Celebrations!

What a whirlwind my life is right now.  I am literally going out of town 3 weekends in a row.  Two down, one to go. This doesn't leave much time in the week to keep up with my normal stuff, let alone being able to sit and blog.  But - before I go out of town AGAIN this weekend, I will sit down and document the last two.

Our Anniversary Getaway

What a wonderfully, relaxing weekend!  It was much needed for both of us.  We have decided that two nights just isn't long enough - next year we want three.  Remind us of that - we always seem to forget.

 Almost sixteen years ago (on Oct. 15), Russell took me to Jekyll Island, Georgia to propose.  I was absolutely clueless.  Oh, I knew he was going to be my husband.  God had already shown me that very clearly - but I had no idea he was going to propose that night.

We decided to return and actually stay a few nights to celebrate our 15th Wedding Anniversary.  It was awesome.  It may become a regular place for us.  Why didn't we think of this before?  So close to us (an hour and a half) - and yet we felt so far away.

 Beach where Russell proposed.

 This was the view from behind our condo.  So nice.

 We didn't know this place even existed!  Thanks Chuck and Karesa for the great tip!

 On Friday, we rented bikes and rode all over the island.  So much fun - and so relaxing!

 Jekyll Island Club - gorgeous hotel.

 Russ loved visiting this chapel

 Sunset after dinner - gorgeous!  God is so good!

One last visit to Driftwood beach before we leave.

We absolutely LOVE our times away together.  So thankful to be married to my best friend!  Happy Anniversary my love - I can't wait to see what the future holds......

Amanda's Baby Shower

Sasha has loved on my children from day one and now she is finally going to be a Grandma!  My cousin Drew and his wife, Amanda, are due to have a baby boy in December.  This past weekend was the shower.  So Anne and I packed up on Friday and headed to New Port Richey to help with all the preparations and to celebrate the coming of baby Max!

I love the name!  Max was our Grandfather's name.  Russ and I had that name picked out if we were to have another boy.  Our baby days are over so I am sooooo thankful the name will be used in our family.   

Max Henry

 I was asked to make the cake for the shower - such an honor!  How cute is that?

These were so fun!  I made them as party favors - so many monkeys!!!!

Me and Amanda - adorable baby bump!!!!

Ashlea, Amanda and Tricia

Ashlea, Sasha, Tricia, Me and Anne

Can you tell we are related????

Max Henry - Greatest Ruler of the Home 

They are in trouble!  LOL!

Anne helped with the gifts - I loved this picture!

 Ashlea and Colin - they flew in from New Jersey

 Tricia and Jim - they came up from Miami

Drew, Amanda and Max

It was soooooo great to be with my family this weekend.  It's rare that we all get to be together and we really had a lot of fun catching up and just hanging out.  Such a wonderful time to celebrate!  Can't wait for little Max's arrival!

Congratulations Drew and Amanda!  

You guys are going to be awesome!!!!!

Until next time.......

Celebrating 15 Years

Being a Calligrapher, I deal with someone's wedding on a regular basis.   I have lots of Wedding Vendor friends and I follow them on Facebook as well as different wedding blogs.  Don't even get me started on Pinterest - the bottomless pit of ideas that sucks you in for hours and hours as you browse through all these amazing photos of what other people have done.

Weddings today, in a lot of ways, have become fancy productions.  Gone are the days of simple church weddings with the reception in the church Fellowship Hall.  Well, at least with the vendors and clients that are among my circle.

Sometimes it is hard to look at all the "stuff" and not compare what we did at our wedding.  I came across our wedding video the other day and stuck it in the VCR - yes, we still have one of those.  I knew I hadn't watched it in several years and I was excited.  My excitement soon turned to rolling of eyes, some regret and then ultimately laughter.  After all, you can't go back and change anything so you might as well just laugh.

Hiring a videographer was kind of new when we got married.  We did focus on a photographer and I  LOVE my pictures.  My album still sits on my coffee table and it gets looked through often.  But the video, well, we left that to a friend.

Today the videos are done in HD and they are put on DVD and they are edited to look like your own Hollywood feature.  I watch "Trailers" made from my videographer friends and am amazed.  The bride and groom become stars for the day as bits and pieces are set to dramatic music.  So obviously when I put mine in the other day, I was disappointed.

It can be so easy to get caught up in the new and the flashy.  To think about things you would do differently if you could do it all over again.  But you know - at the time - I really did have the wedding of my dreams.  We only spent about $5000 for a wedding with over 400 people in attendance.  We cut things here and there because we didn't want to cut people.  We paid for the wedding ourselves and God provided "exceedingly abundantly above all we could have imagined" (Eph. 3:20) over and over again.  So many times He just blew us away.  So many friends and family helped me that day. They worked hard.  It was truly a celebration of what God had done in our lives and all the glory went to Him.
 
But most importantly, I married my best friend that day.  No matter what kind of decorations were up, whether or not we remembered to blow out the unity candle, how the video ultimately captured everything or the other quirky stuff that went wrong, I walked down that aisle to the man that God had made specifically for me and committed to a life of loving, serving and honoring him.  And he, in turn, committed to me.  And in those few moments, we committed ourselves, our future family and our marriage to God and we asked Him to use us.


That was 15 years ago - tomorrow.

15 years of Laughter.  Tears.  Struggles.  Joy.  Decisions.  Children.  Death.  Moving.  New jobs.  Ministry.  Financial difficulty.  Passion.  Disagreements.  Forgiveness.  Service.  Sacrifice.  Growth.  Change.  Learning.  Love.

15 years of  Life. 

So - would I really do it all over again?  Absolutely.  Would I change anything.  Probably not.

It was perfect for us at the time and the memories are priceless.  God used that time to show us HIS provision.  To make the seemingly impossible happen because our funds were low.  Because of that journey, on that day, I placed Russell's ring on his finger and on the inside I had inscribed "Eph. 3:20" so we would always remember all that God had done to bring us to that place and how He would continue to take care of us in the years to come.  Oh how He has.

I am truly honored and blessed by my Lord to have the husband - to have the marriage - that I have.  I know that in today's age - it is rare.  I do not take that for granted one second.  We surrendered our lives to the Lord from the beginning and He has blessed it "exceedingly abundantly above ALL that we could imagine."  It hasn't always been easy as there have been very difficult times.  But we learned early on that if we press through them, instead of giving up, God has great things to do with it on the other side. Each difficulty has only made us stronger and closer.

God has proven to us that HIS plan for marriage is perfect.  We are reaping the blessings and the benefits of following Him.  I am so very thankful.

Tomorrow we take off for our "Anniversary Getaway".  We return to Jekyll Island, GA, where Russ proposed nearly 16 years ago.  We treasure these times - away from our responsibilities with no distractions but each other.  At some point, we will chat about where we've been and how far we've come and we will dream of what lies ahead.  We will question our parenting and our rolls as husband and wife.  We will talk of ministry and our great God that has truly blessed us with the gift of each other. 

Tomorrow just can't come fast enough.

Late Anniversary Getaway

While I was playing and having an awesome time with Emily in New Hampshire last weekend, Russ was here holding his own.  Nana helped out and took Anne - even with her fever.  Thanks Nana!!!!  Russ and Jarod went camping with the Boy Scout Troop.  Russ came home a day early so he could take Anne on a Daddy - Daughter Date to Chic Fil A.  She was thrilled!  I guess they had a chocolate fountain and a limo!  How cool is that?  Obviously by this time she was feeling better.

He had to take care of everything alone on Sunday morning and then again Monday for school.  I'm very proud of my husband.  I love that he is an engaged father and that none of this makes him nervous.  He steps up and does what he has to when I am not around.  Such a blessing.

But - you know you are missed when you return and he has planned an spontaneous getaway for just the two of us!  We did not have the opportunity to get away for our Anniversary in September so we took a quick overnight trip to St. Augustine this past weekend.  Thanks again to Marc & Sam and also Nana - for taking the kids last minute to make this possible!

 We ventured out to a Bed & Breakfast in St. Augustine - behind the Lightner Museum.  Very nice.

Absolutely LOVE this man!

Sometimes you just have to get away from your normal routine.  I had - by going to NH, but Russ was ready for some new scenery.  So off we went.  He has always had a spontaneous streak about him.  I like it!

The Lord blessed our time in stretching it.  We just relaxed and hung out - no real agenda.  We came back refreshed and ready to take on the week.  God is so good!

Jarod had his time with Nana & Papa while we were gone and Anne got to spend her time with Marc, Sam & Chloe.  She had a blast!

 When we came to pick her up - she and Aunt Sam were working on a pumpkin.  They had walked over to the pumpkin patch to pick out that perfect one.

I think it turned out very nice!

Thanks again to everyone who helped make our mini weekend possible!

Until next time......

A Little Bit of Everything

This has been a busy week!  Let's see if I can sum it up a bit......

For the last two Sunday's the Choir Room at our church has looked a little Christmasy (is that a word?)

I am soooo excited about the new items that ApParent Project has for Christmas!  I still have everything set up for this Sunday and then I will do it again in November and December during our Fellowship Lunches.  I already have two Fall Festivals set up where I will have a booth to sell it and I am thrilled!  Can't wait!  It's going to be sooo much fun to tell new people about this fabulous opportunity to help the artisans in Haiti.

I know I sold out of a few things - but I have more on the way!

Last Saturday, we surprised the kids and went to the Morocco Shrine Circus here in town.  We had a really nice time. 

      Enjoying some Cotton Candy!  That's a MUST at the circus!



We took Jarod to the Ringling Brother's Circus when he was 2 or 3.  Anne had never been so she was very excited.

She was a bit disappointed that there were not any elephants.  I think it was okay with me.  The two animal acts that they did have (trained dogs and monkeys) left me a bit uneasy.  Especially the monkeys.  While they were cute and all, I wanted to free them!  Free them all!


Wow - I really do have this new tender spot for animals.  All because of this one....

How cute is that?  But we can't free her - she is safer with us.  Remember those three kittens I blogged about a few weeks ago?  Well, we've only seen one of them again.  Two went missing.  I don't even want to think about what could have happened.  We put food out - but they didn't return.  A cat that doesn't return to regular food - ya - they are gone.  So thankful for Meg - she was just meant to be ours.

Besides - she does cool things like this -

 Those are some of Anne's old hair elastics.  Meggie's FAVORITE toy.  She loves to catch them.  I mean really catch them.  It's like she is a goalie - she will do whatever it takes - including jumping ridiculously high to catch it.  She doesn't let any get past her.  You can see the blue one in her mouth in the upper right photo.

She will sit and STARE at you until you get up and throw them for her.  We spent the evening getting these photos because Anne had a project for school.  She had to bring in photos of her pet and tell about their "trick" that they do.  It was fun trying to capture it all.

And Meg didn't mind - it's her favorite thing to do!


In other news this week, Russ and I celebrated our 14th Anniversary on Tuesday!  Because we took a later vacation this summer, we were not able to get away like we usually do, but we are already making plans for next year - 15!  Wow!  We had lunch and spent the day together before we had to get the kids from school.

I simply love this man.  No doubt about it.  God has truly blessed us and I am so very thankful.

Goodness - I guess I needed to catch up a bit!  Nothing major going on - just a little bit of everything.  I love our life. 

Well, I'm off to Bible Study this morning.  In the meantime, please take a moment and read about this little guy.  He's amazing and he needs a home.  Please pass this info along - He is being prayed for fervently and the Lord has a family out there for him.

He Sets the Orphans Free

Until next time.......