A Southern Exposure

Hawaiian Barbeque

2011-09-07T08:55:00.000-07:00

This is a variation of a recipe that I found on Pinterest but it didn't really have a name...and I could not decide on a good name for this recipe. Finally, Hawaiian Barbeque won, but here are some of the others that I came up with:

-Luau Chicken

-Pineapple Chicken

-Tropical Chicken

-Luau Barbeque Chicken

-Pineapple Barbeque

So, pick a name and make this! It's the easiest dinner I've made in a long time.

But first, some background....Scott and I went to Disney World for our honeymoon. We stayed in the Polynesian Resort and went to the Luau one evening. It was all you-can-eat barbeque and it was delicious....it was barbeque, with a little sweetness and citrus flavor. When I made this recipe, I immediately thought about the barbeque we ate on our honeymoon. Maybe the recipe should be called Honeymoon Chicken.

Or maybe not.

Don't I look happy? You would be this happy too if you were about to eat this food. Oh my, it was good. (Please pardon the size of the photos. These were downloaded from Facebook.)

So, for your very own Honeymoon Luau Barbeque Experience, you need a crockpot. Throw in 3 or 4 frozen chicken breasts.

Take a bottle of barbeque sauce and pour it over the chicken. I used honey barbeque sauce, but any kind would do.

Open a can of pineapple, chop up the pieces in the can (or, if you're smarter than me, just buy crushed pineapple), and pour the pineapple with juice over sauce and the chicken.

Cook on low for 1-2 hours. After chicken is defrosted and cooked through, remove chicken to a plate and shred the meat. Place meat back in sauce mixture in crockpot and stir in two teaspoons of Caribbean seasoning.

*note: I bought this seasoning at Publix. The back of the bottle says that it's allspice, thyme, salt, onion, turmeric, sugar, and other spices. You could definitely make your spice combo if you wanted.

Cook on low for anywhere from 3 to 6 hours. I kept it in the crockpot close to 6 hours because I assembled the recipe before I left for work for the afternoon. I served it over rice, but it would be delicious on buns, or just by itself. Also, next time I make this, I will use just two pieces of chicken and a little less than the whole bottle of barbeque sauce. It was so much for the two of us but this would be fantastic for weeknight dinner guests or a football party.

The hula is optional.

If there is a torrential downpour after dinner, I recommend fashioning a poncho from an extra-large trashbag and running through the rain, much to the ~~embarrassment~~ entertainment of your brand-new husband.

Enjoy!

'Round Here

2011-08-29T06:45:00.000-07:00

I've been a little busy lately.

You see, I've discovered the Harry Potter series. And I've loved every second of it. I'm not sure why I've never read the books before now...when the books and movies came out, my siblings were pretty young and my parents made the "no Harry Potter" decision that many families made. And that was fine with me, I don't remember ever pining to see the movies or read the books. As I got older, I guess I forgot about Harry. When one of the movies would come out, there would be a big uproar, people would dress up and show up at the theater in robes, wands in hand....and I still didn't catch on.

Right after we got married, one of the books was released (don't remember which one) and I happened to go to Wal-Mart the night it was released. I was standing next to a huge display of a life-size Harry and a gargantuan pile of HP books, thumbing through a different book, when a man ran up to the display, frantically turned to the last page of the new book, looked at me and screamed, "HE'S NOT DEAD! HE'S NOT DEAD! I KNEW IT!!" Then he ran off.

That was about the extent of my experience with Harry Potter. One day a month or so ago, I came across this blog entry by Andrew Peterson. It was so poignant, so beautifully written, that I knew I had to get my hands on those books. My brother-in-law was gracious enough to let me borrow his collection, and before the end of the first chapter of the first book, I was hooked. I don't feel that I can say anything more than Andrew Peterson said about the books except for, "Yes!" Read the article. Read the books. I loved them.

So, on that note, a few weeks ago, I found myself alone on a Friday night with nothing to do except make a tomato basil pizza and watch the first Harry Potter movie.

Ever had tomato basil pizza? It's one of my favorites but has been deemed "not manly enough" by Scott, so it's one that I have eat alone. You need a pizza crust drizzled with olive oil and lightly sprinkled with garlic salt.

Sliced plum or roma tomatoes...or whatever kind you happened to have on hand.

Thinly sliced fresh basil leaves.

Layer it with good mozzarella...not the cheap stuff! For really good pizza, you need the mozzarella that comes from the deli or the specialty cases with the fancy cheeses in the front of the grocery store.

Bake it in a very hot oven...475 or 500 degrees until cheese is melted and bubbly. So good. Even better when enjoyed with a good movie.

Scott's been watching the movies with me and we've loved them. We're anxiously awaiting #6 from Netflix!

Happy Wednesday!

6 Months and counting...

2011-08-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

It seems that Little Lady is adding to her list of accomplishments everyday. She's sitting up on her own, almost crawling, and feeding herself solid foods with little help from Scott and I.

We're doing something called "baby-led weaning" and it's working fabulously. Essentially, it's a method of introducing solid foods to baby in very practical way: allowing the baby to learn to feed themselves from the very beginning. I read something online about it, read a book on the subject, and jumped in the day LL turned 6 months. It's been amazing to see her learn about texture and taste and to watch her improve her simple motor skills with every meal. We're big fans of this method.

We did the whole "Baby Wise" thing from the beginning...and it pays off! She's sleeping 12 hours at night and taking 2 naps a day. It's glorious. I know that she's going to go to sleep at 8:00 pm and that I won't hear from her until 8:00 am the next morning.

Occasionally, she will wake up around 7:30 am but she's content to lay in her crib and talk to herself until I am ready to get her. We usually just lay her in her crib when it's time to go to sleep and she's almost always asleep by the time we get downstairs and turn the monitor on.

Someone asked me this weekend, "So, you put her down for her nap even if she doesn't want to go to sleep?" The answer to that is...YES! If she fusses, it's rarely more than a minute or two and soon she's fast asleep. There's beauty in the routine...for her, for me, for Scott...for the whole family!

She's a very happy baby. She smiles at strangers at restaurants and in public. She seems to think the whole world is on parade for her enjoyment. We went to Wal-Mart this morning and she was thrilled to sit in the cart, look around, and smile at whoever got within eye-shot of our buggy.

It's amazing to see her little personality develop and it seems that everyday she's changing and growing. This age is so fun but it's been a little bittersweet in a way...it goes so fast.

She absolutely adores Daddy...the moment she hears his voice she lights up. It's precious.

She's not quite crawling but she's close. She can get on her hands and knees, and put her bottom in the air, but the only direction she can go is backward.

She's been growing more red hair. I would love to get a bow in her hair by Christmas, but I'm not sure it's going to happen. Maybe next Christmas?

Happy Tuesday!

A Summer Recap

2011-08-03T17:39:00.000-07:00

For all intents and purposes, summer is over for us. In our area, the kids have gone back to school and my 3 hours of work with the after school program have switched from morning to afternoon. While I love my long afternoons in the summer, I am also really enjoying my long mornings at home with Little Lady.

So here is photo recap of our summer. We went on vacation to Hilton Head Island, went to the lake, visited with great-grandparents, went Birmingham a few times, and spent a fun weekend in Atlanta with my parents. Enjoy!

photos are in no particular order :)

A Tree

2011-07-17T17:19:00.000-07:00

While I'm working on a massive make-up post about the last few months, here is a little snippet about what has been going on around here.

There is a wall in Little Lady's nursery that has haunted me since the first time we viewed the house. I knew immediately that I wanted that particular room to be the baby's room, but until now, I hadn't found a solution about what in the world to do with that wall. I thought about a painting, framed posters, shelves...and nothing fit.

From the beginning I had wanted a tree mural in the room, but hadn't had the funds or artistic skill to make that happen. So I traveled to Hobby Lobby, bought 6 canvases and covered them with fabric. Scott painstakingly hung them. I hated the way it looked. So I took down the canvases (sorry Scott!) and began to research tree murals.

I started googling and after a few hours research I figured out a way to do it myself. I found a kits and templates but the cheapest thing I found was around $50. So after more searching I found a free tree outline, printed it, and copied it onto a transparency.

Scott hunted down a projector. It took awhile to adjust the projected image how I wanted it but I finally had it perfect. I traced it with pencil on the wall and filled the tree in with leftover brown paint from our garage.

From what I read online you could use craft paper or wallpaper scraps for the leaves. I found 3 coordinating scrapbook pages at Hobby Lobby that I liked and it worked fine. I used wallpaper border glue (because it was the smallest and cheapest container), some craft brushes from Hob Lob....and VOILA!

My long awaited tree looks great! I am so pleased with how it turned out...and it was such a cheap project. (my favorite kind!)

(side note: the wallpaper glue does dry clear....I was worried about how it would work with the paper but it dried completely after about 2 days.)

(Please excuse the lighting in this photo. My next project for Little Lady's room is a new light fixture. ) I love it. So easy. So inexpensive. What do you think?

Scheduled

2011-03-28T23:00:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile...Little Lady is 10 weeks old tomorrow! I can't believe how fast the time has flown. People keep telling me "enjoy it while she's little," and I'm trying but it's so hard. I can feel the time slipping through my fingers--the last 10 weeks have gone by so fast. I've packed up her newborn clothes. Clothes that were too big on her two weeks ago fit her just fine. She's not a tiny newborn anymore.

We're really enjoying the stage that she is in right now. She's cooing, "talking," and making lots of noises. She smiles all the time, and overnight her little personality has come out in full force. She adores bath time and cries when it's over. Her little legs have gotten chunky and she has little rolls on her thighs and arms...we call them her "dumplings."

I've been back at work for almost a month now. I only work three hours a day and I am able to take Little Lady with me so it's worked quite smoothly....some days more smoothly than others. When I take her with me, I leave her in the baby nursery, and even though it's only for a few hours a day we were expecting the typical little sicknesses that come with putting your child in childcare.

And the first little bug came this week. It started with a cough and by Friday morning was a full-fledged cold. It was her first sickness and I'm a first time mom, so Scott carried her to the doctor Friday afternoon because I'm a teeny bit paranoid. I had spent all morning debating with myself about whether I should take her....and I decided that having peace of mind was better for everyone's health around here.

She spent the weekend bundled up (or in just a diaper...because of 1, 287 spit-up incidents in 2 hours) calmly watching Baby Einstein in her swing. And I promise she actually watches it. It's amazing. A sweet friend is lending us the entire collection of videos, claiming that it was nothing short of miraculous. And she was right--Lady will sit and watch it on repeat at least twice before she even starts to squirm (which only happens when I really need to shower and I really haven't been able to, yet). So we did some of that...

..and only a little fussing. She's a content little thing, even when she's sick. We immediately went and purchased a humidifier, per the nurse's suggestion. I think it's helped Scott's allergy issues more than anything, but maybe it's helped her, too. I can't really tell if it made a big difference.

But unfortunately there's not much you can do for the 10 week old with a cold...or the nursing mama who catches that cold 2 days later.

I think were are adjusting to life with a baby pretty well. The hardest thing for me has been learning to adjust my routine and re-prioritizing how I use my time. I'm a big fan of the Babywise method and it has worked beautifully with Little Lady. From the day she was born I put her on a 3 hour schedule and she has thrived on it. She goes down for the night after her 8:00 feeding, sleeps til I wake her at 11:00 for her late night feeding, and then sleeps through the night until about 7:30 or 8:00 am.

She sticks to her schedule wonderfully and at her 2 month check-up weighed 10.15 lbs and was 21 inches long (10th percentile for height, 50th for weight....bless her heart. You can't fight your genes). So really, I can't say enough about Babywise. It's works. So if you're pregnant, read it. Fo' real.

I learned that I can't grocery shop with her...through no fault of Little Lady. I'm too short to see over the cart with the child carrier on it. It took a loud, rather embarrassing collision with a buggy and another near-tragic encounter with a crouton display case to realize that it just wasn't working.

I called Scott as I was driving away and said, "I don't know whether to laugh or cry but I am never going grocery shopping with the baby again. I also shouldn't go back to this particular Kroger anymore."

So we're loving this sweet little miracle. Life is good, and fun, and full of laughter. Except when I'm trying to shop...then it's not so funny.

SOLD!

2011-02-07T15:27:00.001-08:00

I've been waiting to write this post a very, very long time. About 18 months actually. For the last year and a half we've been paying 2 mortgage payments. And as you can imagine, it's been very difficult. You might be wondering how in the world we, as semi-intelligent people, ended up with two mortgages, so here's the short version:

Last September the Lord led Scott to serve as music man (not the official title) at a new church, 1 1/2 hours away from where we spent the first 2 years of marriage. We put our house on the market. It showed, literally, dozens of times but no offers were made over the next several months. In the meantime we found a house that we loved for a great price. Neither we nor our families wanted us to rent, so with the generosity and some help from Scott's family we were able to go ahead and make an offer on a house. We assumed the old house would sell quickly because it was a great house for a great price and it had shown so many times...but it didn't. Months went by. I got pregnant after the house had been on the market for almost a year. We had been praying the whole time but being on a 9 month deadline, we started praying quite fervently. A lot. We finally get an offer on the house. Closing date was set but was delayed several times due to issues on the seller's end. My due date and the closing date got closer and closer with every delay. And then, we get the phone call from our realtor: the closing was set and wouldn't be delayed any longer...we were actually going to sell the house after 18 months of praying and hoping.

So, 2 weeks after our little girl was born, we sold our house. Shew. Looking back, I'm not sure if we would or could do anything differently. Paying two mortgage payments isn't pleasant but God provided exactly what we needed on a month to month basis. We learned to trust that the Lord's timing is perfect. We learned to live simply. We learned that material stuff isn't important. We learned how to coupon, how to do without things that we didn't really need, and we learned that we could still be happy and content in the meantime. So even though the Lord's answer to our prayers for a long time was "Wait," it made it that much sweeter when He finally said "Yes."

Despite the fact that we desperately wanted to be rid of that house, it was still a little bittersweet selling the first home that we lived in as a married couple. When we first looked at the house while we were still engaged, I emphatically told Scott that I would NOT live in that house. It had powder blue counter tops and apple wall paper in the kitchen. It had horrible wall paper in every bedroom, shag carpet, and the outside of the house was painted an odd camo-ish green. The linoleum in the kitchen and bathrooms was dingy.

But I was sadly outnumbered by the men: Scott, my dad, Scott's grandfathers, and even my brother volunteered to improve the house (Men LOVE a fixer-upper). So we bought the house. But the men were good to their word: they tore down a wall, put a cut-out window in the kitchen, tore up all of the carpet and installed hardwood floors. My mom and I ruined our fingernails tearing down all of the wallpaper. My dad tore out a window, installed a back door, (there was no way access to the backyard through the house) and built a deck. In the end, it turned out so well. Scott and I loved that little house, even though we had over an acre of yard to maintain and that there was an eye on the stove that insisted on standing straight up.

We loved our first home and we'll always treasure our memories of being young and newlywed in our first home....but even more than that we LOVE being rid of that mortgage payment.

And on a completely different note, Baby Girl is 3 weeks old!

January 18, 2011

2011-01-25T17:27:00.000-08:00

On January 18, 2011, I met my baby girl for the first time. We went to the hospital at 6:00 am, were in a room by 7:00 am, had my water broken at 8:00 am. Then began the several hours of waiting and watching the monitors.

We waited and waited. My family came in the room and visited for awhile. Scott's family came in and visited. Church friends came and visited. Hours passed...and nothing was happening. Mid afternoon the doctor came in and mentioned the possibility of a C-Secton due to my lack of progress, but he allowed me to labor awhile longer to see if any more progress could be made.

At 4:30 the doctor came back in and explained that my cervix was swelling due to pressure from the baby yet I wasn't making any progress. At this point a natural delivery was out of the question. So we prepared for the C-section. Within the 20 minutes I was being rolled into the operating and and at 5:29, Scott and I became parents.

It didn't matter what image I had in my head of what my daughter's birth would be like, or that it was nothing like what I had imagined. When I heard her cry, my heart had never been so full. It didn't matter how she got here, God had answered our prayers and she was finally here in our arms.

While I was being stitched up, the doctor explained that my bone structure wouldn't allow a baby, no matter how small, to pass through the birth canal. God had different plans for my labor and delivery long before I ever considered having children, just like He had different plans for my pregnancy. There is such beauty in knowing that God had this day, this pregnancy, this birth planned from the beginning.

And y'all, she's beautiful. It's an amazing feeling having your baby placed in your arms for the first time. The recovery was (and still is) painful and long but every time I hold that little girl I realize that precious gift is worth every bit of pain, every hour of lost sleep, and every feeding and nursing frustration. Scott and I are totally in love with our sweet baby and it's amazing that in a short week and a half she's already changed our lives completely.

And she has red hair like her daddy! :)

Ready

2011-01-16T13:03:00.000-08:00

There hasn't been much blogging lately because, frankly, there hasn't been much going on around here. And it's been lovely. I stopped working in the mornings at Christmas break and have only been working 3 hours at the after-school program--which I love--and it's left me with most of my day to rest and get ready for baby.

So I have a confession...I've been terribly lazy. I mean, I'm 40 weeks pregnant so it's not like I can do a whole lot and it seems like the one piece of advice that I've been getting over and over is, "Get rest while you can." So I have. I've watched lots of Golden Girls re-runs, taken naps, made lists of things I want to get done before the baby arrives, and enjoyed our Netflix account. The only two things that I have been doing consistently is washing clothes and keeping the house clean(ish) in case baby girl decides to make her debut.

Scott and I were snowed in last week like much of the South but I had a doctor's appointment scheduled Monday morning. I called the doctors office 4 times. No answer. I was truly convinced that they were still open because I had the first appointment of the day. I knew that they won't answer the phones until office hours began (8:30, my appointment time) and the news wasn't scrolling the name with the other closed doctors offices, so I just knew they were open. I dragged my sweet husband out of bed (who insisted there was no way they were open) and he drove me the through the snow and ice to the office. The 10 minute drive turned into a 20 minute drive but when we finally pulled into the office we realized....we were the only ones there. No lights were on. No note on the door. Nothing. Scott didn't even say "I told you so" as we pulled out of the driveway (but he did mumble something about "there aren't even any other tire tracks..." hmmm...).

I went in the next morning and saw a different doctor from my regular doctor. It was a fantastic visit because he very kindly offered to schedule an induction but left it up to us. I almost jumped off the table and hugged him. Scott and I accepted for a few reasons:

1. My blood pressure has been increasingly higher and higher at my few appointments.

2. I've gotten my morning sickness back and have either gotten sick everyday or have been unable to eat much the last few weeks.

3. I'M READY TO HAVE THIS BABY. (Is that reason enough?)

So we're scheduled to be induced Tuesday morning. I'm so excited to meet this little one that I've been carrying the last 9 months and I'm ready for the next step in our lives. Now I just need to wash one more load of laundry and mop the floors and I will be ready to go!

Christmas

2010-12-30T14:22:00.001-08:00

I hope you had a wonderful, Merry Christmas! We had a nice relaxing one and much of that was due to our decision to drastically simplify the holiday season this year.

When we found out we were expecting, we did the math and realized that I would be 37 weeks at Christmas. The fact that I would be full term at Christmas, in combination with Scott being a music minister, Christmas falling on a Saturday, and my family being over 3 hours away meant that we wouldn't be traveling in December this year. This was our 4th Christmas together and every Christmas morning we would get up early, exchange gifts, go to Scott's parents house and open gifts, then head to Birmingham to be with my family by Christmas night. Whew. Don't get me wrong, we love spending time with our families, but when you can't travel it makes things easier. Our schedule was lighter this season. We had nights at home in the weeks leading up to Christmas where we would keep asking each other, "Are you sure that we don't have anything on the schedule tonight?" We had the usual church obligations that come with being in the ministry but other than that, Scott and I had lots of time to rest and relax...something I'm so thankful for since this was our last Christmas "alone."

We (I) simplified even further by making the decision not to decorate the house this year. I know. It sounds so horribly Scrooge-ish, doesn't it? The truth is, I was way too tired to decorate floor-to-ceiling like I usually do. I was still working both jobs as of 2 weeks ago and between that and getting ready for baby, I decided that it wasn't necessary.

So 90% of our decorations stayed in storage. I asked to skip the tree this year but Scott wanted one, so our compromise was a 3 foot pre-lit tree from Wal-Mart. It cost $18, much cheaper than the fresh tree we usually get. We dug out one box of small ornaments from the shed, found the nativity, and got out the box of wrapping paper and gift bags. That's it. And y'all, it was really, really nice. No pressure to keep the tree watered. No china to unwrap and wash and put away. Nothing but a nativity set and a little tree. The only part of it that I missed was my Christmas china, given to me by my sweet grandmother. (She adds to my set every year and each birthday and Christmas I unwrap a new piece or two of Spode Christmas Tree--so fun)

The third way we simplified was in our spending. We, like most people, are on a tight budget, so we did things a little differently this year. Scott and I decided to only do stockings for each other...which neither one of us exactly followed--we both had two small things to open for each other. We also cut down on our spending for others. We reduced the "amount per person" on the list and it was so rewarding. I do the Christmas shopping and having such a tight budget caused me to be very intentional in my buying--which put such a refreshing spin on my holiday spending. Each gift was thought out and carefully planned...I hope I always buy gifts with that perspective every year.

So we had Christmas. Not many decorations, not a lot of spending, and no traveling. But Christmas still comes no matter how much money you spend or how many people you visit in December or how tall your tree is. This Christmas was such a nice reminder of the true meaning of Christmas--a tiny baby, the dawn of redeeming grace. Thank you Jesus for simplifying our Christmas for us.

My parents came to see us Christmas day. This is what my house looked like about 12 hours before they arrived....

The entry into the kitchen. Notice the crispy leaves drug in through the doggie door. Lovely.

My kitchen counter and sink. A combination of baby gifts, dirty dishes, and groceries.

This is the worst--the dining room. I wrapped all the gifts here and when you mix Christmas wrapping with baby gifts and thank you notes, apparently you get this insanity.

Don't worry--I cleaned before the family arrived. And we had such a fun time with them. It was so, so good to see them and they even stayed an extra night because of snow and ice back home. How fun! They brought goodies from my grandma, they cooked, they cleaned, they washed my dishes and loaded the dishwasher. I almost didn't let them go home. I only let them leave because they'll be back as soon as baby girl decides it's time for her arrival.

And finally, this little gem captured on Scott's cell phone in front of his parents Christmas tree.

Happy New Year! I hope this year is full of joy and blessings for you and your family.

Pregnancy Confessions: Practice

2010-12-13T16:47:00.000-08:00

Last Friday night I left job number two and headed to the church for the staff and deacon Christmas banquet. I had a horrible attitude about going--I was exhausted, work had been crazy, and I didn't feel well. Scott and I were seated with two couples that we didn't know very well and one couple from our Sunday School table so we were sitting, eating, and talking when all of a sudden I felt the weirdest pain I have ever felt. I sat completely upright in my chair and whispered to Scott, "I think I'm going to slip out in a few minutes and go home. I really don't feel well." He didn't seem too concerned--I don't blame him--I haven't felt great in about, oh, 9 months.

I told our friends goodnight and practically ran out the door. I got home and started pacing the house trying to decide what kind of pain I was feeling and what I should do about it. I called the after hours nurse from my Dr.'s office and described my symptoms. She suggested that I run to the hospital and get "checked out" to make sure everything was okay. Immediately my phone rang and my friend from our dinner table told me she was on the way to my house, that she was going to take me to the hospital, and that there was basically no arguing with her about it.

(If you're wondering where Scott was during all this, he's the Music Minister, so he was still at the church leading the music for the banquet. He was trying to leave as quickly as possible, but sometimes in the ministry there's no such thing as a "quick exit.")

Anyway, I went to the hospital. I checked in, they took me to a room, I changed and was hooked up to the monitors. My sweet friend was there the whole time and stayed until Scott got there just as the nurse was walking in (Thanks M!). The nurse looked at the monitors, looked at the printed strip that the monitor was spitting out, and told me I was having contractions and they were two minutes apart. TWO. MINUTES. APART. Scott's eyes got big and I almost came out of the bed....I mean, doesn't that mean you are about to have the baby? I could think was, "It's too early...I need to wait 3 more weeks...The carseat isn't even installed."

I wasn't dialating, thank goodness, so two shots and two hours later the contractions had stopped and I was about to be sent home when the nurse walked in and told me to lay on my left side. I did, but she didn't say much and walked out of the room. That's when I got worried. What if something was wrong? Why didn't she tell me anything? Where did she go? A few minutes later she called me in the room and told me that I had to eat something. She brought peanut butter, graham crackers, and grape juice and I dutifully ate as much as I could. She came back in, stared at the monitors, walked out and came back with an IV and a bag of fluid and told me that I would be staying the night.

Bascially, when you have contractions baby's heart rate naturally drops a little. My contractions had stopped but baby girl's heart rate hadn't come back up enough to assure my doctor and nurse that I was "back to normal." The nurse told me that it was likely because she was moving too much to get a good reading (she was, I could feel her) or laying on her cord and that the fluid should help get a consistent reading on the monitor.

In short, within 30 minutes of getting the IV everything was fine. I was so thankful. After an extremely long and restless night, I was discharged the next morning. My doctor had been on call the whole night and had monitored my progress, my nurses were wonderful, and I was sent home feeling MUCH better about baby girl's health. We have so much to be thankful for--a healthy pregnancy, a wonderful hospital, and a doctor who cares enough to err on the side of caution. What blessings!

So, we had our "practice run". We experienced what it would be like to be admitted and spend the night in the hospital...and we learned that we need to get ready for baby maybe a little sooner than expected.

Tonight I'm putting baby clothes in drawers and packing a bag for baby. This weekend we will vacuum out the car and install the car seat. I'm delaying packing a bag for myself because most of the stuff that I need to pack I will need before we go to the hospital. I mean, I'm 9 months pregnant...I'm down to like, 3 pair of pants that fit! So maybe I'll just write a list of things I need to pack? I don't know.

Either way, baby girl will be here before we know it! SO exciting!

A Turkey-less Thanksgiving

2010-11-27T13:24:00.000-08:00

Early last Monday morning, Scott and I headed south to Florida to spend Thanksgiving with his family....in Disney World! The in-laws graciously took us and Scott's sister, husband, and toddler to the happiest place on earth for the week and we had so much fun.

We visited every park and rode practically everything that you can at 8 months pregnant and Scott, with no word of complaint, pushed me around in a wheelchair so that I wouldn't have to walk too much. He's so good to me.

On Wednesday night our little 2 year old nephew was sick with a stomach bug. Then Scott's sister and her husband got it Thursday night. Then Friday afternoon, Scott's mom left Epcot because she wasn't feeling great. I suggested that since we were staying in the same room as Scott's parents, maybe we should head out earlier than planned if Scott's mom ended up sick. An hour later, we got a text message from his mom--she had it too. We decided to avoid the hotel room at all costs and we headed to Disney's ESPN Club to watch the Iron Bowl. About half-way through the 3rd quarter Scott and I realized that the sick feeling we were both feeling was completely unrelated to Bama's decision to give the game away. So we made the judgement call to drive back that night. We were back at the hotel about 7:15 and were on the road by 7:45. Scott was almost sick several times on the drive back but we made it home about 1:00 am. Neither one of us was feeling well when we got home so we went to bed with a double-lined trashcan, two glasses of water, and a can of Sprite on stand-by. I even had Lysol and Lysol wipes ready in the bathroom in case we needed a middle of the night clean-up.

I woke up about 6 am to use the bathroom. Neither one of us had gotten sick so far. Then I woke up again at 9:30, drifted back to sleep and slept til.......11:15. I am 8 months pregnant and I managed to sleep in til 11:15! I was shocked when I looked at my alarm clock this morning. It seems that both of us not only escaped the bug but I got more sleep than I have in a very long time--what a blessing!

We're still being cautious. I sprayed the suitcase down with Lysol before touching it. All of our clothes from the trip are being washed in hot water. Toothbrushes have been sanitized. And after a quick trip to the grocery store, I'm back in pajamas and lying on the couch.

So after a wonderful, fun trip with some wonderful family members, we're home and we're well. And I am thankful for that, even if I didn't get any turkey this year.

31 Weeks

2010-11-08T19:09:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since the last blog update, but I have an excuse...

I'm tired.

My work schedule is exactly the same as it was last school year, but seems exponentially more difficult. I go to a preschool in the mornings, work from 8-12, come home for lunch, then head to my afternoon job where I work from 2:45 to 5:45 running an after-school program. Pre-pregnancy I was running 4 miles on my lunch break, showering, and eating and was on my way out the door by 2:20. It was no problem to run errands after work or to have the energy to cook dinner when I got home....but pre-pregnancy and 8 months pregnant are two very different things.

Now, if I want to run errands, grocery shop, or clean the house, it has to happen between jobs. I'm too tired and my feet are so swollen that additional standing is out of the question. Most days I try to get dinner ready mid-day and almost every week requires planning so that I can get everything done. For instance, yesterday after eating lunch I exchanged things at Target and went to Hobby Lobby before the afternoon job. Today, I stayed home and cleaned, put up baby gifts, and caught up on thank you notes because I knew that this evening we were going straight to childbirth class.

So that's my excuse for the lack of blogging....by the time I reach the end of the day, I am so worn out that I just haven't made it a priority to sit and blog. But since my grandma asked when in the world I was finally going to blog, I thought I would make sure it got done tonight. (Sorry Grandma!)

Lots of pregnancy fun has been had around here...we had a wonderful shower at the church a few weeks ago. The church blew Scott and I away with the love and generosity that they showed us--we are so blessed to serve at our church! The nursery is in a state of limbo...the crib is assembled but the mattress is propped against it still in the wrapping. Clothes have been organized in piles but the dresser still needs to be painted and moved upstairs (hopefully this will happen this week!) We traveled home to Birmingham this past weekend where my sister and mother hosted a lovely little shower with family and friends. It was so nice to see my grandparents and spend the weekend with friends that I rarely get to see. We came home loaded down with goodies and an antique dresser (my grandmothers from when she was little) for the nursery.

And here I am at 30 weeks. I haven't taken many photos of myself pregnant because, to be completely honest, I don't really love the way I look. I hope that doesn't sound terrible--I am very aware of the fact that pregnancy is a gift and a blessing--but I'm 5 feet tall. I don't carry as gracefully as some of my taller friends, but that's okay. I know this too shall pass and soon we'll be holding our little girl instead of watching her roll around in my belly every night.

I still haven't written about our Thanksgiving plans and my ideas for some unconventional Christmas decorating, but that can wait. I'm going to prop up my swollen feet and try to sleep!

Pregnancy Confessions, Part 1

2010-09-16T16:01:00.000-07:00

Today officially marks the beginning of the sixth month....with four (give or take) more to go. I didn't know that technically pregnancy lasted 10 months until I was in my twenties. I mean, 9 months doesn't sound that bad. But 10 months? THATS ALMOST AN ENTIRE YEAR. That changes everything. I realize I'm being dramatic, but I never truly understood how long pregnancy is until I began experiencing it. (duh).

19 weeks....today marks 22 weeks.

But it's okay...I'm thankful. I haven't forgotten the days and weeks and months of not being pregnant and wondering if I was ever going to be able to sustain a healthy pregnancy. I guess I'm just going through what I'm hoping is a normal realization that every first-time mother experiences: things are a changin'. Big time.

Simple things are more difficult....like shaving my legs. Sleeping comfortably. Bending. Looking at my toes. Finding clothes each morning that fit AND match. But really, I'm learning that in every small thing that is more difficult and different there is still so much room to be thankful.

So because I don't feel like cooking tonight, I'm going to go eat a bowl of cereal for dinner. And then sweep and mop my kitchen. Or iron some clothes. But definitely not both. :)

Walking Together Ministries

2010-09-09T09:41:00.000-07:00

Our former pastor, Wyman, is a wonderful pastor, preacher, and writer. I linked to his blog today because: 1. His blog is fantastic and 2. I think that his words best reflect my personal response regarding the Koran burning controversy. I believe that his is an incredibly well-written, Biblical, and intelligent response to this sad event. Check it out!

Well said Wyman!

Walking Together Ministries

It's A.....

2010-08-24T20:36:00.000-07:00

....GIRL!!!

We are so excited. (please forgive these photos...they are pictures of pictures. We don't own a scanner) During our ultrasound, little one was being quite squirmy and after a few minutes we finally got the right angle. The ultrasound tech froze the image and asked us if we had any guesses...neither Scott nor I did since neither one of us knew what we were looking at. She said, "It's a girl!" and I immediately got teary....seeing that little baby and knowing that was our tiny little girl made me so thankful. God is so good. And we CANNOT WAIT to meet her!

Look at that little face! I love the nose.

And her feet...she's breech right now, feet down, so we got lots of good shots of her feet and toes. I hope she plans on turning her little self around but the ultrasound tech said she has plenty of time and should turn on her own.

Face forward shot, legs and arms tucked in.

I might be a little biased but I think she's beautiful! :)

One of the many projects on my list of things to do before baby girl arrives was to paint the living room. We had been putting it off since the built-ins on two walls were not going to be fun to paint around...but we buckled down and got it done Saturday with no problems. (And don't worry, I wore a painters mask. I couldn't breathe through the thing, yet alone smell any fumes.)

Above shot is the final product, minus the shelves in the built-ins.

We used a left-over can of primer left in the garage by the previous owners.

And we used left-over paint from when we moved into the house.

We were able to paint the living room for the cost of some drop-cloths and a painters mask. We had the exact amount of paint and primer needed to complete the project. I was so excited we didn't have to spend more than $20...God is so good to care about even the most trivial things!

What do you think? We went from bright red to neutral on the walls and a slightly darker "milk chocolate" inside the built-in walls. We wanted to "open up" the living room and I think it worked! Even Scott has said several times that he likes the new colors. (And he typically doesn't get too involved with the decorating and color decisions.)

And for the sake of keeping it real....

I thought I would share this.

I washed a load of old towels and rags last week. I noticed they smelled HORRIBLE even after washing. So I washed them again. They still smelled bad. I began unloading them into the dryer (hoping a dryer sheet would help the smell) when I noticed a little visitor under the towel. I had washed the poor thing TWICE! He was quite dead but Scott was still gracious to fish him out of the washing machine. I was mortified. I WASHED A LIZARD IN MY WASHING MACHINE. And I didn't even know it...I don't know which is worse. I have no clue how he got there but he did. At least he was clean when he died! A cycle of hot water with some bleach and the washer was good as new, no lingering lizard stank.

The Battle of the Stank

2010-08-06T10:52:00.001-07:00

"Stanky" was not always a word that was in our vocabulary but thanks to one of my funny little pre-schoolers, it's a word we now throw around quite frequently. Last school year he went through a phase where everything was stanky instead of stinky: "You stanky," "I'm stanky," "It stanks in here," etc.

A few weeks ago Scott walked into the living room, wrinkled his nose, and said, "It's stanky in here!" He was right. I had been smelling something for a few days but I hadn't said anything. I though maybe it was my pregnancy hormones causing me to smell a non-existent smell, but I was wrong. After some searching we discovered the source of the stank: the rug. I was horrified because it didn't take us long to realize that our dogs had been relieving themselves on our rug. I was even more horrified to realize that since we keep the dogs outside when we aren't at home, it had to be happening while we were there!

At first we thought that maybe one of our two dogs might be sick. They both have been house-broken for years and it was very unusual for them to do something like this. So we took them to the vet for their check-ups and made sure we talked to her about our little problem that we had been having. She mentioned several reasons why a house-broken dog will suddenly begin using the bathroom inside...and the basic conclusion was that we need a doggie door.

The vet told us that often, when dogs change environments (which they have in the last year) or are too afraid to use the bathroom outside, they simply go where and when they can. After talking to the vet, it suddenly made a lot of sense. We've moved to a new house with a smaller yard in the last year. We live 10 minutes from an air force base and the sonic booms and planes terrify them. And our neighbors have some not-so-nice dogs next door. So added together, there were many times that they were too afraid to use the bathroom outside. The vet also mentioned that when dogs start using the bathroom in one place, they continue to do so as long as they can still smell their "mark," particularly on "grass like areas" like carpet and rugs.

So Scott and I discussed what to do. I wanted to get rid of the dogs (or the one that was making the mess...and we think we know which one it is). Scott reminded me that dogs are a commitment and it's not so easy to just "send them to the farm." I didn't want a doggie door for many reasons: I thought they would drag in lots of dirt, I was afraid it wouldn't look good, I was afraid we were going to cut a hole in the door and it still not solve our problem. So I said no to the doggie door. We started blocking the dogs in the kitchen and I went to work on the rug.

I steam cleaned the rug a total of 9 times. I used enzyme cleaner and everything else I could think of, but nothing worked. And I will be honest, I was furious at the dogs. It's amazing how I allowed two animals to bring out my sin nature. And it came flying out...I begged to get rid of the dogs. I cried. I got on my hands and knees and hand scrubbed the rug with carpet cleaner. (which was while I was still having the 1st trimester nausea....ugh.) The stank wasn't going to leave. I was losing the battle, so in a last-ditch effort we rolled the rug up and placed it bottom-side up on the driveway, hoping the sun would get rid of the smell. Two days later, it still smelled so we rolled the rug up, and put it in the shed. And that's where it's been ever since.

After a few days I finally admitted that maybe a doggie door would be best. The dogs had already ruined a rug...I didn't want them to have the rest of the house too. Scott graciously didn't mention how he had been right all along and his granddad helped us install a doggie door last weekend. And it's been wonderful. The dogs go out when they need to (and when they aren't scared) and they don't track in much dirt. It's not tacky like I was afraid it would be and it seems that we won't be having any more problems with the stank...and the added bonus is I realized that I don't have to have a rug. I kind of like the open look of the living room now.

On another note, we had a FREE 3-D ultrasound on Monday because of a promotion at my doctor's office. It was wonderful. It's amazing to see that tiny little life rolling and moving around. It made me so, so thankful. And it's nice to know that there's something in there and I'm not outgrowing my clothes for no reason. We weren't able to see the gender...the little thing was either rolling, showing us it's back, putting it's hand in between it's legs, or crossing it's little legs. While we do want to know if we're having a boy or girl, we were still so excited to see our little baby! We go back the 23rd for my 20 week ultrasound so we should find out then...if he or she isn't being stubborn!

Hope

2010-07-15T17:41:00.000-07:00

Last week, Scott and I got to hear something special. It was a tiny heart beat, beating at a strong 166 beats per minute....

....and it's our baby's heartbeat.

We've spent much of the last year praying for that moment. Last September I went for my ten week appointment with my first pregnancy. I assumed it would be a routine visit, so Scott didn't go with me. The midwife couldn't find a heartbeat and I was whisked down the hall to the ultrasound room. I will never forget looking at that screen, knowing in my heart that there was no heartbeat. The silence in the room was overwhelming, the nurse staring at her screen for what seemed like an eternity before she said, "Mrs. K, we have a problem...." Before I had time to process what was happening, a nice nurse was holding my hand and leading me out the nurses secret exit so that I wouldn't have to march back through the waiting room sobbing. The next morning I had a D&C and my doctor reassured me that we would "be sending him baby pictures before I knew it."

We moved two weeks after the surgery. I felt so lost. I stopped praying. I was so angry with God for allowing this to happen, especially letting it happen while we were moving. I felt empty and lonely and confused...and God took me straight to Miss E.

We lived with Miss E, a wonderful godly lady, for the first two weeks in our new town while we were waiting to close on our new house. One morning over breakfast she and I were talking and I mentioned how I was feeling, how I felt like I didn't know how to handle the hurt I was carrying in my heart. Her response was so simple and so wise, "Get up in the morning and pray. Then go to work."

She went on to explain that the way she has learned to grieve is to pray for the strength to get through one hour at a time and to take it one day at a time. I had no idea how to grieve...I didn't understand that God already understood my grief. I learned to pray again, and for many days and weeks my prayers were nothing more than, "Help me." And I learned that was okay.

Months passed and we were pregnant again. And we miscarried again. And again, God took us straight to the exact person we needed. This time it was Dr. H. I woke up one morning and immediately understood what was happening. By early afternoon I was in the doctor's office, crying, in pain, and completely confused. Dr. H walks into the room because she was the one doctor that so happened to have a cancellation at that exact time. She asked if I had a doctor and I told her we were new in town and had only seen one doctor. She immediately "adopted" me as her patient. Did you know that some doctors will not do testing until after a third miscarriage? Not her. Before I left the office that day she had ordered blood testing and put me on a regimen of vitamins and baby aspirin.

Our hearts were so heavy the next few weeks and months. Nothing abnormal was found in my blood work so we were given a brand-new list of scary words which included, "habitual aborter, genetic testing, in-vitro, secondary infertility..."

But even through this God was so good. He gave us joy. We found laughter often lies just behind our tears and that hope can grow in our darkest times. And one of the many blessings that we have been given through all of this is that God has taken our time of grief and transformed it into the sweetest time in our marriage.

And so when we got that positive pregnancy test in May, the first emotion I felt was hope, not fear. I thought I would be fearful and cautious or even sad. I had pictured myself tip-toeing into the bedroom and tapping Scott on the arm and quietly sharing the news with him. But God had already restored to me what the locusts had eaten...He had given me back my hope. I busted out of the bathroom and yelled Scott's name (while he was still dead asleep) at the top of my lungs and said, "I'm pregnant!" over and over. I might have even jumped on the bed once or twice. I laughed with tears streaming down my face while Scott sat there and looked confused and sleepy.

Hope. How beautiful.

I have hope because I have a Savior that promises difficulty in this world but freely offers peace and joy. I have hope because I have been blessed with an amazing husband, and even if we never get to hold a child in our arms and call it ours, my life with him is enough. It is full, happy, and joyful. I have hope because I know next time the Lord leads me down the hard road I have learned He goes before me and beside me. I have hope because I can say thank you for the pain, grief, and struggles we have been through.

I have hope because of that tiny, precious heartbeat and I know what a wonderful, wonderful blessing that is. I am so thankful.

(J, I'm sure you'll read this is...I've been trying to email you for over a week to share our news but my email isn't working and won't let me send any outgoing messages. Thank you for all of your prayers and encouragement over the last few months.)

Happy Anniversary!

2010-06-03T13:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I celebrated 3 years of marriage with the most wonderful man....

He is a godly man, always leading by example with a servant's heart.

He is joyful and full of laughter.

He is the most compassionate, genuine person that I have ever met.

He teaches me how to slow down, stop worrying, and "chill out."

He is funny and has filled my life with laughter.

He cares deeply for people and genuinely hurts when others hurt.

He is kind, strong, and a true gentleman.

He loves the Lord and gently leads me to do the same.

He makes wise decisions for our home and our finances.

He always lets me decide where to go to dinner.

He is patient.

And I love him more every day.

Dinner Anyone?

2010-05-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

It's 11:00 pm and you're hurrying to get to bed....then you realize you're COMPLETELY out of dog food. You check the container again just to make sure. Then you check the shelf to see if there is any canned food left. Then in an act of desperation, you open the fridge.

You see a container of leftover plain pasta.

You see some roasted chicken you bought because it was on sale.

You dump it in a dirty dog bowl.

Then you use real silverware to mix it all together. (only if you're a man)

Then you gag and add "buy dog food" to your list of must-dos for the next day.

Re-Arranged

2010-05-07T09:15:00.000-07:00

We've been doing some re-arranging around here. Over the last week we've given away a sofa, sold an entertainment center, gotten a piano, bought new couches, and moved a bookcase.

It all started with a piano. Scott's life-long dream was to own a baby grand. We discussed the possibilities and had decided that an upright piano was best for our house and our situation. So he began searching for a piano that was affordable and good quality....which don't always go hand-in-hand when it comes to pianos. He found a few possibilities but we weren't crazy about any of them. Not wanting him to settle for one piano when he really wanted another, I told him awhile ago that he could get a baby grand. We could make it work. We would have to move stuff around, clear out the office, etc., but we could make it happen.

Last week Scott calls me. Our conversation begins with, "So, you know how you said I could get a baby grand......"

I panicked a little. Yes, I had said he could get a baby grand. BUT have I mentioned that we still haven't sold our old house? We're paying two mortgages. There is NO WAY we can afford a baby grand right now.

He continues, "........Well, what if we got one for free?"

Scott found a lady on Craigslist selling a baby grand for a very low price, and to make a long story short, with our administrative pastors approval, this lady donated the piano to the church and received a tax deduction for her donation. The church in turn donated it to Scott and we got a baby grand piano....for NO out-of-pocket cost. What a blessing! (Thank you Pastor G!)

This was very exciting but left us 2 days to figure out where we were going to put it in the office. An entertainment center that we were using for storage/desk area had to go into our dutch barn until we could sell it. Everything had to be taken out of it and it was (still) all piled in the dining room.

I am not looking forward to cleaning and organizing this mess. BUT the piano was delivered, it fits wonderfully in the office and we still have room for the desk, the bookshelf, and a love seat/sleeper sofa for company. Whew. I'll post pictures once everything has been cleaned and organized....it might take me awhile.

In the meantime, we're working on a collage for a blank wall in the living room. We had gotten several frames for wedding gifts, most of them still unused, so we decided to use what we already had (there you go, Dave Ramsey!). I used coupons to Michaels to get the few frames to complete it and although it's not on the wall yet, I think it will look better than any of the collage sets we looked at buying. And the satisfaction of knowing we spent very little on the project makes it even better.

He takes his projects very seriously. :)

We laid out paper the exact width of the wall, I placed the frames in the basic order, and Scott painstakingly measured and placed each frame and marked each nail hole. He'll tape the paper on the wall and drill through his pre-marked nail holes. Brillant. He was wonderful...it would have taken me hours but he did a fabulous job in very little time.

You might notice the Coke Zero in the background and the TV tray out....see my sink? Gross. The mess is because in the midst of our furniture re-arranging extravaganza, my kitchen had an emotional breakdown.

First, the garbage disposal breaks. Not a big deal. We lived with it til my dad came at Easter and he gave it his best shot but said the motor in it was burned out. Still not a big deal. We kind of forgot it was broken till the sink started doing this last week....

It stopped draining. Both sides. You could wash your hands for 10 seconds and the water would sit for hours in the sink. When it finally did drain, it would leave goop and gunk the garbage disposal spat up. It was disgusting.

So we carried all the dirty dished to the bathroom. Thank goodness the previous owners were clever enough to install a kitchen sink in the hall bathroom (it's right next to the kitchen). I was so thankful for that in the midst of migrating all the dishes back and forth.

Then the oven...

...did this.

I pre-heated the oven and when I went to set the timer, it displayed that lovely message. That's not a good sign.

Then it would display the timer and beep incessantly. We called Whirlpool and they gave us the bad news. We needed a new circuit board.

We had to go to the breaker box and turn off the power to the stove or it wouldn't stop beeping and we had to turn it back on when we needed to cook on stovetop.....then carry all the dirty dished to the hall bath. Needless to say I didn't do much cooking last week.

The night before the repairman was going to come, we turned the oven on to use the stovetop, and it the oven started working! The repairman came, fixed the garbage disposal and our sink issues. He said our home warranty wouldn't allow him to order a new part for the oven if it seemed to be working fine. Then I remembered I'd taken a picture of the error message for the blog. Scott showed him the picture of the stove and the repairman said since he could "see" that the oven wasn't working properly, he could repair it. What a nice guy!

And the last thing....I came home from church Wednesday and saw that our stop sign had been knocked down.

Guess who the culprit was?

Back!

2010-04-18T19:45:00.000-07:00

I'm back! Over the last few weeks one of the last things I've felt like doing is taking pictures and blogging. But now, I feel like I've finally turned a corner and I'm ready to jump back into the blogging world. Here are some of the very few photos from the last 6 weeks or so...hopefully this will get me caught up.

The cake I made for Easter....Chocolate Truffle Cake. And oh my, was it good. In fact, I had slivered off so many tiny slices that I realized it had to go. So in a moment of sheer will-power, the leftovers went in the trash. Then I cried.

This has been my go-to Easter centerpiece the last two years. It's cheap and easy...and it helps to have a blooming azalea at your back door.

This is the upstairs bath. It needed some color and in an intentional move to be "daring" I chose some colors a little outside of my comfort zone. I have to admit I was a little scared after the first coat went on but now I LOVE it.

Bright? Yes.

But do I love it? Oh, yes.

We have the prettiest cheery tree in our front yard. The blooms have turned now, but it was so nice while it lasted.

We had company over one night and I needed a simple dessert to go with the homemade pizza we were having. I totally stole this from a girl at church and these strawberries were a big hit.

So simple: strawberries, dipped in white chocolate, rolled in crushed Oreos. Perfect.

I made some brownies to go with the strawberries....and I get a text that afternoon from my husband (and his friend who was staying the night), "Can we have a brownie?" I said yes, assuming they would cut the brownies like normal people.

I was wrong.

Bless the Lord

2010-03-23T18:10:00.001-07:00

A friend of mine sent me a sweet email today listing several songs that she had found encouraging lately, all by Laura Story. What she didn't know was that on Sunday our choir sang a song written by Laura Story. When we started practicing this song in choir a month or two ago I could hardly sing the song because of the lump in my throat and tears in my eyes.

The last few months have been hard. Like, the hardest times I've ever had in my life. I don't use those words trivially....I have had some incredibly dark moments of confusion, doubt, pain, sadness and times of anger where I have stood and shook my fist at the Lord demanding an answer to my questions. Through all of these moments...and I still have a "moment" at least once a day...the Lord never let go of me. He is good. He is faithful. I can still bless His name even when I don't understand Him.

The Lord has used this song to speak to my heart during these last few months and weeks....Bless the Lord.

You give and take away for my good
For who am I to say what I need?
For You alone see the hidden parts of me
that need to be stripped away.

And as You begin to refine
I’m learning to let go and rely
on One who walks with me
As hard as it may be,
You’re teaching me all the while to say:

Bless the Lord, O my soul
All that’s in me bless Your name
Forget not Your power un- told
not Your glory or Your fame
For You came to heal the broken
to redeem and make me whole
Bless the Lord, O my soul.

Though my faith may falter, my strength may fail

I pray for eyes to see

The riches of your mercy shown to me

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

The Forgotten Blogpost

2010-03-06T14:09:00.000-08:00

Lately, the last thing I have wanted to do is blog. There are photos on my memory card that need to be uploaded and edited and since I am so behind, I had totally forgotten that I had uploaded these photos to my blog over a month ago but had never published the post.

So here are a few forgotten shots, some of my precious students and a few events at the school, including a Cinderella Ball for the Kindergarten students....and a few from our snow day back in February.

I wore those socks with those pajama pants all day. Matching is not a requirement on a snow day.

Valentine's Dinner?

2010-02-09T13:13:00.000-08:00

Scott and I have made a homemade pizza every Valentines Day since we've married. We're going to continue the tradition this year as well. But, we both have the day off on Monday and I have a beef tenderloin in the freezer...I'm thinking of making Monday night Valentine's Part 2 with roasted beef tenderloin, twice baked potatoes, steamed broccoli, and something chocolate for dessert.

Do you go out or stay in for Valentines? And either way, what's on the menu?

Venice, Day 3

2010-02-02T10:27:00.000-08:00

Well, the blog has really taken a hit lately. The truth is, there just isn't that much going on around here. Okay, that's not entirely true. Recently, while Scott was away a few nights, I figured out how to stream Netflix movies instantly through the his XBOX. It's revolutionized things in our household...come to think of it, maybe that's why I've neglected the blog lately.

This weekend I'm headed to Birmingham for a few nights with the family. I promise to bring home new and exciting things to blog about when I get back. In the meantime, you will have to make do with another post about our trip this past summer....don't worry. There's only three days left in the trip after this post!

So...our last day in Venice. We had crammed in all the main tourist attractions and all of our favorite things in the first two days, so on the last day we had a relatively "free" day to see some new things. Scott had decided that he wanted to see the "other side" of the island. We headed out to get to Lido, the part of Venice that doesn't belong to the tourists. It's actually much like a European Seaside, where European vacationers come to go to the beach. There's hotels and beach resorts a 5 minute boat ride from St. Mark's Square. Many of the native Venetians live on Lido because it's significantly cheaper to live on this side of the island. They simply ride the boat over to the main island for work every morning.

It took us awhile to figure out which boat to take, but we finally did and it was well worth it in our opinion. We hiked straight across the little island to the beach.

We saw how Europeans do beach vacations and since it was very hot and we had no bathing suits, we started back to the boat. The island has no historical siginificance and it doesn't even get a passing reference in our Rick Steves book, but it was interesting to see a modern version of ancient Venice.

There are plenty of canals in Lido....but no gondoliers. All of the romance in Venice is found on the main island.

We stopped at a lovely little cafe on our way back to the bus stop. Lunch was fabulous and our waiter even quoted some lines from Back to the Future. We also discovered that Lido has some pretty good gelato.

This was the view from the boat stop. Since tourism is the main source of revenue in Venice, most people that live on Lido bike to the boat stop and ride across the canal to work.

After Lido we rode the boat to the more "gritty" side of Venice. Ever heard of Murano glass? It's made in Venice, on the opposite side of the island from the singing gondoliers and museums.

Rick Steves was right. There is no romance on the Murano side of the island but was so interesting. It was quiet, less touristy, and had shop after shop selling the world famous glass.

It's more colorful too. Since these homes aren't "historical" and protected by law, the locals can paint them any color they like.

After heading back to the main part of the island, we walked around St. Mark's Square enjoying our last few moments in our favorite city. We got engaged in St. Mark's Square so that was the last place we visited before hopping on the nigh train to Paris.

Goodbye Venice!

Next we hopped on this to spend the longest and most awkward night of our lives riding to Paris.

But more on that later.

Walk Thru Bethlehem

2009-12-29T09:47:00.000-08:00

I don't have many photos from Christmas parties or family get-togethers this year. The truth is, I didn't even take my camera with me to many events....which is completely out of the ordinary for me.

So instead of blogging about parties and presents, I'll write about the event where I actually did take some photos....almost 1,000 to be exact.

Walk Thru Bethlehem is not something easily put into words. Many Christmases over the years I've seen or participated in Briarwood's Drive-Thru Nativity back home.....and that doesn't even come close to a good comparison.

It starts in the summer when volunteers start building--putting up walls, etc. They work every Saturday morning until December. The finished product is a 3 acre replica of the city of Bethlehem that took over 30, 000 man-hours to build. There are walls, buildings, gates--even electricity.

The entire church signs up for specific jobs--everything from acting, to cooking, to childcare for the workers. People learn lines and go to rehearsal months in advance.

When the Big Weekend arrives, people show up from all over the state. This year, over 8,000 people came, despite the fact that the first night was cancelled due to bad weather.

Actors in the city sign up for parts--shepherds, spice sellers, fish merchants, etc. and have three hour shifts on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. That doesn't include the hours of practice and rehearsals and sewing costumes. This church LOVES this event and doesn't bat an eye at the commitment it requires.

One lady told me, "We've been doing this for all 13 years and it wouldn't be Christmas without Bethlehem." Grown children bring their families back for the weekend so that they can participate in this event. I was amazed at how much people love doing this...it's very much an essential part of Christmas for our church.

People come, register, and are assigned to a group number. They wait in the sanctuary for their group, many of them waiting up to 3 hours. So what do they do while they are waiting?

That's where my wonderful, amazing husband comes in. He is responsible for entertaining the masses and he did a GREAT job. He had some wonderful help too....and by the way, that's over 24 hours worth of music to plan and organize.

They bring in camels, doves, sheep, donkeys, wild birds, real fish, cows, goats, chickens, and turkeys.

Groups are led thru the city by a tour guide...they stop at every booth and dialog with every vendor, the story line leading the group everywhere from the tax collectors...

...to the Roman soldiers...

...to the spice sellers, weavers, fruit vendors, the temple...

...and eventually to the part that matters most.

It's an amazing experience and I am so thankful to have been able to photograph it...the whole thing was a photographers dream!

I was blown away by the time, energy, and commitment that the church dedicates to this event year after year.

And while most of the people that come thru have heard the Christmas story before, to the church, it's worth it, even if only 1 of the 8,000 came and understood the importance of that little baby in the manger for the first time.

Here's to many more Walk Thru Bethlehems! I'm already excited about next year.

The Todd Reception

2009-12-07T17:11:00.000-08:00

The Friday after Thanksgiving (was that last Friday? two Fridays ago? Last year? I don't know...time is flying and I can't seem to keep up) I had the opportunity to photograph the wedding reception of one of Scott's oldest and dearest friends, Adam. Adam and Scott grew up next door to each other. In fact, Adam's parents bought the house next to Scott's because of their friendship. Their families have traveled together, spent holidays and vacations together, and the kids have spent most of their lives as next door neighbors.

When Adam and Blair got engaged, they decided to have a small ceremony in Jamaica and planned a home-town reception for the weekend of Thanksgiving. So Friday morning, we packed up and made the drive from Birmingham to Americus, GA, Scott's hometown.

I actually missed the first 45 minutes of the party because I was in the car, listening to the Iron Bowl on the the XM radio. After a series of mild strokes caused by the last seven minutes of the game, I was finally able to go to the party that I was supposed to be photographing.

The venue was fantastic...it was simple but beautiful and the man that owns the property built this with his own two hands...I was very impressed.

This was a FANTASTIC idea for centerpieces. They looked like something out of Southern Living and they were so simple and inexpensive.

The Todd family rarely is all in the same place at the same time, if you can't already tell from their excitement.

What a lovely family! Thank you Todds for asking me to be a part of this night--I had a blast!

A Thanksgiving Pow-Wow

2009-11-20T12:56:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, 30 wild indians gathered in music class to make a Thanksgiving peace treaty. The two parties, Mrs. Young's tribe and Mrs. Johnson's tribe had been preparing for a Thanksgiving feast with the K-5 pilgrims. The two tribes met to discuss their upcoming meeting with the Pilgrims.

There was some heated discussion about the bead necklaces....

Others demonstrated their frustration with sharing the playground with these Pilgrims.

A few were skeptical of the Indians from the other tribe...

...while some of the boy Indians tried to demonstrate their superiority over the girl Indians.

The girl Indians retaliated by demonstrating their tribal dances.

Then the two tribes had a tribal dance off to determine the greatest tribe.

Many different dances were performed for the tribal judges.

The judges were not pleased.

Then one brave Indian squaw gave an eloquent and moving speech about uniting the two tribes in peace.

Her listeners understood the wisdom in her words and were happy.

United, the two tribes began to discuss their peace treaty with the Pilgrims.

Some were hesitant...

...but their fellow Indians were convincing in their call for unity.

They prepared their peaceful greetings for the Pilgrims at the Thanksgiving feast.

And the two tribes lived in peace forever after....

...or at least until they go to the playground.

The End.

Friends and Babies

2009-11-19T19:52:00.000-08:00

Last week, Scott and I went back to our old house to grab a few things out of the attic and to have dinner with some friends....and to meet a very special little girl for the first time.

These two ladies are very special to me. We ran together every day and by running so many miles together, these girls have become some of my best friends. While running we've talked, laughed, cried, rejoiced, mourned, and prayed together. Needless to say, I have missed them terribly since moving....and I have run considerably less since I can't seem to run very well without someone to talk with! Scott and I had a blast at dinner and I took my camera along since we were getting to meet this little pumpkin for the first time.......

Our newest addition to our little group, Sweet Baby S, was born three weeks ago....and she is as beautiful as expected! She also has her daddy wrapped around his little finger, I might add. She's dainty, sweet, and pretty---everything a brand new baby girl should be! I'm not sure her daddy wanted to hand her over but I snatched her and got some snuggle time. She is precious!

I'm a little bit smitten. I think Mama and Daddy might be too. I also snapped a few Christmas card photos...

And Uncle Scott got some reading time in with a very special friend who LOVES to read.

He also loves my camera. He wants to hold it SO BAD. I would do just about anything for this little man but I just can't hand over the DSLR. Sorry W!

What a fun night! After dinner, Scott and I went and grabbed the Christmas decorations that were still in the attic in the old house. After staring at the boxes for a few days I decided that I had to move them before our company comes this weekend and who wants to move heavy boxes two times? Not me. So I unpacked them...and got the idea to completely decorate for Christmas. So as of Monday, our house is completely decorated for Christmas, minus the tree!

Second Shooting, Wedding 1

2009-11-02T14:20:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I had the unique opportunity to go to shoot two weddings with Camille. She really does a fabulous job at weddings and I had so much fun following her around all night. These are some of my favorite photos from the second wedding that we shot, held at the beautiful 4H Center in Chelsea.

What a fun, albeit cold, outdoor wedding! The perfect touch was the news of Bama's down-to-the-wire win over Tennessee, right before the bride walked down the aisle. That's my kind of wedding!

Lately....

2009-10-27T10:50:00.000-07:00

We've been taking down wallpaper.....

Painting and sanding....

Dividing and storing a TON of food generously given to us....

Unpacking....

Cleaning....

Hanging curtains and pictures...

Filling empty spaces...

Did I mention painting?

And we've been putting furniture together....

...moving furniture around....

...organizing...

...and making a house a home.

All of these are "before" photos.... "after" shots to come soon!

Changes....

2009-10-05T09:48:00.001-07:00

We're moving!

From one city to a new one...

From two old jobs to two new ones...

From one great church to a new one...

From one house to another....

Needless to say, we've been busy. We're closing on the new house Friday, moving in Friday afternoon and Saturday (YAY!!!) and we should have regular internet next week.

Stay tuned for photos and updates on our new lives!

Venice, Day 2

2009-09-25T07:54:00.001-07:00

I need to clarify--I have not gone back to Italy. I would LOVE to go back to Italy, but these blog posts are simply re-living the two weeks Scott and I spent in Europe in June. The reason why some things are in present tense is because many time I'm copying straight out of the journal I kept while we were traveling. Someone asked me last night if I had been back to Florence and I realized that I hadn't been very clear...sorry!

This particular morning we slept in and didn't leave the hotel until 11:30. One of the great things about Venice is that you don't have to be busy while you are there. If you stay 2 or 3 days, you'll see everything you want to see and still have plenty of time to wander around and relax. The first thing that we did was head to St. Mark's Square to see the Basilica. We'd been to the Basilica before but we went again, paying admission to go all the way up to the top and to see the museum. The Basilica is fascinating. It's the final resting place of the bones of St. Mark--stolen in the middle of the night during the crusades and smuggled back to Venice in shipping crates.

The Basilica is one of the more interesting churches that you will see in Europe. It's not classical with it's middle eastern style and it's very distinctive. This is due to Venice's ties with the Eastern world. At one point, Venice was the shipping capital of the world and was the main connection between Asia and the eastern world and modern, classical Europe.

After touring the Basilica, we climbed to the top for some great views of St. Marks square and the Grand Canal.

I look like a little bug woman with those glasses. If only I'd known how I looked...

After frying to a crisp on the overlook, we stepped inside to view these guys...

These four horses once stood on the overlook on top of St. Mark's Basilica. They were the trademark of Venice and made of solid bronze. In the heyday of Venice, this sculpture was one of the most well-known images in Europe. They were so famous that Napoleon carried them off for his personal collection, but they have since been returned to Venice. These are the originals, finally brought into the barn after years of salt-water exposure. Copies of these guys still sit outside on top of the Basilica.

We also toured the Doge's Palace, connected to the basilica. When Venice was in her glory days, the Doge was one of the most powerful men in the world. His palace is fascinating, but no photos allowed, strictly enforced. After a few hours of touring, we took a gelato break and wandered around taking some shots of the city.

Gondolas are a trademark of Venice, but they cost 75-90 euro for a daytime ride and upwards from 95 euro at night. Scott and I took a gondola ride the first time we came to Venice, so decided to save our money for other important things. Like gelato.

St. Mary's de Salute. This beautiful church was built thanking God for sparing 2/3 of the city during the Plague.

Ah, the gondoliers. Some charming and handsome, some....not so much. This one was singing, trying to get tourists to pay for a gondola ride as they walked by. I took this picture and ran, half afraid that he would try to lasso me into paying. He had a lovely voice but native Venetian women say that those that succumb to the charms of a gondolier "have slices of ham over their eyes." I think some of the meaning might be lost in translation...

It costs more to by a gondolier than it does to buy a new car and you actually have to take a test to become a certified gondolier. It's one of the biggest businesses in Venice.

After resting, Scott and I got ready for dinner. We decided that we would have a nice, canalside dinner ad we found a nice place next to Rialto Bridge. It was touristy, but very romantic and typical "Venice." Our table was right beside the Grand Canal overlooking one of the busiest part of the canal. There lots of gondolas floating by, music, and candles...it was such a nice dinner.

We had one coke and one water bottle...and lots of glasses. There was hardly enough room for our food!

Some of our dinnertime views:

After dinner, we headed to St. Mark's Square to re-live something very special...our engagement! While in college, I spent a semester living in Spain studying abroad. On my spring break, Scott flew over, we met in Milan, we took a train to Venice, and that night he asked me to marry him. The story is very sweet and he was so excited to propose (he had help from Camille).

Venice is the perfect backdrop for a proposal. We went back to the same cafe on the square and sat at the same table where he popped the question. We asked a nice girl to take our picture and while we were standing there, smiling for the camera, we heard a lady shouting in a foreign accent, "KEEEEEEEES!!!! KEEEEEEES!!!" So we obliged and kissed for the camera and the small crowd that the very nice but very drunk Belgian lady had attracted.

We told the girl taking our picture that we had gotten engaged there 3 years ago and the Belgian woman asked, "Well, how did it turn out?" I told her that since we'd been married for over two years I thought it had worked out pretty well. We then had a very bizarre conversation with her about Florida, hurricanes, and the Godfather theme song. After she started to actually sing the theme song very loudly, her husband (who spoke no English) dragged her away very apologetically. Apparently, the "I'm-sorry-please-excuse-my-spouse" look is universal.

After this interesting end to our evening, we wandered back, enjoying Venice at her best---after dark!

Welcome to Venice! Day 1

2009-09-21T21:51:00.000-07:00

Apparently I'm on some sort of blogging rampage since this will be the 3rd blog post over the last 24 hours. The truth is, I really enjoy re-living our trip to Europe. It's really fun to look at my journal from the trip and remember so many great moments. Earlier I was looking over my photos from Venice and got so excited that I thought I would go ahead and share some of them tonight (this morning).

Scott and I have a special attachment to Venice--it's where we got engaged. Besides that, Venice is as beautiful as any photo you've ever seen. There are many things in Europe that were different from my expectations, but Venice is every bit as beautiful as you think.

This day didn't actually begin in Venice. It started in a laundry mat in Florence. Scott and I packed for 14 days in one backpack each. Naturally, we needed to re-wear some things and that meant we had to do laundry. Rick Steves directed us to a local laundry mat and I must say that doing laundry in Europe is a unique experience.

It was a perfectly quiet Sunday morning and our only company in the laundry mat was a lovely couple from New Zealand. They were biking through Italy. I though maybe they meant on motorcycles but they meant real bikes. How cool is that? I felt like such a weakling compared to them. We started talking and we learned that he was a doctor and they were in Italy for a month but their biking expedition had been sidetracked because she had fallen off her bike and had broken a rib. That's why, as her husband explained, she was "standing like Napolean," which I finally understood to mean that was why she had one arm tucked in her jacket. They were so nice and had the greatest accents. I was feeling pretty sophisticated , having a conversation with some New Zealanders about classical art, when Scott piped up with a question. He asked them, "Hey, do you guys watch that show "Flight of the Concords?" The husband laughed but the woman grimaced and said, "No, that's more.....Kiwi humor." I felt it was the equivalent of someone asking me, "Hey, you're an American. Do you watch that show "Jerry Springer"? and my response being, "No that's more...redneck humor." (and I have no idea what a Kiwi is...I'm still trying to figure that out.)

Despite the fact that we revealed that we had a Kiwi sense of humor, they were so nice and we had a great conversation with them while we were all doing laundry. I guess it's easy to bond with someone when you're folding your underwear in front of them the first time you meet them. Our laundry was done first and we said good-bye to our new friends. I wish I had taken a photo of them, but I didn't. I have no idea why; I have no excuse. I guess it's because I'm a Kiwi.

After this we headed to the train station for the short train ride to Venice. It was another lovely ride through Tuscany as we headed to Venice. You know you're close to Venice when you run out land and the train tracks are over water. After we got off the train, we headed to find our hotel....which was easier said than done. Venice is a very,very old city with no logic in how they numbered their buildings. We found our hotel quite by accident and were so excited to find that it had...AIR CONDITIONING!! (not always a given in Europe) If you went out on our balcony and stood on your tiptoes, you could see that our room overlooked a little canal.

After settling in, we headed out to see Venice at the perfect time of day...twilight. We grabbed our iPods so we could listen to Rick Steves "Welcome to Venice Grand Canal Cruise" and headed to catch a boat. The Grand Canal may be the best part of Venice. It's "Main Street." It's over 2 miles long, 150 feet wide, and 15 feet deep and it's lined the palaces and expensive hotels.

This is the Rialto Bridge, lined with shops and lots of tourists. It's one of the most important(and crowded) landmarks in Venice.

St. Marks Square is an important stop on the Grand Canal Cruise. It's the political and religious center of the city. It's home to Doge's Palace, St. Marks Bascilica, and millions of pigeons.

After the Grand Canal Cruise we hopped off at San Marco's, found some dinner, and headed back to the hotel. Wandering through Venice is ideal and we caught these great views as it got dark.

The Grand Canal as seen from Rialto Bridge

The Grand Canal

We meandered back to our hotel for some much-needed rest. These two Kiwis were exhausted!

Florence, Day 2

2009-09-20T21:22:00.001-07:00

If you know me at all, you know that I love breakfast. Sadly for me, I married a non-breakfast eater. I always eat breakfast in hotels and this morning, I managed to convince Scott that he needed to eat breakfast with me. We had a lovely breakfast of croissants, Nutella, fruit, and coffee....our hotel had a cappuccino machine and they were extremely proud of their homemade coffee. I must have had three or four--SO good.

Hyped up by caffiene, we headed out to Santa Maria Novella Church, a beautiful church built in the 1200's by Dominican monks. Very quiet, very beautiful, and very strict on their "No Photos" policy.

From there we headed to the leather markets, where I bought an amazing handmade leather purse....and then I got in trouble from Scott because I didn't try to bargain more with the salesman. After my lecture on the art of haggling, we headed to Ponte Vecchio, Florences famous bridge, to view the gold and silver markets before our appointment at the Uffizi Gallery.

The Uffizi Gallery was one of the highlights of our entire trip. Even if you aren't an art lover, this museum will give you an appreciation for the classical arts. This museum house the best Italian paintings anywhere by artists: Giotto, Leonardo, Raphael, Caraveggio, Michaelangelo, Botticelli, etc.

The museum is very specifically laid out and there is only one way to make your way through the exhibits. Armed with our Rick Steeves guided tour of the museum on our iPods, we made our way through the museum. It was fantastic. Obviously no photos were allowed, but I loved every second in this museum.

Despite the fact that our feet were killing us, we forged ahead and walked to our appointment at the Accademia. The world-famous statue of David is here, along with the unfinished Prisoners, also by Michelangelo. These are the two main highlights of the small museum, but Scott enjoyed the musical instrument display in the back of the museum.

Our feet were protesting with every step, so we thought that was a good excuse for a nap. It had begun to rain, so it was perfect timing! After our nap, we went to a Rick Steves recommended restaurant, Trattoria 13 Gobbi ("13 Hunchbacks"). It was fantastic. The food was excellent and it was the idyllic Italian restaurant--candles, music, etc. I had a steak with roasted vegetables and it was by far the best meal I had on our trip--delicious!

We didn't know that this particular night was "White Night," which means that everyone stays out late. Restaurants and stores are open later and everyone was out--so we decided to stay out too. The city was so fun that night--people were everywhere, there was music and dancing in the square, and we found a great street musician who sang U2. Since we were out, we decided to get dessert at a little cafe known for their fancy desserts.

I went for the chocolate and I must say...Best. Dessert. Ever.

Healing

2009-09-20T20:11:00.000-07:00

If you are reading this blog post you more than likely already know the hard path that Scott and I have been walking these last two weeks. So many of you have walked with us through your prayers and kindness and that path would have been so much darker if it were not for you.

I'm not sure if I ever understood the importance or function of the Body of Christ until I had a miscarriage. I've seen churches surround mourning families, take food to the needy, and reach out to those in need, but I had no comprehension of the depth of the love and compassion in the Body until now. When I was knocked on my face by grief and anger, the Body immediately reached out to help me back up. When my prayers were nothing more than "Why?" and "It's not fair!", people were approaching the Throne of Grace on my behalf. In my darkest days, I never felt that I was alone in my mourning.

We received phone calls, flowers, and mailboxes full of cards. People I'd never met stopped by the house to offer their condolences. I couldn't check Facebook without reading a new message of comfort from a friend. That Tuesday at the doctor and the next day at the hospital, every single nurse that I came in contact with offered encouragement and their prayers. In our transition between cities and churches, Scott and I received an overwhelming amount of love, condolences, and prayers from church family members that we've loved for years and others that we've yet to meet. Before I had even prayed for comfort, the Lord was already providing it through many of you.

I know that I serve a God of hope and comfort. Through my grief I am learning to trust my Savior even when I don't understand Him. I am learning that grief can beget joy and hope; and I am learning to say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord," even when He gives and when He takes away. God is good and He is faithful and close to those who are brokenhearted.

Scott and I are speechless at the overwhelming amount of love and support that we have received from everyone. We could never express how thankful we are to all of you for everything that you have done. We are so blessed.

"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you..." Phillipians 1:3

A Week of Firsts

2009-08-13T12:53:00.000-07:00

Last week I got a call from Robert who asked me if I could take some shots of his band, Counterfeit Country. They were looking for just a shot or two that they could put on flyers and ads....no problem. So, we headed downtown Friday afternoon for some shots and despite having no clue what I was doing, had a blast. The guys were great sports and did well with my instructions, which were all something like, "Go over there and do something....manly."

After I took 100 photos, we called it a day--it was blazing hot and they weren't looking for too many photos. It was a short and sweet photo shoot but so funny---especially after Ryan started doing his "Big Woman Dance." Here are a few of my favorite shots from the afternoon...maybe you'll see them again someday. Album cover? :)

Hello Baby

2009-08-06T12:02:00.000-07:00

Natalie is my next-door-neighbor at school and has become a very dear friend of mine this past school year. Back in November, Natalie came into my classroom one morning and shut the door behind her and said, "Guess what?" I knew right then she was pregnant. It was so exciting to watch her little tummy get bigger and bigger all year as we got closer and closer to her due date--next Thursday! After hearing the report from her doctor's appointment Monday, we decided that if we were going to take maternity pictures, we had to do before, well, there was no more maternity!

It started raining as soon as I got to her house, but she was such a trooper as I kept asking her to do things that aren't very easy for a pregnant lady to do--stand up, sit down, lay down, etc. I think the photos came out great and soon I hope I'll be posting photos of sweet little baby Kelcie.

She looks great, doesn't she? The baby blanket was Natalie's when she was a baby.

Natalie and her husband Brian met on a blind date, so he always tell her, "You had me from hello." On their wedding day, he gave her this locket inscribed with Hello and I thought it was precious she keeps it in the baby's room, hung on a picture frame.

She doesn't act like she's 9 month pregnant. She's one of the happiest pregnant women I've ever seen--she doesn't even act like she's uncomfortable, although I know she is.

I love this one.

And this one.

She looks so peaceful. I think if I had said, "Gaze out of the window and contemplate labor," this photo would have been much different.

Thanks Natalie for a fun afternoon! Can't wait to meet Kelcie!

Florence, Day 1

2009-07-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

Our last morning in Rome, Scott and I got up early to catch our train to Florence, which means we were also up early enough to catch the "American Breakfast" at our hotel. It was quite a spread, including everything from bagels to a full salad bar. We considered telling the them that we never, ever eat from a salad bar for breakfast in America, but we decided to leave well enough alone.

After breakfast, we rode a very crowded bus to Termini, Rome's train station. We were there extremely early so after waiting for an hour, we boarded our train and headed to Florence. The train ride was fantastic. The farther we traveled out of Rome and the closer we got to the Tuscany region, the more ideal the scenery became. We passed typical Italian villas perched above grape vinyards, drives lived with tall green trees. We saw rolling hills, olive trees, and a small village clinging to the side of a cliff. I wish that there was a way to stop the train or make it slow down--there's no good way to take a photo on a train, so unfortunately I have no photos of what we saw on the train.

When we arrived in Florence, it was windy and rainy, a welcome change from the sweltering heat of Rome. Our hotel directions stated that it was "steps away" from the Santa Maria Novella train station, and we literally crossed the street and found our hotel within 5 minutes. We couldn't have been happier after our terrible experience trying to find our hotel in Rome. Our hotel was small, family-run, and didn't have air conditioning. Fortunately, they had a fan and huge windows that opened out over the street--and it was rainy and cool outside. Otherwise, I'm not sure Scott would have survived.

After checking in, we headed toward the Duomo and found the cutest little restaurant for lunch. The family that ran the restaurant was friendly and happy, and I must say that my chicken pesto pasta was fabulous.

After lunch, we headed to the Duomo, one of the main (free!) sights in Florence. The Duomo was once home to some of the greatest Renaissance art. The art has been moved across the street to the museum, but the Duomo itself is still quite impressive. The facade was covered with gaudy green, pink, and white Tuscan marble, done to celebrate the unification in Italy "back in the day." (I can't remember the year). Construction on the Duomo cathedral was begun in 1300 and wasn't finished until 1435. It was bulit with a hole in the roof awaiting a dome. No one had discovered the technology to build a dome, but in true Renaissance spirit, they were confident that someone would figure it out soon. And they did--Florentine arcitect Filippo Brunelleschi bulit the first Renassiance dome and the model for all domes to follow. When designing St. Peter's cathedral in Rome, Michelangelo referred to the dome saying, "I can bulit it's sister--bigger but not more beautiful."

(please excuse the black in the corner--it's been edited out of the original but decided to show back up)

You can climb the Duomo's dome and get some fantastic views of the city, but Scott and I opted not to wait in the line since it had started to rain. We darted across the street to the Duomo Museum where we saw some fascinating art--wood carving of Mary Magdelene with matted hair by Donatello, choir loft sculpted by Luca della Robbia, and my favorite, a late pieta by Michaelangelo. A pieta is an artistic representation of Mary holding the crucified body of Jesus after He had been taken from the cross. (The most famous is Raphael's in St. Peter's) Nicodemus at the top of the sculpture is a self-portrait of the artist. It's rough and unfinished in places but it's a beautiful piece and one of my favorites.

After the museum, it was still raining, so Scott and I took that as a sign that it was nap-time. After our nap, we headed out with Scott in the lead--we were in the hunt for some live music. Scott wanted more than anything to hear some live music in Europe, so after a visit to the very helpful Tourist Information center, we headed out to the local box office, only to find that they didn't open for another hour.

My favorite thing about Florence was is peacefulness. It was calm, the people were kind, and the city is totally walkable--no need for public transportation! So after our trip to the box office, we headed back to the center of town, following the river. Florence lines the Arno River and it is such a picturesque place. It feels like classic Italy. Rome is modern and spawling, but in Florence you are in true, Tuscan Italy.
After wandering along the river, we headed back to the box office and purchased tickets for that evenings performance--an orchestra! We then set out for dinner and found a gorgeous little restaurant on a side street with some of the best pizza I have ever put in my mouth. We then headed to the hotel to change into our "nice clothes," which was really wasn't that nice, considering that we were living out of carry on bags.

Scott was completely entralled by the orchestra. They were fantastic and it was truly one of the highlights of our time in Italy. I've never seen a happier man that Scott after the concert--that was the one "souvenir" that he wanted from whole trip.

After the performance, we wandered along the Arno, looking for some gelato. We didn't find any (it was too late) but the views were gorgeous.

I thought this little couple was precious. They were out for an evening stroll and greeted us very kindly when we passed them. For some reason, this photo struck a chord with me--it's one of my favorites from the trip.

We wandered for awhile, then walked back to the hotel. We'd had a fantastic first day in Florence and were going to see some of the most famous art in the world the following day.

Seaside and Senior Pictures

2009-07-21T18:28:00.000-07:00

Back in January, I was asked to donate an item for the Senior Auction. I donated a photography session for the silent auction, not expecting anyone actually want to bid on my item. I was so excited to find out that someone actually did bid on my item, and I was even more excited to find out it was my BFF Debs!

Debbie and I got to know each other this school year through our many, many emails regarding Junior/Senior Prom. Debbie is the mom of Susan, one of my (now) Seniors and truth be told, Prom would not have happened without her help and organization. I was honored that she wanted me to take Susan's Senior pictures, and I'm sure I'm not worth near the amount she paid at the auction!

Susan wanted beach pictures, so we picked a free day that we could drive down to Seaside. If you haven't seen Seaside in the summer, you need to. It's beautiful, pristine, and the perfect backdrop for photos. On this particular day, there was one particular problem: it was HOT. I stepped out of car and immediately had a heat stroke. Okay, maybe that isn't the complete truth, but I seriously considered jumping in the ocean fully clothed. Despite the heat and a whiny, sweaty, crazed photographer, Sue was such a great sport. She even changed clothes and took more photos after passing out in the gelato shop! (true story)

After all the pictures and medical drama, Debbie, Susan, and myself stumbled into the Donut Hole, a little diner in Destin before heading home. I wasn't completely lucid because of my earlier heat stroke, so I accidently bought a danish, two apple cinnamon muffins, and a cake donut. Some of it made it home.

Here are some of my favorite shot. Sue, you are so photogenic! Next time, please don't pass out on me.

Rome at Night

2009-07-10T07:20:00.000-07:00

Rome is a beautiful place to be at night. All the main sights are lit up and there is a gelateria everywhere you look. Here are some of my favorite photos from my favorite time of day in Rome.

Colosseum

Trevi Fountain

At the Four Rivers Fountain in Piazza Navonna.

Four Rivers Fountain

I don't know whose these girls are but I thought it would be a good photo. Hope they don't mind.

Four Rivers Fountain

Campo di Fiori.

Rome, Day 3

2009-07-09T17:48:00.000-07:00

This morning, we managed to take the bus on the right side of the street, which means it only took us 30 minutes to get to the city center instead of 2 hours. Nice! Since we didn't leave our hotel until 11, the first thing that we did was eat lunch at good 'ol McDonalds, like any good American tourists.

After lunch, we headed out to St. Paul's Outside the Walls (that's the official name, seriously), the church built over the body of St. Paul. It was a beautiful church, with nothing exceptional to note besides the actual tomb, directly under the high altar.

After our visit to St. Paul's, we headed over to the Protestant Cemetery. For a long time, protestants were not allowed to be buried inside the city walls of Rome, so they established their own exclusive cemetery. Now it's run by private owners and family members of the deceased. They were SO excited to have visitors and they were very kind.

We really enjoyed our time in the cemetery. It was peaceful, beautiful, shady, and far away from the hoards of tourists at the more famous sights. My kind husband saw the groundskeeper picking up pinecones so he picked up a few himself and took them over...you would have thought it was Christmas morning!

We also saw the grave of Keats and Shelley. This is Keats, who wanted an unmarked grave inscribed with the words, "Here lies one whose name was writ in water." I took this picture in honor of my British Lit class and my brilliant professor, Mrs. Sikes. (Oh, for a draught of vintage...)

Moving on to our next tourist attraction, we headed over to San Giovanni Church, home of the Holy Stairs. The stairs are supposedly the same that were climbed by Jesus and were brought from Jerusalem to Rome by Constantine's mother, Helena. You are only allowed to climb the Holy Stairs on your knees and there were many signs with strict instructions in several languages. Neither Scott nor I climbed the stairs (I personally thought it was one of the stranger things that we'd seen) but it was interesting to watch. For some people, it was obviously a very significant moment in their spiritual life and the overall mood in the building was very solemn.

After this we were quite tired, so decided to slowly make our way back to my favorite dinner spot, Campo di Fiori. We had a lovely dinner on the square and once it was dark, we headed back to the Colosseum so that I could take night pictures.

The Colosseum after dark is spectacular and we spent awhile there people watching and eating some gelato. We were sad to leave such a beautiful city, but we were truly exhausted and looking forward to the more peaceful city of Florence.

In saying goodbye to Rome, we thought it would be good to document the bathroom at our hotel. Here we have Toilet #1......

...and Toilet #2? Apparently we need two. And it's not a normal toilet. It's a toilet....with a faucet. I remember the confusion when I first got to Spain because it's a Europe-wide trend. We were all at the school the next morning asking each other, "I have two toilets. Do you? Which one is which? Which one do you use? etc." It was rather confusing to us Americans who have had to muddle through life with just one toilet in our bathrooms. One of our professors explained the function of the Mysterious 2nd Toilet, but I really can't remember what she said. I think it's intended to wash your feet. If it is, I came pretty close. I used it to rinse off my shoes every night.

And finally, the bathtub-type thing. This was our shower/water-park adventure. You get in, sit down, shut the door, and pull the lever to lock yourself in. It's a little like the Log Ride at Six Flags. You know you're going to get wet, you just don't know what is going to get wet. It was a bizarre experience, but good for a laugh at the end of the day.

The next morning we were headed to Florence....and hoping for a normal shower!

Rome, Day 2

2009-07-08T17:13:00.000-07:00

A brand new day has so much potential, right? That's what Scott and I were thinking as we left our hotel that morning. We'd slept in and were headed out to do touristy things around 10:45 am, armed with the specific instructions from our hotel as to how to get to the metro station.

We read: "Take a left out of hotel drive. Take bus 508." Got it.

We met a very kind couple from Spain as we were walking down the drive headed to the stop. They asked if we knew how to get to the metro station and we very confidently assured them that we needed to take bus 508. Before we even reached the bus stop, we spotted a 508 coming over the hill. We all very excitedly waved the bus down, climbed on board, and.....headed in the opposite direction from the city. I looked at Scott nervously, still paranoid from our experiences from the day before, but he assures me with, "It's okay. I'm sure we'll turn around up here somewhere."

Well, we did turn around. Only, we turned around after TWO HOURS OF RIDING THE BUS THROUGH THE ROMAN SUBURBS. You see, upon closer examination of the directions from the hotel, we discover that our instructions actually read, "Cross the street at the end of the drive. Take a left to the 508 bus stop."

Ooops. We kind of overlooked that whole "cross the street" part. Apparently, there was a 508 bus stop on both sides of the street. We were supposed to take the one on the opposite side of the street, actually headed in the direction of the city. And the bad thing is, we brought the poor Spanish couple down with us....we were so sure that we knew what to do! They kind of stopped talking to us toward the end of our 2 1/2 hour ride through the suburbs. In fact, they moved seats, to the back of the bus....as far away from us as they could get.

After that spectacular joyride and diplomatic nightmare, we were finally at the metro station and on our way to the Colosseum. As soon as you exit the metro station, you are practically at the entrance to the sight, but after our little detour, we were famished. So, we pulled out our handy Rick Steves guidebook to find a recommended restaurant in the area. About a block away we found Della Casa Estudiante, a nice little family-run restaurant with outdoor seating. Scott was dying of thirst, so he ordered the "large Coca-Cola."

This is what he got. Look at that face. Have you ever seen a happier man? Forget that we paid 8 euro for it...it was a lot of Coke and that meant he could drink as much as he wanted. In fact, I had to help him finish it. Because, according to the Law Of Scott, we CANNOT waste Coke.

Scott also learned a valuable Italian vocabulary lesson at this restaurant. In Italian, sausage and cheese antipasti does NOT mean "pasta with sausage and cheese." It apparently translates to "plate of sliced hot dog, bologna, and cheese." I've got to admit, Scott's face was pretty priceless when she brought him this plate.

I had a good laugh over it. He struggled to eat it, poor guy. The kind waitress brought him a bottle of ketchup and a bottle of mayonaise to help him out, but it was to no avail. Let's just say that Scott won't be ordering "antipasti" anytime soon.

This is the arch of Titus, as seen from the second level of the Colosseum. This arch was built by Constantine, marking his victory to become the Roman Emperor. It also marked the beginning of the legalization of Christianity.

The Colosseum is a sobering and fascinating place. Many, many people lost their lives in this arena. Walking through the stadium was a reminder of how incredibly blessed I am.

Below the floor of the arena, where the stone columns are today, used to be mechanical elevators and lifts used to hoist animals and people into the arena.

A pope in the 1500's took pity on the crumbling auditorium and began it's restoration. Since the decline of Rome, the stadium had been abandoned, used as apartments, and even as a church. This pope also erected this cross in honor of the Christians that lost their lives here.

After the Colosseum, we headed across the street to Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. Palatine Hill was the area where the emperors, senators, and other important people built their palaces. The Forum was the political, religious, and economic center of Rome. It as the place for parades, important speeches, religious ceremonies, elections, etc. Scott and I listened to our handy Rick Steve's Forum Tour on our iPods. It was informative...and free!

After some time in the Forum, we were climbed the stairs on the far end of the Forum, and ended up on street level. We were trying to find the St. Peter in Chains Church, but couldn't find the entrance. I was quite sure I had found the right door and began walking up the stairs to....the Rome Mayors Office. Thank you to Scott who saw what I was trying to do and saved me from much embarrassment and possible arrest.

Instead of the church, we headed to the Maritime Prison where Peter and Paul were imprisoned. It was tiny, damp, and smelled of mildew. It was remarkable and humbling to see where these two men were in chains for Christ and it was a humbling experience to see the horrible conditions in which they were kept.

After visiting the prison and the tiny chapel above it, we headed to the Pantheon. The Pantheon is fantastic...mostly because it was a nice shady place to sit for a while.

From here, after sitting in the Pantheon for awhile and deciding what to do for dinner, we headed over to my favorite place in all of Rome, Campo di Fiori. It's a piazza lined with restaurants and shops and around twilight it starts to fill with people. After dark it's completely magic--musicians, flower vendors, children, food, gelato--perfect. We decided to do dinner here, then begin the "Night Walk Across Rome," as outlined in our guidebook by Rick.

We ate dinner in Campo di Fiori at Ristorante Carbonara. It was lovely, with great views of the square and the all the action. The pasta was good too!

From dinner, we wandered around the square for a few minutes, then headed over to our next stop on our night walk, Piazza Navonna, home of the Four Rivers Fountain by Bernini and the world famous Death-by-Chocolate.

The Four Rivers Fountain represents the four main rivers known at that time: the Nile, the Ganges, the Danube, and the Rio de Plata. The fountain is beautiful with tons of minute detail....even a sculpture of an armadillo.

It was here that I got my Death by Chocolate tartufo ice cream. I wish I had a picture of it, but I don't. I ate it rather quickly, and let me just say, Sweet Mary that stuff was good. I got a double chin just from eating one serving.

After our ice cream/gelato break, we headed over to the Trevi Fountain. Truly a masterpiece and powered by an aqueduct, it's the place to go if you want to be haggled by rose vendors and see lots of teenagers make out.

It really is quite beautiful and you can hear the water rushing from a block away, but unfortunately, it's almost too crowded to enjoy. We found a quiet spot on the right side, took a few pictures, and headed to the Spanish Steps, our last stop on our night walk.

The Spanish Steps get their name because they lead up to the Spanish Ambassador to the Vatican and have been around for over 300 years. Apparently any good Romantic came here for some inspiration: Keats, Wagner, Byron, etc.

It was pretty, but it there's not much to see except....stairs. We took our pictures and headed for the metro for our long journey to the hotel, completely exhausted.

And that's Day 2. It's worn me out just re-living this through my journal and pictures. It's no wonder that I slept 24 of the first 48 hours that I was home!

Rome, Day 1

2009-07-07T12:35:00.000-07:00

To help my poor jet-lagged memory, I am referring to my journal for all the details from this trip. This blog is the closest that I get to keeping a journal, but for this trip I kept one faithfully, every night, just so that I could come home and blog about all that we had seen and done. I also kept a journal because I took 1000 pictures and I figured that it might help keep them all straight if I wrote down what we had seen. And because some nights I would ask Scott, "What did we do yesterday? I can't remember," and it would take us quite a while to remember what in the world we had done the previous day. I guess our poor brains were overloaded.

So here it is...

Day 1

Scott's mom dropped us off at the airport early that morning, and we accidentally went on the "All The Different Ways You Shouldn't Get To The Atlanta Airport Tour." When that little tour was over, we finally made it to our terminal and off we flew to Philadelphia for our Trans-Atlantic flight. The overseas flight was fine, nothing to note except that we all had individual TV screens and On-Demand movies and TV shows, which was pretty great. I took a Tylenol PM and slept quite nicely for about 5 hours.

We landed in Rome about 8:45 in the morning and the first thing that we saw out the window was....hay bales. Seriously. I was superbly disappointed at this less-than-ideal picture of Europe, but I didn't care. We were finally in Europe! I was so excited to finally be there and I was sure that we would have plenty of time to get to our hotel and drop our stuff off before our Vatican Museum Tour at 2:00. Little did I know....

The customs line was long and the airport was slightly confusing, but we managed to find the connecting train to Termini Station, the rail and metro hub for the city. We got to Termini Station, got a map, and sat down to find the street where our hotel was on the map. We searched and searched, only to discover that our street was so far out of the city center that it was OFF THE MAP. The man at the information desk suggested that we buy a bigger map, which we did, and we finally found our street, way off the in corner of the bigger city map.

We rode the metro to our stop, the next-to-last one on the B line. We walked out of the station to find that we were in the middle of the interstate. No street signs, no sidewalks, not even a taxi in sight. So, after some heated, ahem, discussion, it was decided that we should walk until we found a street sign so we could look at the map. We then proceed to march up what was actually an exit ramp to the interstate. About half-way up, we stopped and turned around, concluding that marching down the interstate was not a good idea. We went back to the metro station and tried to find some help. We asked and pointed and showed people the street address. Finally, we were directed to a bus that would take us to our street. We took the bus to our street and because of the communication barrier, we got off too soon....about 2.5 miles too soon.

Not knowing what else to do, we started walking....we walked a very, very long time. Uphill. With our backpacks. In the 90-100 degree heat. After not sleeping for 24 hours. Finally, after what seemed like forever, we saw our hotel. At this point we were short on time for our Vatican Tour...we threw our stuff down, gulped down some water, and headed back out of the door--disoriented, tired, dehydrated, exhausted, and in a hurry.

We flew to Vatican City by taxi and metro, and ran like mad people to the Museum entrance. I probably injured a few small children in my frenzy, but I was dehydrated and sleep-deprived, so it really wasn't a shining moment for me. We actually made it to our group at 2:10, and we set off to tour the four miles of museum.

Don't get me wrong, Vatican City was great. The museum was fascinating and our tour guide was informative. The Sistine Chapel was breathtaking...but all I could think was, "I need something to drink. Pronto." My back was hurting and we'd already walked for miles that day. We actually left St. Peter's Basilica so we could get some Powerade because we simply couldn't carry on any longer.

Because of my severe dehydration and exhaustion, I only retained a little of what I heard during my Vatican Tour. This is why I have no explanation for some of my pictures. I was just aiming my camera at random statues and hoping for the best and praying for a water fountain.

In the main square of the Vatican, directly outside St. Peter's

The Vatican Guard. He may dress like a jester, but I'm pretty sure that he can kill with his bare hands.

The detail on the high altar...incredible.

St. Peter's high altar, sitting right above the crypt where his bones rest.

Not sure about this one...I think it was outside the Basilica.

Vatican Square

Inside the museum.

This is one that I blame on dehydration.

And this one...I have no idea what it is.

In the end, Day 1 ended much better than it began. We were safe in Europe, had finally located our hotel, and made our tour on time. We ate a nice pizza dinner near the train station and headed to the hotel, thinking that all our transportation woes were over. Little did we know what was in store first thing the morning of Day 2.....

Home!

2009-07-05T13:49:00.000-07:00

There's no place like it, right? Scott and I had a fabulous time traveling but we're glad to be home....we're completely exhausted! I've just uploaded my 1,000 pictures that I took, so there will be much to come on our adventures in...

...Paris

...Venice

...Florence

...Rome

Now, I need to go do laundry and get some groceries.

Ciao!

2009-06-21T10:48:00.000-07:00

Off we go tomorrow! See ya July 4th.

Ciao bellos!

My Old Friends, Rick and Sally

2009-06-18T05:45:00.000-07:00

In January 2006, 2nd semester of my 2nd year of college, I headed off to Sevilla, Spain to study abroad for 4 months. I didn't have a clue what I was doing. At this point, my Spanish was good and I knew a little about Spain....and that was it. Before I left, a good friend of mine suggested that I pick up a travel book by Rick Steves. I went to Books-A-Million, picked up a copy of Rick Steves Spain 2006, and that was the beginning of a very helpful friendship.

I read the entire book, cover to cover, completely entralled. I had been dreading my departure date, now I couldn't wait to leave. Rick's been in the travel business since long before I was born and he's seen it all and done it all. All of his books are written in a 1st person perspective, so it seems as he's talking directly to you, leading you on tours and helping you decide where to eat for dinner. His defining characteristic is his "Europe Thru The Back Door" emphasis...meaning, don't be a typical tourist: pack light and live as the locals live, learn something new, go off the beaten path, save money and time, etc. So armed with my luggage and Rick, I left for Spain confident and self-assured. That is, until I had to leave my parents at the security check.

My flight from Atlanta connected to New York, and after a 6 hour lay-over, to Madrid, then to Sevilla. In the JFK Airport before my trans-atlantic flight, I saw a girl sitting on the floor by the restrooms. She had a lot of luggage and I noticed that her tags were labeled the same as mine: 33 Calle ___________, Sevilla, SPAIN....) Typically, I am not the person who will approach a stranger to begin a conversation. However, there was nothing typical about that day. I had said good-bye to my parents that morning, my mom and sister cried...and made me cry. I said good-bye to my then boyfriend (soon-to-be fiance...little did I know) the day before. I'd been traveling alone, struggled to find the correct terminal, pushed heavy luggage around all day....so to see someone who might understand what I was feeling was enough for me to run up to her, hug her, start crying, and then blubber for 15 minutes about how I missed Scott, was feeling overwhelmed, and was scared about flying over the ocean.

We began talking, I managed not begin blubbering, and we found that we had lots in common. She was studying abroad with Center for Cross-Cultural Studies, I was too. She left Pete behind, I left Scott. She left her mom, dad, and sister and I had too. She was nervous, I was too. But the true beginning of our friendship was when we discovered we had a mutual friend.....Rick Steves. My new friend Sally would become one of my dearest friends on either side of the ocean and many times, my saving grace during those 4 months. She and I would do everything together. On the weekends, we would pack our backpacks, grab Rick, and head off to whatever town seemed interesting in our Rick Steves book: Cadiz, Malaga, Barcelona, Gibralter, etc. We explored every inch of Sevilla together, passed the time together when we missed our boyfriends (which was quite often), and went to Starbucks together everytime we got homesick.

Over our months there, Rick Steves' knowledge was invaluable. He saved us time and money and his narratives are so specific and accurate that we thought of him as our third traveler. Many times we say, "I don't know, let's ask Rick," or "What does Rick say about that?" as we consulted our books. I saw so many amazing things and experienced so many things thanks to Rick and Sally. Thank you Sally! Spain wouldn't have been near as fun without you...please don't ever tell anyone how bad I am at dancing las Sevillanas.

So as Scott and I have been preparing to leave for Europe on Monday (Rome, Florence, Venice, Paris in 12 days), I've been reacquainting myself with my old friend Rick...which makes me miss my other old friend, Sally. Rick, again, has been extremely useful in our preparations. His book, The Best of Europe 2009 is fantastic, and his website is a wealth of knowledge. When we booked our trip in February, Scott and I decided to travel in true Rick Steves style: one carry-on per person. That's it. I'm also carrying one small bag for my camera and lenses. One backpack full of clothes for 12 days. I'm not totally sure how it's all going to work out, but if Rick Steves says that it's the best way, then it must be. Plus, it will be fantastic to grab our backpacks and head out directly into Rome and say, "Ciao bellos," to the people waiting at the baggage claim.

We leave Monday morning for Atlanta, then fly to Philadelphia, then to Rome that evening. By Tuesday afternoon, we'll be touring the Vatican. I. Can't. Wait.

Sally, Europe won't be the same without you. We should go back to Spain and bring our men with us, Scott, Pete.....and of course Rick.

An Adventure

2009-06-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

Scott and I are getting ready to go to Europe in a little over a week....so prepare for the photography spectacle, I decided that it was best if I shot some practice photos before I left. I talked to a few of my students and asked if they would play along with my little scheme. Sue was a willing participant and a great sport as I dragged her all over Terrell County....it was also her fabulous idea to go to this abandoned house. As soon as we drove up, I fell in love. It was an amazing little house....this place would be a wonderful venue for shooting bridal portraits. The rustic old house would contrast fabulously with a beautiful white dress....I wish I knew someone getting married that would be willing to let me drag them out there.

Sue did a great job...she was natural! She would laugh every time I told her not to smile...which suits her personality perfectly. I can't wait for her Senior portrait session, which may be a destination session. How fun!

Recently...

2009-06-09T07:46:00.000-07:00

1. Teaching summer school is long and boring.
2. I lost my glasses Friday night at the Braves, exactly 2 weeks before Scott and I head to Europe. Awesome timing.
3. I picked a hair off my shirt this morning and upon closer examination, I thought to myself, "It has a skin tag...I could get my DNA off of this." What in the world is happening to me? I watch too much CSI.
4. I'm going to my second sewing lesson tomorrow and I'm not afraid to admit that I'm a little nervous. I just know that one day my finger is going to get stabbed by one of those fast-moving needles.
5. I went to Body Pump last night at the gym. It hurt. I woke up this morning. It still hurt.
6. I went to the Dougherty County Public Library yesterday. I checked out 10 huge, heavy books on Italian Art. Carrying them to my car was quite a feat.
7. Kobe Bryant needs to learn how to have some fun. I mean, everyone agrees that you're still best, Mr. Black Mamba. Now you should be happy about it, dadgumit.

I think that's all for now. Over and out.

The Story of Bear Paw

2009-06-05T07:55:00.000-07:00

Scott and I got to spend last weekend with a group of friends at Nick's lake house in Murphee, N.C.. Whenever we get together with these friends, I end up laughing so hard that my face hurts. I love these people, and since there is no way that I can re-tell the whole weekend and give it justice, here are lots of pictures (in no particular order) and a brief summary of the weekend.

1. There was no cell service, contrary to what Nick promised.

2. If your chocolate is too thick, your s'more won't be quite right. (Read that however you want)

3. I jumped off of a 20 foot cliff into the water.

4. I didn't want to do it.

5. It hurt.

6. Koreans should only play Quip-It in certain company.

7. When Luda says, "How do you say........," chances are, you're going to laugh at whatever comes next.

8. Lake Hiwassee is beautiful.

9. Nick doesn't like chocolate ice cream.

10. Scott's shorts may or may not be too tight....and doing lunges apparently don't help you decide. Dave ripping the tag off does.

11. Have I mentioned I love these people?

Plums, Vinegar, and Mark Richt

2009-05-21T18:06:00.001-07:00

There have been many times when I've been cleaning, using all my store-bought cleaner, when I've thought, "This CAN'T be good for you." I mean, have you smelled that stuff? There's no way that stuff isn't doing something bad for your brain cells.

Since I am a teacher, I really need all my brain cells....so this concern sent me researching for more natural cleaning methods. The overwhelming result was vinegar. Plain 'ol white distilled vinegar. People use it for everything from pickling to mopping hard wood floors...and it's a disinfectant! After a little research, I found that by simply adding some water to vinegar with a little "smell good" will get you super-cheap, super-fantastic all-purpose cleaner. Seriously, it worked SO WELL. I even tried it on my windows, and sweet Mary, it worked better than Windex. And it cost about $0.87. Okay, I really have no idea how much the total cost was because I don't do math, I do know that the entire gallon of vinegar only cost $2.50, much cheaper than your standard bottle of cleaner.

Take one empty bottle....

...add some smell good. I used this stuff from Bath and Body Works, but essential oil would work. So would plain old lemon juice.

I used 2 parts vinegar, 1 part water, but any ratio would be fine...I wanted mine relatively strong because I wanted to clean my counters with the concoction.

Voila! You've got your cleaner. Look out Martha Stewart.

These plums are from the tree in my backyard. This afternoon, I looked down and saw Shiloh eating something....and it was a plum! It suddenly dawned on me to go check on the tree.....and it was brimming with plums. I picked as many that were ripe, but there are so many that are still green. We'll have quite the harvest this year. I guess I'll be making plum pudding....because that's the only recipe I've ever heard of that calls for plums. Or maybe that's fig pudding? As in, bring me a figgy pudding? I don't know.

Any suggestions? What else could I do with a whole mess of plums?

They're little but they are DELICIOSO...very sweet.

I was driving to A and G's house to feed their dogs....and look who I saw at the country club! None other than Mark Richt. You know, they say he wears make-up and that's why his skin always looks so good on camera. I don't know about that, but I do know that Alabama beat Georgia so bad this year that I know a few DAWG fans that are still crying about it. Just sayin'.

I hear that if Spurrier doesn't start winning at South Carolina, he might have to drive this thing around to make a living.

The girls that I run with are out of town, at the beach without me. So while they are getting tan, I am getting fat and lazy and feeding A's babies. I brought the camera along just in case something good happened....and I'm glad I did.

This is Henry and he LOVES the camera. I mean, really, really loves it. Every time I would put the camera to my face, he would sit down and hold up one paw and look directly at the camera. It was very regal.

So serious....

....smiling.

This picture cracks me up.

Happy Memorial Day!

You had me at pesto...

2009-05-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

"Would you say that your pesto is the best-o? No, but it's pretty good-o."

Can you identify this quote? If you can, you and I both probably should get a life....or some new hobbies.

Today marked the last day of the last full week of school. Tonight, my Seniors graduated. The Braves won at home. This afternoon, I made pesto.....it's awfully exciting around here.

My love affair with pesto began at Harvest Moon. I've had many-a love affair at Harvest Moon---with all the different amazing types of pizza--- but this particular night, I ordered the Roasted Rooster, which comes with pesto instead of tomato sauce. It was so good, I got a little weak in the knees.

And I haven't had pesto since then. And my life has seemed a little void. So, this afternoon, I marched out into the garden and picked some basil.

After giving it a good 'ol washin', I introduced to it to some friends....

They all fell in love, got married, and BAM--pesto was born. I should have taken a picture of the final product. I was just so excited that I couldn't control myself. Once it was done, I promptly added it to a bowl of pasta with some cherry tomatoes.....it was divine, heavenly, delisioso. Amen.

This 'un is almost ripe for the pickin'!

These guys have probably been ready to pick for a few days. I was just too nervous to do it. I kept going out there, looking at them, touching them....picking your first tomato is a big deal, people! After a lot of fretting, contemplating, and prayer, I picked them. Now I'm afraid to eat them for fear that they aren't really ripe and I'll get sick or that one bite will kill me instantaneously....from tomato poisoning. I'll let you know what happens.

Tomorrow Scott and I are taking the youth and children from church to Six Flags. Scattered thunderstorms are expected all day. Heaven. Help. Me.

Dear Mom...

2009-05-09T21:14:00.001-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!

I told my mom a few days ago that I had a blog. She said, "Oh. I've heard about those things but I have no idea how they work." After some explaining she says, "Well, are you going to write something to me on there?"

The answer is yes I am, Marmar. There is a slight chance that I forgot to put a Mother's Day card in the mail, so here is my online Mother's Day card to you:

Dear Mom,

Remember that time you were picking me up from a friend's house and I swore that I knew how to get out of the neighborhood, and how we drove around for an hour, lost? Remember that time that I got asked to Prom as a sophomore and you drove me to the mall the very same night and after looking for hours, you found the perfect dress? Remember those mornings where I would ransack your closet and wear your clothes? Remember that time when I was cooking my very first Easter dinner for 12 people, you helped me cook for hours? Remember that time we went to the strawberry patch and we came back with 20 lbs of strawberries?

I do.

Remember all those days when you drove me 30 minutes to school every morning? Remember those afternoons when you would let us pick out anything we want from the gas station as an afternoon snack? Remember all those times when you would take me shopping and never buy anything for yourself? Remember all those football games and plays....and ballet recitals, basketball games, awards ceremonies, and school functions that you came to?

I do. I also remember, when I was studying abroad, you would call occasionally to tell me that you had dropped $20.00 in my checking account. I remember all the things that I wanted to do and all the goals I had for my life....you never said no, you never doubted one second. I remember all the times you adopted random stray pets, both temporarily and permanently, much to the chagrin of Dad. I remember how you paid for my high school education at Briarwood and how you supported every single activity, club, and organization that I wanted to join. I remember how you were the first to welcome any friend or boyfriend that I brought home. I remember how you can remember virtually any phone number that you've ever dialed (it's impressive).

Sitting here and typing, I'm remembering so many things that you have done for me for which I have never said thank you. So thank you. Thank you for fighting for me in circumstances that would have forced many people to quit or give up. Thank you for everything you did and every penny you spent ensuring that I got a good education and that I could have a good life. Thank you for all the mileage that you put on your car driving me all across Birmingham. Thank you for all the spontaneous lunches you've bought me. Thank you for helping me plan a wedding. Thank you for teaching me to love my family and to have compassion on everyone.

Thank you for everything, even though that will never be enough for everything you've done.

I love you, and whenever I become a mother, my prayer is that God would mold me after the amazing example that you've set for me over the years. Happy Mother's Day!

Something Out of Nothing

2009-05-07T14:27:00.001-07:00

Here in South Georgia, everyone is agriculturally knowledgeable. On my way to church from Albany to Dawson, I drive alongside farm after farm of peanuts, cotton, and soybeans. Everyone here is a farmer, knows a farmer, has a relative that's a farmer, so when I moved here, I had a lot to learn. I was the little girl from the big city. Kind of like Green Acres...but without the catchy theme song.

For instance, every late spring, it's time to "put the 'matoes in." (really it's more like "tamatuhs") Since I have been introduced to Mayhaw jelly, learned how to make homemade skillet biscuits, and started to say things like "actin' a donkey" (thanks Amy) since moving down here, I thought, what the heck. I'll build a flower bed.

I will spare the details of my trip to Lowe's to get the materials. All I'm going to say is it involved 15 calls to dad, three trips back and forth across the store, bruises, and a few held-back tears. I hauled timber, handsawed the timber, nailed it together, got sunburned, and accidentally hammered my knee.

But it was worth it....I bought some "tamatuh" plants and put them in. I put in some basil, other herbs, and even a watermelon plant. I started some zucchini seeds, not really sure what would happen, but they're growing! My little garden is doing well....I've been hovering over it like it's a child, but it's paid off.

Some chives, just beginning to come up.

Some basil. Please excuse the focus, I had it on auto-focus because it was drizzling and I was holding an umbrella over the camera with my other hand.

Okay, anyone know what this is? Is it a real rose or one of the dreaded "knock-out" roses. They're pretty, they're thorny, but they don't seem quite like a real rose. Anyone? Bueller?

Please notice the little bugs in the bottom left-hand corner. They're little hineys were touching and I could only assume that what was going on was....um....something that their mama's wouldn't be proud of. I couldn't resist, I flicked them off. Is that bad? I just felt like they were violating my roses, real or not.

Soon to be pesto.

This is an Invincible Hosta. Seriously, you can't kill it. I tried. On purpose. Well, it didn't start as an intentional plant murder, but I forgot to water it....and that turned into me thinking, "I wonder what would happen if I just didn't water it." So I didn't. For an entire year.

So imagine my surprise when this spring, guess who was back? Mr. Hosta. I named him out of guilt over my terrible little experiment. (my grandma would be so ashamed)

Zucchini sprouts! These are going in the garden this weekend.

All this gardening and plant-talk has got me thinking about the little miracle of plant growth, and I can't help but marvel at God's creativity. The daily growth of a plant is a tiny, beautiful, unique miracle and I am amazed that He can take a seed--lifeless, useless, ugly--and turn it into something so beautiful.....

..... I can't help but be thankful that He took me from my lifeless, useless state and gave me life and purpose. Thank you Jesus!

Prom!

2009-05-05T16:37:00.000-07:00

I have good memories about high school prom. I remember getting ready with friends, hair appointments, anxiety over what-do-I-say, what-do-I-do, is my hair going to make it, etc. I went to three proms and all of them were fabulous. In fact, in all four high school years, three dances a year, there was only one dance that was disastrous. I don't know if I should talk about it, but what I will tell you is that afterwards, Meredith and I drowned our sorrows in some Ben and Jerry's Half Baked Brownie Batter. Even as freshmen we were smart enough to know that chocolate is the magical cure for everything.

I couldn't help thinking about all my high school prom memories lately. I got to re-live all my proms as the Junior class sponsor since the Junior Class was in charge of the Junior/Senior Prom. Thanks to my fabulous parents (particularly Debbie), it was a success! I even had a few spare minutes to capture some of the big night.

I have beautiful students.

The Senior boys. Camera settings were atrocious on these pictures, but I like the way it turned out.

These Senior ladies are F-U-N. I'm going to miss you girls!

Class of 2009. Sassy as always.

The one above was a complete accident. But I love it.

I secretly love the fact that these girls hang out in my room every 7th period. Love them.

This girl is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.

I would explain the whole experience behind putting the Eiffel Tower up, but I can't. I'm still getting over it.

Thanks to all the fabulous moms that gave up their time to help so graciously!

Yahoo! We made it! Now on to planning the Senior Trip.....Chehaw Park 2010!

Come, let us reason together...

2009-04-29T10:39:00.001-07:00

When it came time to buy a computer for the house, Scott and I chose a Mac for several reasons:

1. They're are user-friendly...which really means all the right-brained people in the world like myself can use them without getting ulcers.

2. They're pretty.

3. The Mac commercials TOTALLY kick the booty of the PC commercials

4. Once you go Mac you never go back. (Scott already owned a PowerBook)

So, with this stellar reasoning, we ordered an iMac with our tax return money last year. Let me just say, seeing that beautiful shiny computer sitting on the desk for the first time might have made me tinkle in my pants a little.

Anyway, I love my computer. My computer loves me. Until two days ago, it decided to stop loving me. As I was editing pictures, my editing program started turning all the pictures black. It can't be undone. I tried everything: I sang it love songs, I reasoned and debated, I cried, I pleaded, I bargained, threatened, burned incense....nothing. So, that's why there are no pictures in this post. And that's why I have been in a state of despair the last two days. And that's why I can't post pictures of the particular Southern gem that is The Church Picnic.

My computer problems have led to other problems in my life: my dogs got into my vegetable garden. I accidentally peeled the whole plastic label off my Chapstick (my pet peeve!). I am having a bad hair day. So you see, I need to fix this problem pronto so that my whole life doesn't crumble around me.

Strange Events and "Useless" Seniors

2009-04-24T21:56:00.000-07:00

The last week has been a bit bizarre.... (by the way, I just learned that "bizarre" has two r's. Like 3 seconds ago.) ....a bit like the Twilight Zone, minus the scary music and 20 story elevator drops. Truly, nothing major, but several small strange things add up to one weird week. Just to name a few of the strange and unusual things that have been happening the past week:

1. The Braves won a baseball game.

2. My grandparents got Facebook.

3. My home was not under a tornado or severe thunderstorm watch this past week.

4. I learned how to use a sewing machine and it didn't involve an ER visit.

5. I have NOT killed a plant or bought a pair of shoes. (if you know me, this is HUGE)

And to match the theme of the week, I thought it would be a good idea to do an impromptu "I Like Casual Friday Dance" in front of my boss this morning. Awesome.

Moving on...

My Seniors left this morning for their Senior trip in Orlando. So yesterday, their last day of school before their departure, they were useless....meaning, I wasn't gonna get a thing out of them even remotely academically related. Being the wise and strict teacher that I am, I took them outside and took pictures for the Senior slideshow. Here are a few that I think really speak for the overall personality of the class of 2010.

In other news, I got a new lens for an upcoming trip to Europe....and while it has a wide range (ahem, Camille), I am very pleased with the results so far. These are of Shiloh in the backyard. She has recently learned that the camera will in fact, not kill her or steal her soul, so she is finally becoming useful and sitting still for pictures.

I realize that this picture of my back door and porch isn't the best reflection of my house. Please disregard the clawmarks. If you come visit, I will make sure that you only see the pretty doors.