Stocking Stuffers

I think it would still be so fun to {still} do stockings. When we were little girls, my sister and I always had such fun surprises in our stockings. Every year we knew there would be a Disney movie in our stocking, but other than that, it was like dumping out a treasure chest of knick-knacks. Maybe next year hubs and I will do stockings...

If I were to fill my own stocking this Christmas, this is what I'd include:

01:: Candy! {Sour Patch kids are my favorite}
02:: Watch
03:: Burt's Bee's chapstick {Is there any other kind?}
04:: Ear phones {I need a magical pair that will actually stay in ears. Any suggestions out there?}
05:: iTunes gift card
06:: iPhone case
07:: Current issue of my fav magazine
08:: Thank you notes

{Special note: I got the idea for this post from one of my fav blogs.}

Catalyst Recap Pt. 1

Back in October, when hubs and I went to Catalyst, we heard Francis Chan speak. He was, by far, our favorite speaker of the conference. I am hoping that he and I will get the chance to read his book in the coming weeks.

There was something in my spirit that agreed with what he said in his talk; he went through scripture after scripture of how the church should care for the "least of these" {which isn't part of the clip I included here}. Why is it so hard for us to care for the poor, the orphan and the widow? Oh how I long for us to be the church who thinks Biblically and makes "weird" choices!

Jesus, Be in My Christmas

Before Thanksgiving, I told my friend at work that it was just going to be a really full season for Mike and me. I figured out that we didn't have a free Saturday until the New Year. Admittedly, I was a little overwhelmed by this thought. I had to remind myself that all the things on our plate were things I wanted to do and that most of them would be a lot of fun.

Knowing that it was going to be a busy couple of months, I didn't want to loose sight of preparing my heart for Jesus during this Christmas season. My colleague sent me this book. It was such a sweet and thoughtful gift! Each day there is a morning and evening reading. They each begin "Jesus, be in my ________." I love getting the moment to reflect and reposition my heart towards Jesus each day.

What an incredible blessing this book has been to me, especially because my friend gave it to me as a response of my sharing with her how busy I've been. Thank you, Jesus, for moments of quiet rest in the midst of crazy living. Come, Immanuel, Come.

Christmas Wreath

When we pulled out our decorations for Christmas earlier this month, I remembered these ornaments I have never put on my tree. I told the hubs I wanted to figure out something to do with them since I hate wasting things {almost to a fault}. :)

I found this idea via one of the blogs I read and decided to copy it. Here's to Holiday craftiness {which is something I rarely do}. I picked up a fun pink wreath from Target in the $1 section -- the wreath was $2.50 -- and some small ornaments in the Christmas section.

Basically, I just went to town hot gluing the ornaments to the wreath. I was surprised at how easy it was!! Well, besides a few burned fingers. I tried to make sure I varied the colors and sizes so that the wreath looked balanced.


I am very happy with the results! It is now hanging proudly on my front door. It turned out that it wasn't my color scheme this year, but I originally planned for my home to have the bright colors theme for Christmas {hence the extra ornaments}. I'm glad I got to use these fun colors somewhere.

Thanks-giving.

So, I know I'm a little behind on the whole Holiday thing, but I feel like I can't talk about Christmas until I share a little about Thanksgiving. We had a great time in Savannah! We did the actual Thanksgiving meal at my sister's house. The three of us girls had a great time cooking together in the kitchen {and we're so thankful that Mike helped}. We loved the food and getting to spend time with my family--we helped Mom & Dad buy a TV, went to garage sales all over town, watched a couple of movies and played Mexican train.

It's so easy for me to get so caught up on cooking and making everything just right on Thanksgiving that I forget to remember all the things I am thankful for. This year, I made these cards for everyone to fill out while we all waited on dinner to be ready {I wanted to add a ribbon on the side of each one, but I ran out of time}. It was a fantastic and easy way for us to all express our thanks for the things and people that have made our lives so special.

{My grandmama's card}

I am thankful for:
01. Mike 02. A-mazing parents and parents-in-law 03. My sister 04. A new and very sweet niece 05. The rest of my family 06. Being deficit free!!! 07. God's {abundant and sweet} provision during the past year 08. My job 09. The mini-vacations/weekend get-aways we've had in 2010 10. Coffee! 11. So much more!!!

Recent Reads

{picture found here}

I am a reader. I've always been a reader {which is probably why I majored in English Education in college}. I get it from my dad. He is the most voracious reader I know...and could open his own used book store, seriously. When my sister and I were little, he would take us to the library and let us pick out as many books as we wanted. Thanks, dad, for giving us a love of reading and books.

Lately, I've been re-discovering how much I LOVE the library. All of the books I've read in the last six months have come from our local library. Here are some my recent reads...maybe it should be a goal of mine to read a book a month {since that seems to be where I'm headed anyway}.

1. The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd.

Perfect beach read {which is where I read it}. I enjoyed it, but not nearly as much as Secret Life of Bees.

2. American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

Loosely based on the life of Laura Bush. I had to remind myself that it was fiction.

3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

This book was so good and a fun read. I'm a big fan of Southern lit. Set in the 1960s, this book portrays the life of several house keepers in the Deep South. I highly recommend this book.

4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson

After hearing a lot of buzz about these books, I finally decided to pick one up. And...I couldn't put it down. A well-written mystery novel for anyone who likes that genre. {Disclaimer: this book has some graphic and disturbing details about serial killings}.

5. The Girl who Played with Fire by Steig Larsson

The second book of the trilogy. We learn more about Lisbeth Salander and her past. Another great page-turner. {Not nearly as graphic as the first novel}.

What have you been reading lately?

P.S. Mike, I promise that our bookshelves won't look like the ones in this picture...at least not until we have a bigger house.

Fill in the Blank Friday

I thought I would do something a little different today and participate in Fill in the Blank Friday.
{Disclaimer: I got this idea from Abby}.

1. The most spontaneous thing I've ever done was get my nose pierced. I had wanted to do it for several years, but never got enough guts to do it. Then, my friend Pam took me as a Christmas present. Thanks, Pammie!

2. The best gift I've ever received was a free car. Yes, an anonymous donor gave me the car I drive a couple of years ago. It's been a blessing and miracle. :)

3. A time that I was truly and genuinely surprised was when Mike first told me he was crazy about me. {Maybe I'll write more about this story another time}

4. I can't leave the house without my phone and keys {boring, I know}.

5. My favorite day of the week is Tuesday because it's the night that the hubster and I are both home together. We've been making an effort to do stuff we love to do together {exercising, watching TV, cooking together} on these nights.

6. Something that can always make me laugh is Mike's impersonations. Seriously, have you seen or heard him imitate someone? He's really good at it.

7. My perfect day would include waking up a little late, brunch at Big City Bread with Miguel, Yoga-X, pedicures & shopping at Queen of Hearts with my BFF, dinner at Cali N Titos. Then, a game night with friends at my house or something.

Little Corner of the World

I have so much to say these days, and really not a lot of time to process it all. We've been busy! I just need to own it because that's where we are. Mike and I both are working two jobs each, which has made for little time to see each other and for our social lives. {On a side note, I really hate it when I say I'm too busy. Busy doesn't always = productivity.}


Here's a little of what's been happening in our little corner of the world:

• My good friend {and former roommate} Shelby got married and I was a bridesmaid! The wedding was absolutely beautiful. She was beautiful and calm.
  
• We went to the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta...and stayed with our friend's Laura Sue and Adam. Thanks, friends, for putting us up!
  
• We carved pumpkins with our InterVarsity students.
• Work has been really, really busy and really challenging lately. I've had to step up my leadership and initiative. It's been good...but still hard {Maybe more on this later}.
  
• Trader Joe's opened in Athens-town!
• We went to L.A. to visit M's sister and brother-in-law...and to meet our brand new, sweet niece.
• We went with some of our IV students to "The 40." The 40 is InterVarsity's Fall Conference for all the IV chapters in the state of Georgia. It was a super fun and encouraging time with them.
• And, I squeezed in a visit to see by BFF for a night. She lives right next to the 400 Outlets, and it was tough not to go shopping. We had a great time hanging out, and it was SO GOOD to see her and her family.
• We paid off our ministry deficit - $29,000 in 10 months! {Definitely more on this soon...prepare yourselves, it will be a lot of rambling}.
  

As I look at this list, I am so thankful to the Lord. He's been constant and good to us - even when I couldn't see it for myself. I am excited to say I will be posting more in the days to come!

Sick Days

Here's the thing about sick days. I dream of taking sick days as an "extra" day to finish a home project, clean the house or as a day to refresh my soul. The only problem is that when I take a sick day, I'm really sick. I had a nasty, snotty cold a couple of weeks ago that knocked me off of my feet for the whole week. It totally stunk because I was home, but I sure didn't feel like working on any of my "projects."

{image found here}

Being sick just means I got further behind on things around the house that I wanted to do -- like decorating for the Fall, balancing the checkbook, going to the grocery store, blogging. You know, though, that's life. I am learning that I have to rest and allow myself to get better instead of pushing through to finish the things off of my to-do list. And...FINALLY...after two weeks I have caught up on my stuff. Feels good. I'm glad to be feeling better!

Through and Through

Most of you already know that I am a Georgia Girl through and through. Well, something got into me over the past couple of days. I had to do something that's iconic Georgia. I boiled peanuts and baked a peach pie!! {Well, Mike and I made the peach pie together.}

On Sunday, M and I decided we wanted to observe the Sabbath. This season is always really, really busy for us, and we know how important a day of rest can be when we are working longer days. So, M and I both did things that bring life to my soul. One of those things for me included picking up a pail of peaches from Thomas Orchards, and the other was boiling peanuts. {These are two of my favorite foods.}

So, on Sunday I made the peanuts while I read a book on my patio {more on that soon}. Here are a couple pics of the peanuts. YUM!!!



Then, last night Mike surprised me by cooking supper for me!! It was such a sweet treat. When I got home from work, the table was set, and I had a sweet card from him waiting on my plate. It turns out, we are trying to make Tuesdays our "date night." We can't go out every Tuesday {or most Tuesdays}, but we can try to spend intentional fun time together. After supper, I convinced Mike to help me with another sweet treat - baking this peach pie. It was my first try at making a pie completely from scratch. I used this recipe. It was perfect!!

I worked on the crust, and Mike cut the peaches. It was A LOT of work, but it was a fun way to spend time together. Thanks, babe! Let me tell you, folks, that pie is well worth the effort.

{Yes, that is my pie. I did the basket weave crust. The BEST crust I've ever had!}

So, I guess this proves I'm a bona-fide Georgia girl! I loved inviting my hubs into something that I brings joy to me. I guess this means I'll be watching LOTS of football with him soon {since that's something he loves to do}. :)

Beach Vacation :: Day Three

So, I am WAY overdue sharing the rest of the trip to the beach. But, alas, here's more on our Kelly family vacation. The day ended up being a basic vacation day. We did p90x in the morning, followed by some lunch and an afternoon on the beach. I think we did Yoga X, and it kicked my booty...I ended up being relatively low energy for most of the afternoon. Dave and Greg had to work during the day, but they got to join us in the late afternoon for some time in the sun & sand.

Then, the "kids" cooked fish tacos for dinner that night. Throughout the trip, we had some good meals together!!

My mother-in-law {Georjeanne} dubbed the Kelly's the "Fun Family" long before Greg or myself joined the fun, and we do have a lot of fun together!! We have several "traditions" we started I'm realizing that most of these "traditions" were things that Kim & Greg started last Thanksgiving when we visited them in L.A.

• We all wore silly bands for the week.
• We did p90x together for
• My most favorite, is that we do trivia each night during dinner.  There are prizes for the winner. 

What are your favorite family vacation traditions?

Beach Vacation :: Day Two

Dave and Georjeanne spend the summer at Oak Island, and each Sunday they go to a church that meets on the pier. Mike and I almost missed it, but we managed to make it just in time for the 8:30 service. It was a nice service, and we loved being able to go to an early service so that we could spend more time on the beach.

After church we cooked a big brunch together. Everyone had a part in helping get it ready{somehow, I ended up without a job}. :)

{The family finishing up a delicious brunch}

Then, we headed out to the beach and spent the rest of the day out there. {I managed to convince Mike that we needed to skip working-out so that we could get on the beach}. Mike and I played Dave and Greg in a game of Bocce ball. It was fun, but ended up being really, really hot. I got a little too much sun this day and spent the rest of the week under the tent OUT of the sun.

We also celebrated Mike’s birthday on Sunday. He got to choose his what we had for supper {Dave's ribs}.

{Such a good meal! The ribs were the best I've ever had. Thanks Dave for leaving the beach early to get everything ready!!}

Georjeanne made her famous ice-cream pie for dessert {Mike’s favorite}. Let me tell you, it was to die for!!

{Not sure if you can tell, but I am completely lobster-fied here}

{This is pretty close to heaven!}

Beach Vacation :: Day One

I've been wanting to post about our vacation for a month! Way back in July, Mike and I went on a family vacation with the Kelly clan to Oak Island. We had a really great time together hanging out on the beach, cooking good meals, playing games and catching up on life.

We got to the beach late on Friday night and after saying hello to everyone, we all basically went straight to bed. Thanks everyone for waiting up for us! The first order of business on Saturday morning was to cut Mike’s hair. It was the second time I’ve ever cut his hair.

{before}

{after}

After our workout {more on that later}, we went to the beach for a couple of hours. It was good to get out on the beach. Just before I left Athens, I was sure to get a good beach read. Thanks Leslie for the book suggestion. I spent the week reading The Mermaid Chair when I wasn't playing in the water or snoozing in the sand. I would recommend this read if you're looking for a good book.

That night, we went out to eat for Dave and Georjeanne's anniversary at a local restaurant. We had a great time together, and it was a joy to celebrate my in-laws' marriage with them. {I had the crab cakes, and they were delicious.} It is obvious that my in-laws have a true love and friendship and devotion to one another. I don't think I could have wished or prayed for better.

{The "kids" and Baby S ready to go out on the town for Dave & Georjeanne's anniversary dinner.}

Midday Fail :(

Lately I have been trying to do my part in sticking to our budget. However, one of my favorite things to do is go to lunch with a girlfriends. It's like a special treat in the middle of the day. To remedy this potential dilemma, I've been "brown-bagging it" with my friends this summer. {Of course, it's not as fun as the experience of sitting down at a restaurant and enjoying someone else's cooking.} Folks, I gotta stick to my budget, and I believe that's a good thing.

So, yesterday, I had lunch with my good friend Shelby. It has been FOREVER since we've seen each other {okay, only a month, but it felt like a lifetime}. Shelby and I grew up together, but really became good friends when she moved here for grad school. Before I got married we were roommates for two years and saw each other almost everyday. Little did I know what a sweet time that was. It was just so good to share life with a good girlfriend on a daily basis.

Here's the sweet bag, Shelby brought lunch to share. I thought it was super fun and appropriate!

Anyway, Shelby's a teacher so we can only do lunch dates during the summer. She called me on Wednesday and said she would pick up a Martha's Salad plate from Marti's to share {let me please remind you that I was fully prepared to pack my own lunch, but she insisted}. This salad is the best in town! We were both SO excited. Here's the sad part...Marti's was closed! Every summer, Marti goes on vacation for a couple of weeks after the fourth. Well, once again, we tried to have lunch during Marti's vacation. It's at least the third year running we've done this.

Shelby picked up some chicken salad from another place in town, and it was good. It just wasn't Marti's. Regardless, we had a great time catching up. I loved hearing about her wedding plans and other fun things happening in life. Hooray for fun lunch dates! Thanks for the chicken salad, Shelby! :)

X-ing It!

For the past two months Mike and I have been doing the p90x workout. It's been an awesome run, but I have to admit it's been hard. Yes, hard because the work-outs are brutal, and when I think they'll start getting easier it just isn't so. They get tougher and more challenging because I'm stronger and can do more of the work-out. In the past 2 months, I have gained back 5 lbs. FIVE POUNDS!!! A WHOLE BAG OF SUGAR. Needless to say, I've been very discouraged by this recent addition. The workouts have been really hard, and I'm gaining instead of losing. It's counter-intuitive. {Now, so many of you will say (as I want to do) that it's muscle weight, but I can't let these little justifications creep into my thinking.} What's the truth? I have to realize that this summer has been the summer of mini-family vacations. Vacation. I've eaten the extra cookie and bought the frozen slushie on the beach. Ahhh, they've been good {both the cookies and the vacations}.

On Tuesday, my incredible husband reminded me of all the little "encouragements" I have been sharing with him the past six months. He helped me get my mind right. He said, "we're celebrating the little victories." He said, "today's going to be a good day." He said, "we only have to take one step at a time." He made me say these things with him. It helped shake the funk.

I have loved doing p90x {but not as much as running}. I can tell that we are both getting stronger and in better shape. It's been fun to do something that's this challenging with my hubs. In this last month, Mike as upped the ante for me. If I get to my ever elusive goal weight by the end of the program, he will give me a big prize. One thing that Tony Horton {the founder of the p90x program} says during just about every work-out is "Do you best and forget the rest"! In the next month, I plan to do my best and forget the rest. All I can do is my best and that has to be enough. Here's to reaching my goal!!

They say it's your Birthday...

Yesterday was my amazing husband's birthday. Birthdays are really important to me, and I do my best to extend the celebration as much as possible. So far, I've tried to extend his celebration. We started last weekend while at Blue Springs...we had cake and presents with my family. Then, on Wednesday night, we had cake with our small group.


I wanted to take the whole day off yesterday to celebrate with him, but, because we are leaving for vacation today, we didn't feel like I could take yesterday off of work. This weekend we will celebrate Mike with his family at Oak Island! It's such a treat that we get to celebrate with both of our families!

We started the day with a quick breakfast from Chic-Fil-A. {okay, so I'm not the awesomest wife because hubs had to go get breakfast and bring breakfast to me at work}. After work, we went to Outback for Mike's birthday dinner. We had a gift card {thanks Kim & Greg} that helped treat us to our meal! It was delish...I forgot how good Outback is {because we never go there...too many good local places}.

Mike opening his card from me. I gave him a pair of Rainbows! (A huge sigh of relief when he said he like them)

Mike's card from the Outback staff. In all of my randomness, I told the waitress that Mike was also known as Wally and Pedro.
Don't ask. I have no idea where that came from.

Did you know that they no longer sing their happy birthday song? Our waitress said it's because they received so many customer complaints. We were happy for it! Let me tell you, their complimentary birthday sundae is really, really, really good. We left super full and happy. :)

Happy 28th Birthday, love!

Blue Springs

This weekend we went to Blue Springs for the 4th where we met my parents, sister and some extended family. Blue Springs is a really small community on the Savannah River. It's just outside of Newington a really small town in South Georgia {between Augusta and Savannah}. For over three generations my family has spent time there. It was a niiiice time with my family: we spent time on the river; we searched for a different natural spring in the area; ate good food; celebrated the 4th with Mexican food and fireworks; and we did some major yard-work.

When I was a little girl, we spent several weeks each summer there. My mom, sister and I would stay during the week and Dad would drive up during the weekends. Each morning my sister and I had to make our bed and sweep out the cabin. It was our little chore, and we were motivated to get it done. As soon as we finished, we could spend the rest of the day swimming and playing outside. I learned to swim and how to ride my bike at the Springs. Seriously, the Springs is one of my favorite places in the entire world.

We would have these big family get-togethers there too. My mom is one of five kids. Somehow, we managed to fit LOTS of people in one tiny cabin: aunts, uncles, cousins, grandkids, grandparents, pets, parents, friends, etc. People slept on the porch, in tents, and two of my cousins had to sleep in my Aunt Geri's conversion van. I LOVED these times together as a little girl, even if I was too shy to speak to people. I loved how all the parents stayed up late to play Trivial Pursuit, how my Grandmama sat in the cabin all day memorizing the Trivial Pursuit answers {where she kept the air conditioner on sub-artic temperatures}, how the kids ate lunch on the porch {it's where my cousins taught me the to put chips on my sandwich}.

Last weekend was the third time this summer I've been to the Springs. One time was for one of the epic family get-togethers {over Memorial Day} and one time was to begin cleaning out the cabin. Unfortunately, after my Granddaddy passed away {nine years ago}, the family neglected the cabin. After all the yard work last weekend, it became obvious how badly the cabin needs to be painted.

In the next couple of months, I plan to document our clean-up of the place. I just wish I had before and after pictures from the last two clean-up weekends. I'll share more on those weekends in a post sometime next week--once we get the "after" picture from the yard work developed. {Yes, we are still using a Film SLR}.

The Summer Day

I've seem this poem in a couple of different places in the past couple of days and wanted to share with you.

The Summer Day

by Mary Oliver

Who made the world?


Who made the swan, and the black bear?


Who made the grasshopper?


This grasshopper, I mean-


the one who has flung herself out of the grass,


the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,


who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-


who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.


Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.


Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.


I don't know exactly what a prayer is.


I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down


into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,


how to be idle and blessed,

how to stroll through the fields,


which is what I have been doing all day.


Tell me, what else should I have done?


Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?


Tell me, what is it you plan to do


with your one wild and precious life?

Lunch Breaks

Okay, it's been forever since I've actually posted on this thing. I told myself that I wouldn't start a blog unless I actually posted with regularity. So many amazing things have happened in the past month and a half that I haven't talked about: the Oak Island 10K, my birthday and starting p90x are just a few. You know, life just gets busy. The last thing I want for this blog is for it to be another thing on my to-do list that isn't happening.

Lately, I've been taking my lunch breaks as actual breaks! It is quite the phenomenon. {Previously, I used lunch-time as a time to run as many errands as possible, balance the checkbook, or write thank you notes.} About a year ago, my mom gave me some advice that I really needed to hear. She told me I needed to take the time to actually eat my lunch instead of running around like a crazy woman. If there's anything I've learned in my 29 years, it's to listen to my mother...
Last week, I couldn't stop reading this book, American Wife. SO GOOD!! For several lunches I sat outside under a tree and read to my heart's content. Do you have any fun summer reading suggestions?

In other news, I hope to post pictures or thoughts from the first half of my summer in the coming days. We are headed to Blue Springs this weekend for the 4th! Excited for sunshine and sandbars!

Shake the Dust

I've been reminded in the past couple of days how short life is. I want to be someone who can "shake the dust."

Running and Driving

Yesterday, I went on my first run since the big 10K race at Oak Island. It's been two weeks (shameful, I know). Let me tell you, it was a tough run. I guess it was because my body was out of the running routine that my legs didn't want to cooperate. I didn't have a very healthy dinner Saturday night and the humidity made it feel like we were running through a thick layer of clouds (hey, technically, that's what humidity is, right?). Regardless of all my negative factors, we got to go on the run! We went. We pushed ourselves...well, I pushed myself. Mike was his ever gracious self and just kept tempo with me.

After church (and a very long Sunday afternoon nap), Mike took me driving. Okay, I know how to drive, folks. But, I don't know how to drive Mike's car (one with an manual transmission). It's good for me to learn these things in case I ever have to drive M's car...or if I need to share driving on long roadtrips. Well, The lesson went well. Mike didn't freak out and was a good teacher; it's tough letting your husband be the teacher. Every sign and gasp is so much worse when it comes from the one you love the most. Mike kept most of his sighs and gasps to himself though even when I stalled the car three times in a row. Even when I spun the wheels really bad. Even when the car starts shaking violently because I'm doing something wrong (still not exactly sure what I was doing there). Those were the times I wanted to quit and go home. Mike would just say, "okay, let's do it again" before I could quit.

The biggest challenge of the lesson was just doing something I wasn't good at. That's been my "lesson" these past couple of months: to keep working on the things that need improving. I think that's part of discipline. It's okay if I'm not good at driving an manual transmission right now. It's only the third time I've driven one.

I want to be brave enough/disciplined enough/adventuresome enough to do something I'm not necessarily good at. And eventually, I will be able to drive M's car on real roads (instead of abandoned parking lots).