The Message)

Typical Friday Night in August

First let me post this. We made up a cute little basket for one of the cleaning ladies on our hall at school today. She was very surprised! Everyone thought that I found that cute little black onesie. Haha! It was actually my support, but everyone came down to my room and asked where I got it at. I think the people who work with me know me. :)


Here's a typical Friday night at the end of August.

Jacket Football!


Movies in the Pickin' Shed (Bad quality pics b/c I used my phone)



We hardly go up to our bonus room. So I miss that comfy furniture!

We always look forward to Friday night in SGA...especially rainy ones!!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

The NEW ADDISON ROAD CD. Well, new to me. It came out at the end of June. It is basically the soundtrack to my life. Listen to it, and you will know EVERYTHING about me and what the Lord is teaching me!


I am LOVING mixed metals/plastic/pearl jewelery and mixed metal nail polish too.


I am also loving George and Louie's Vanilla Diet Cokes. A-mazing! Matt and I went on a little date tonight. A nice mid-week break. Would you believe that they make them better than Sonic? It's true!




You won't let me go
When life's insane
And everything's crazy
You carry me through the pain

Here we go it's a three-ring circus
Juggling it all, trying to find my purpose
With each new day, I'm praying just to make it through
When my next disaster is near
I know that you'll meet me right here
-Addison Road

Oh, Happy Day!

I'm just in a great mood today! Nothing happened out of the ordinary. I went to work at 6:30 and worked until 5:30. I worked really really hard, by the way. :) Now, I'm just waiting on Matt to get home and enjoying sitting in my clean house. There is a fall-like breeze blowing outside that is soothing my soul! After the sun goes down, I'm going to sit out on our porch in a rocking chair for awhile.

A fellow teacher asked me if I was overwhelmed today. And I could honestly answer no. For once, I'm not. There is always more to be done, and I could stay at work all night and still not be finished. BUT, I am starting to learn how to balance it and really feel caught up for the most part. The LORD GOD ALMIGHTY has taken my anxiety, perfectionism, and He is helping me live a life of balance. I am so grateful for all that He is teaching me lately.


I am also excited about a night of laying on my bed and watching TV. My two favorite shows come on tonight. Make it or Break it and Rachel Zoe Project. Lame I know, that I love these two shows so much, but I'M ADDICTED and HEART them!

I especially love Rachel and Rodger :)

My spot for the night!

But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.
Psalm 68:3

Romans 10:10-13
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

Fast Days...

These days seem to be zipping on by...my weekend flew by way too fast.

Saturday night we walked down the street to one of our friends house...she is also in League. She invited several other couples from league/and our neighborhood to dinner too. Ali took some pics with her awesome camera, and hopefully once she posts them, I'll steal them and post to my blog. :) She also recently became an American citizen, so we were celebrating that too! There was a super yummy flag cake.

We ate chips salsa, chili, and the best cornbread EVER. We talked, ate, and laughed until right at midnight and the husbands were ready for bed. Us ladies sat around the dining room table talking. The men stayed in front of the tv. And the kids were running around like crazy. GREAT night!

As Matt and I were walking home, our neighbors that own a local restaurant were just getting home and were a bit surprised to see us dressed up, walking that late at night, and I was carrying a little cooler. We talked to them until close to 1am. LOVE our neighborhood!

Sunday we went to Sunday School and Church...wonderful service again! Then we came home napped, worked on work :), then went back to church. After the evening service we grilled steaks for supper. Matt was out back grilling, I was fixing sides and working on lesson plans, and our door was wide open for Blakely to walk back and forth between us. The thunder was deafening and rain was pouring down. GREAT night!



Today on the other hand, was CRAZY. Not bad, but I experienced several firsts today at work. Not to mention the EXTREME HEAT. The heat index combined with dress clothes and pick-up duty was suffocating! You would NEVER believe all that my job entails. I definitely wear many different hats. I'll leave it at that. I have quite a bit of grading to do tonight and a meeting. Our weekend was packed full of plans, so I'm hoping to take some time to just sit and rest later tonight. I am still battling a cold/sinus infection and want to feel completely well soon. I definitely know how to stay busy! Hope your Monday was even better than mine! :)

So I thought I was excited about Jonah's (see previous post) but now I'm even more excited about JONAH.

The new bible study that our women's ministry will be doing this Fall is called Jonah by Priscilla Shirer. There is actually one other study they are doing on Tuesday mornings, but us working ladies have to go to the one taught at night. :)

I just looked it up to see what it was all about. And I AM FLOORED. EXCITED. and thinking once again that God's timing is PERFECT. I have already been wishing fall to hurry up and get here, but now have one more exciting thing to add to my list.

Jonah: LifeWay Women Bible Study, Priscilla Shirer from Kris Seidenkranz on Vimeo.

Rain and Grits!

We had the biggest storm here last night. I was trying to get ready for a SS dinner. And I was sick by the way, when the power went out. I could not believe it!

I had planned on fixing my hair before I left, and ironing my dress. Had to turn to plan B. I lit a bunch of candles, but still couldn't really see. I couldn't find my dress...until I found my booklight to help guide the way through my dark closet. I used about a can of hairspray on my hair to get it into a pouffed pony tail. But about 10 minutes before it was time to leave in my wrinkled dress...the power came back on! And my advil started working.


We ate at Jonah's Fish and Grits downtown. Only 4 of us were able to make it last night, and even though we called ahead, the wait was so long. A table outside in the courtyard opened up, and we jumped at the chance to go ahead and eat. They dried the table, put an umbrella up, and brought out candles and a fan....so awesome! Both my school camera and personal camera are not working, so I didn't get any pictures. I took these off of Jonah's website. This is where we ate. How beautiful! We had grits, grouper, shrimp, chicken bella pasta, salads, and hush puppies. We were going to get crab cakes too, but decided against it. We were STUFFED and all had to-go boxes.



The 3 other girls that were able to go were the girls in my class that I don't know as well. So I was really excited and nervous to get to know them better. We sat outside for 3 hours and just talked, talked, talked...about everything. 2 of the girls have kids, so they wanted to wait it out until their kids would be in bed. They needed a night out! I had a great time. We are in the midst of planning a game night for everyone soon. And we are also planning meals for a girl in our class that is due with her first child really soon. I love our new class and feel very blessed to have a new group of sisters in Christ to learn from and grow with. Matt and I are the youngest in our new class, which is a big change from our last class....but we have found a great fit....thanks to the guidance from the Lord.

No news is good news.

Nothing really exciting going on here. But praising the Lord for getting me through another good day at school. Got my differentiation groups up finally!


Matt was working late tonight, so I came home and worked, worked, worked!


I can definitely tell that I'm coming down with something. Hopefully, just a little end of summer cold. So, I'm going to bed SO VERY EARLY tonight. 9:00 at the latest. I have a fun little dinner planned tomorrow night with my Sunday School girls and don't want to miss!

Listening to these words by Selah, in the song Unredeemed tonight.
But when anything that's shattered is laid before the Lord,
Just watch and see...It will not be unredeemed.

Meditating on these quotes and scriptures from my book, Plan B.
"In this life, many of your questions will simply not have answers. But through it all, God himself will never change. This is why our faith must rest on his identity."

"When you respond to your current circumstances as if you were confident that God is there, you will see God in the circumstances."

"Here's something else we often misunderstand about God's will: it's as much about the person we're becoming as it is about where we're going."

Just as the heavens are higher than earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9

And clinging to this verse.
Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—my Savior and my God!
Psalm 42:5

Wonderful Wednesday...

it really has been! Of course, I'm ready for the weekend anyway! I have a bunch of random pics and thoughts to share. So get ready...

I got to use my new little prize from my brother. He got me a few different hand sanitizers and a little holder for it. I've been wanting one. My kids loved it and kept on wanting the kind that smelled so good, not their own boring kind. One of my babies actually carries her own, in warm vanilla sugar, but she calls it "marshmallow smell." :)


There was some major thunder this afternoon, while I was at work. I had my lamp on, my lights off and was working away. Doesn't my desk look cozy?


However, it always seems like it is going to rain and never does. It is way TOO hot, even for August. My rain boots have been in this spot for awhile now.


Matt and I took this before bed, late one night. We look very tired, but I love it anyway. I cherish every picture as a memory of what we were doing or talking about at the time we took it. Don't know why my memory works like that.


I was reading the latest Southern Living, and was pleased to find a write up on one of my favorite restaurants in my town, Jonah's Fish and Grits. Check it out!


On Friday, I came home to a surprise in the mail. A beverage tub from my Aunt Vicki. I loved it!


I also took a picture of our guest bedroom ready for my parents to come visit. It is a still a work in progress, but I think probably a pretty cozy little place to stay. I LOVE how exciting it is, preparing for company. :)


Tonight my plans include, taking a long bubble bath and going to bed early. Staying up for Rachel Zoe last night about wore me out! I'm hoping to get a lot done these next two days, so I can spend a fun weekend with friends and family!

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Psalm 90:14

Titletown Memories...

I went to Valdosta tonight to run a few errands and bring my brother a little treat to start off his senior year of college.


He just so happened to have a little prize for me too! I guess we were both thinking about each other lately. :)



Eight years ago, today, Matt and I "officially" started dating. It was after the first Impact of the year at the BCM. We drove by the BCM and saw them setting up the music. Oh the memories...



The campus was alive and busy. We both agree that we'd go back to college and do it again in a heartbeat. We went by everything in town. Our churches, houses where we had Bible Studies, Places we lived, our school buildings, our favorite hang outs, party spots, THE FRONT LAWN, my dorm, great restaurants, our favorite track and tennis courts, etc. SO MUCH FUN. It really made me miss Valdosta...but then I realized that I am so happy in our town...with our church, my school, our friends and community, and of course our house and little family. I just miss all the fun times that went with college/grad school and Valdosta...the ones that I associate with the town. I have such fond memories of time with my different groups of girlfriends and classmates. Hard times too, and lots of firsts. I basically grew up there...and learned so much. Matt just misses the freedom of college! :) Every no and then taking a walk down memory lane is much needed...

And being in Titletown, USA made me really excited about BLAZER football and Fall! :)

I prayed to the LORD, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears.
Psalm 34:4 NLT