Church+Christmas Music

Is it too much for me to ask to want to sing Christmas songs at church during December? The few places we've visited this month have only sung one Christmas song during the service. Now the "special" music was a Christmas tune, but I want to sing Christmas carols!


I feel better now.

Christmas spirit

This week has been filled with much more Christmas joy for me than the past few. To start, we surprised my sister-in-law and her family with a real Christmas tree. She had waited in line for hours to get a free one for military families, and they ran out of trees, so Matt and I became Santa's helpers and showed up with one. So fun.

Next I went with some church members to take a child shopping at Belk. I had a kindergarten girl, and was worn out by the end of our hour and a half shopping trip. However to be able to give her new clothes and help her choose the different items she liked was so special. There's a sweetness in sharing what the Lord has entrusted to us, whether that's giving of time, inviting people into our home, helping others financially, or another way of sharing.

I also bought a wreath and a Christmas tree smelling candle. So slowly, it's beginning to look a little cheerier in our abode. It sure does make me miss my parents Christmas filled house... but that's just something to look forward to.

Happy Friday!

"Oh, Carolina..."

"...Keep, calling me home." - Eric Church

Well, it's been too long since I've written. We've been back in Southern Pines for about 2.5 weeks. It's been an adjustment, but we're settling in. It's probably been harder on me than Matt. We are living in a temporary place and looking for something more permanent. That's becoming quite a process. However, I'm praying that God will show us where He wants us to live, and to serve. My attitude has been gradually improving as we've gotten a bit more organized. I've been feeling displaced, both with our housing situation, and being back in a place, yet not feeling super connected to it. I know God is teaching me things in this time as we put ourselves out there.

The timing of moving back to NC however has been favorable with the holiday season. We were able to see all of our family over Thanksgiving and look forward to Christmas celebrations with less of a drive than from GA. I've been feeling like a bit of a Scrooge, all our Christmas stuff is in storage, but today I went and bought a wreath to add some festive fun to our little home. We went Christmas shopping on Saturday and that helped to get me a bit more in the spirit. AND I haven't been changing the station when Christmas music comes on, and I was before this weekend. I think in my "blah" ness I didn't want my spirits to be lifted, but, as I said, I'm starting to get with it! I'm glad for that. (And I know Matt is too.)

November 18th

Just wanted to wish my sister a very happy birthday today. She's a smart, witty, beautiful woman in Christ and I'm proud of her and her heart for those around her. I miss you Bacon.

Lots of love.

Our Anniversary!

We celebrated our anniversary last week(ish). The weekend was full, we made a very quick trip to NC for some friends wedding celebration, looked at a few possible places to live in Southern Pines, and ventured back to Tybee late Saturday night. We wanted to be in town on our actual anniversary and not on the road all day. On Sunday we visited with a friend that had been staying at our townhouse on Tybee, went to church and brunch at our favorite spot B. Matthews in Savannah.

In the evening we went out to the beach to exchange gifts. It was getting pretty chilly because the sun was going down, but it was really cool to celebrate out on our special beach! I gave Matt some flip flops for beach/pool wear, and some Chacos. He gave me the traditional first year gift, paper in two forms. He got me a subscription to Real Simple and gave me a book about women in the workplace, The Male Factor, by Shaunti Feldhahn. Then he gave me the modern anniversary gift (clock). I got two super cute clocks to place wherever we land next. On Saturday we'd picked up Chickfila nuggets as a tribute to our reception, so we ate those on the beach. For dinner we made BLT's (we'd gone out the week before on Tybee) and ate a yummy dessert Matt had picked up at a local shop.

Here are a few pictures of our celebration!

Cute/Cheesy

Today I got a manicure. I was looking at the OPI colors and found the one I had on my nails last year at this exact time for our wedding. I was super excited, as our anniversary is Sunday.

I'm a dork, but it's the little things. Check it out, Dulce De Leche.

Music

Anyone else out there a music lover? I have come to enjoy quiet mornings, but after a while, I'm opening itunes, going to pandora, etc... Something about music, it helps get me going, it keeps me company, it soothes, it inspires. I love that music can do all of those things.

What are you listening to?

A season of festivals

This past weekend we went to the Tybee Art Festival and the Greek Festival in downtown Savannah. Last weekend we went to the Pirate Festival with our nephews. Fall is quite the festival season. I love it. Good food, great people watching, and unique items to purchase. Happy.

Seasons change...

I always have a hard time when summer moves into fall. I love summertime. I love the sun, the warmth, the beach and all that comes with summer. I realize all my love for these things are amplified even more this year since we are living 200 yards from the ocean. But for as long as I can remember, I've always felt bittersweet to tell summer goodbye.

However, I also love fall, even as I resist it's coming by wearing flip flops as long as I can...
I like fall decor, colorful leaves, pumpkin spiced everything (bread, lattes, candles) and the slight chill in the air. I'll be the first to insist that there's something special about putting on that favorite pair of jeans that have been out of commission for a while.

Oh seasons, they keep us moving through life.

So here I am living between summer and fall for just a little bit longer...

Trucking

Why do tractor trailer truck drivers honk at women driving by? Does this method actually get them a date? Or, are they that bored and just trying to spice up the highway? I don't know, but every time I a trucker honks at me I have to chuckle at the silliness of it all.

Cilantro

I do not like cilantro. Ick.

potato chips

Why are salt and vinegar chips so addicting?

Can't stop...

Vistors abound!

We've been blessed to visit with so many great people this summer. If you haven't made it down our way, please come see us. We want to share this great place with you!

Here are a few pictures from my parents visit last week.

Nothin on Chick-fil-A

Delicious food...

Someone posted this on my brothers facebook page. Pretty clever!

Meow...

Cats creep me out. I'm not sure what it is, but they make me a bit uncomfortable. I feel like at any point they are about to turn on me and hiss. Eek.

There are TONS of cats on Tybee, stray ones and domesticated ones. I often walk out to my car and see two or three just looking at me. One morning I passed a spot where there eight cats just hanging around. I've decided I'm a dog person.

All my delight...

We sang this song at church yesterday. I can't get it out of my head. What beautiful words to have resonating around my heart and mind as I go through the motions of each day.

May it bless you today.

HIllsong United - None but Jesus

Month One on Tybee

Hard to believe we've been here a little over a month. Mostly hard to believe because out of the 38 days we've been here, I've been away 16 nights, 18 days. Wow. The end of June-July is when I try to visit all of our SummerShine properties. I've been in SC, NC, VA, CT, MI, SD and CA. It's really neat to get to travel to some fabulous destinations, though I wish Matt could come along with me! God brought us together through SummerShine and it's really exciting to see how He continues to grow us and the ministry together! I really enjoyed getting to see the people I've recruited, interviewed, hired, trained and prayed for at the campgrounds in action. God is working across our country in KOA campgrounds. Please keep our SummerShiners in your prayers.

Living here on Tybee has been wonderful. Matt and I are enjoying riding bikes, taking walks on the beach and in the various neighborhoods and, of course, checking out local restaurants. While the travel has been fun, I'm ready to be here and enjoy this place more! We've had a few visitors and are pretty booked over the next few weeks. Entertaining and hosting will keep us on our toes and we're looking forward to quality visits with everyone who comes this way!

Arrivals and Departures

It's traveling time for me. I'm heading to California today, then to Rapid City, SD and then to Michigan. Needless to say, I will be in airports a good bit over the next week. I just flew in from Connecticut last week. There are many emotions with this kind of travel. It was hard to have Matt drop me off, and as we said our goodbyes I was reminded of the curiousity that comes about in airports. Two men sitting on separate benches outside witnessed our hugs and kisses and waves. I wondered what they were thinking.

In people watching at the airport (isn't it a great place for that?!), I can't help but wonder about the stories of those around me. There are families tanned and weary from traveling yet being on vacation. There are elderly couples still holding hands, moving slower than they used to. There are plenty of people on their own (myself included), heading where?! Traveling for work? Leisure? To vist people they love? Home, leaving those dear ones in another city?

When you arrive at your destination there's a sweetness to it. You and everyone else seem to be searching for that familiar face, sometimes it's enough to make you teary eyed. Other people's stories, and the love that is often felt in the company of strangers. I can't help but think of the quote from Love Actually: “Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around.”

Tybee!

We made it to Tybee! Whew, moving is hard work. I now have even more respect for the many moves my parents have made, and the way they have pulled them off. I have several friends who have moved this year, so hats off to you as well! We put all of our furniture and most of our wedding gifts, kitchen items, pictures, bedding, towels, etc. into a 10x15 storage unit. We also have most of Matt's childhood keepsakes with us, so now they are in the storage unit as well. By the end of the week, it was pretty full. It's amazing how many things we acquire without ever realizing it. We gave some things away to charity and said farewell to Southern Pines Sunday afternoon. This move wasn't quite as emotional as some moves are because we know we are returning to the area around Thanksgiving. Therefore, it was more of a "see ya later" feel, and the excitement of living in a new place - at the beach kept us going! For now we are living in the unit next door to our actual rental townhome. The current renter moves out this weekend, so we will get truly settled next week. I will post pictures once we're in a better spot!

It's beautiful here, we took a walk on the beach last night and I went and caught a few rays today. I'm grateful to be here and excited to see what all is next in this adventure!

Here is a video of the unit. Keep in mind I look like I'm about to cry though I wasn't - just exhausted, from the process and hot from the NC summer. Eek!

Moving Time

We are in the process of moving. It's craziness.

My mom came and helped over the weekend which was great. Jennifer (my sister-in-law) helped Saturday as well. Together we got the kitchen pretty much handled. Mom came back yesterday, so that made packing a lot more fun. Grateful for help and companionship!

Tybee Island...here we come!! Almost, at least!!!!

Norfolk, VA

A few weeks ago we visited VA Beach. Matt had to take a class with the Army Corp so I got to enjoy the pool, and work from a hotel room. On our way out, we stopped by downtown Norfolk. I loved these homes and the neighborhood right close to USS Wisconsin. I'd love to go back to the area and tour the ship, and enjoy even more of downtown. Isn't it cute?!

Classics!

Last night we went to the Carole King/James Taylor - Troubadour Reunion. It was fantastic! Both artists put on a great show, and truly seemed like they were having such a fun time together. We heard many classics, "Shower The People," "So Far Away," "Mexico," "You Make Me Feel," and of course, "Carolina In My Mind." They came back for an encore, and did an extra song at the very end acoustically. Their duet versions of "You've Got a Friend," "Close Your Eyes" and "Up On The Roof" closed the evening on a great note. I love live music, James Taylor and Carole King!!!!

Free Credit Report

The Free Credit Report.com band is being replaced. The company is looking for a new band.

It will never be the same.

That's all.

Too cute.

I love this so much. His facial expressions crack me up!!!!!!

Ukelele Boy - I'm Yours

Baker's Crust

We are in Virginia Beach for the next few days. We came up Saturday for a friend's wedding and Matt is taking a class through Thursday, so the timing was perfect to just stay from Saturday-Thursday. Today is cloudy, so I'm bummed there is no sun-time for me, but it's still nice to be somewhere different. On Sunday we stayed with Matt's cousin that lives in Chesapeake. We went to dinner at a local restaurant and I'm completely obsessed with this place! I had a salad/sandwich combo. I got the "Wine Country Salad" - - with grapes, strawberries, pears and candied walnuts, on mixed greens with a goat cheese crostini. For my sandwich I had the "Roasted Tomato & House-Made Mozzarella Panini" with Basil Pesto. It. Was. Delicious. Matt had the "Gotta Have It Burger" with sauteed mushrooms and caramelized onions, bacon and swiss cheese with cayenne aioli. For dessert we split a "Crepe Noisette." Hazelnut chocolate, toasted almonds and coconut, served with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream, of course.

I could have eaten everything on the menu, all the choices looked that appealing. Matt nicely took me back for lunch the next day when I got the Shrimp and Avocado Salad, he got the "California Reuben" and we shared a "Raspberry Cheesecake Brownie."

If I lived here, I might weigh 500 pounds.

Check out the menu and the restaurant if you're ever in the area!

Lost?

Do you ever feel lost? You know there are things to do, errands to run, phone calls to make, but instead you just sit...not sure where to begin, lost in your own world. Welcome to my afternoon.

Recovery day

Whew, the last few weeks have been pretty busy. SummerShine recruiting season is winding down, but the organizational part is still going strong. We just had our big orientation this past weekend, and I'm pretty out of it today. It's always a blessing to see how God brings staffs together for the summer. It's also really neat for me to finally put names and faces together. I meet so many people at recruiting events, then do so many phone interviews...that I don't always have images of who I'm talking to in mind. But at Orientation, I get to see who everyone is and put it together. I love that!

Now on to finalizing dates and getting the information to our managers...

The Joy of Easter

Yesterday, I was truly reminded of the great celebration Easter should be for Christians! What joy to praise our Father who gave us His Son to die for us, yet He didn't stay in the grave, He was raised from the dead. No other religions have leaders, or martyrs that died and then come back!! What a joy it is to praise...Christ the Lord is risen today!

Childhood

I love Google's look today. Hans Christian Andersen. Check it out.

I Wanna Dance With Somebody

I have a slight weakness for Dancing With The Stars. When I lived at home my mom and I would watch it, and in our professional opinion give our critique of the routines. Back then, and now, I am waiting for them to start up the show "Dancing With The Normal People." I would try out for that show in a heartbeat. The end.

Maybe I'd look something like this:

Nicole and Derek DWTS

I miss Greek Week/Lip Sync in school. It gave me my dancing fix...

Oh a Blackberry...

I have an interesting relationship with my Blackberry. I am pretty attached to it, much to Matt's dismay. It's both a useful and frustrating tool. I can in fact, google anything anytime, figure out the weather, respond to work and personal emails, and certainly update my facebook...but it also feels good to not be completely accessible all the time. I'm sure we all have friends or family members that are SO attached it feels like you can't have a conversation with them. You find your self rolling your eyes, or maybe you just quit talking because they aren't actually paying attention to you. That is way annoying. Yet, I'm guilty of being that way. I'm trying to work on it - - knowing that phones can be put down, put on hold, or even...in another room, and the world will go on!

Thought this article had some good insights for those of us who may or may not realize our weirdness:

10 Blackberry Commandments

Icky bugs

Ugh. I love the warm weather as I previously posted, but I don't like the bugs that accompany it and show up! We were out of town for the weekend and when we returned there were four spiders in our house. Thankfully not mega-huge scary ones, but I don't like any spiders. These are the ones that are up in the corners of a room, though three of the four were around our washing machine which is kinda weird. I had Matt kill them, and he was nice about it but said "Baby, we live in the woods...". I responded that I didn't care, I didn't like spiders and would still need him to kill them wherever we might live. Besides, we're in the woods, kinda, but that doesn't mean I'm okay with bugs!

Eek.

However, our little house is cute for the time being!

Spring Fever!

Isn't it crazy how much the weather affects our mood? The first part of this week was warmer, sunnier and generally much nicer than the winter cold. I actually exercised outside twice, cleaned the house and more! It's funny how much easier it is to be motivated with the sun shining and warmer weather. Ah...if only it continues...and my motivation as well.

Routine...

I pretty much watch Regis and Kelly Live every morning while I email and drink my coffee. That's all.

On The Road Again...

I have been recruiting at lots of places in the last few weeks. It's definitely the busy season with my job! So far I've spent some time in snowy Virginia at Liberty and UVA, Greek Conference in Charlotte, First Baptist - Indian Trail, NC, UNCG, North Greenville, and App State! I'm counting on some great students for the summer!!

1990

This weekend we went roller skating! We were visiting our friends Aaron and Kristin and decided to go to Kate's Skating Rink! It was SO fun and really funny! There was an incredibly wide range of people out skating on a Saturday night. The demographic was pretty incredible actually. I don't have any pictures to post yet but hopefully I'll get some and share them. I didn't fall at all which was exciting, until I got knocked down by a guy...probably in 8th grade. I have bruises from the fall...it hurt! He came back over as soon as he realized he'd tripped me and apologized which I really appreciated. Then I saw him as we left and he apologized again...which was cute. If you're looking for an entertaining evening head to your local skating rink. Talk about a flashback to elementary school! haha.

A happy heart day indeed

Matt is pretty much a sweetie. When I returned from recruiting last Thursday night he had my Valentine's flowers here...white roses with red gerber daisies with some really pretty greenery around in the display. Then before we left on Friday for the CLUB youth retreat in Blowing Rock he gave me my gift. He made a cute card using one of our engagement pictures and wrote out our itinerary for a wonderful date in April.

It consists of tickets to see Wicked in Durham, dinner at the Melting Pot, and a night at the Marriott.

I think he did a pretty great job eh?

Love.

Mango Mania

I just finished up a bottle of mango body wash...but I still have mango shaving cream, and mango body scrub. I'm noticing a subliminal pattern...

Also, from years ago, I have a mango lip gloss I still like. Probably not safe to use it from the age of it...but it's in my purse nonetheless.

Interesting.

Birthday Celebrations!

My birthday was last week. Matt cooked me a delicious seafood bisque on Tuesday night...seriously delicious, and my parents took us out for steaks and yumminess on Wednesday, my actual birthday! I am now half way to 5o years old. A friend pointed that out today...wow. Kinda a weird perspective. When I'm 50, how different will life be?! Will I still be blogging? Will I have children in college?! Where will I be living?! Ahhhh....25. For now, I'll enjoy where I am at this stage of 25...Southern Pines, no children and blogging. haha.

Happy birthday winter babies. I have been celebrating lots of friends winter birthdays, including my hubby, my college roomie and three additional bridesmaids, as well as my sister-in-law's birthday, which is today! What a good season. What good friends. :-)

Dreaming of Vacations

Whew, this cold weather is making me crave a tropical vacation. I've even been looking different ones up, just dreaming a bit...

These are a few pics from our honeymoon in Costa Rica, just to get you through these cold days!!

I'm A Rockin' Girl

Last weekend, I had my first Rock Band experience. We went to visit's Matt's sister Jennifer and her family. Their youngest boys, really love playing the drums and singing in the microphone. It's pretty cute. Once the boys were in bed, the adults (ahem) took to the stage. We played for hours. Seriously. It was SO fun. Jennifer and Marshall are really good at the drums and guitar! I tried all of the instruments and the singing, as did Matt. It was pretty crazy. I ended up singing most of the time. It's funny because I love to sing...in my car, around the house, etc., but don't typically perform. But, because it's a game you pretty much have to bring it if you want to win it! So I became quite the rockstar (ha!) and we became quite the rock band. The songs I got the most into were Alanis Morrisette's "You Oughta Know," and Miranda Lambert's "Gun Powder and Lead." For some reason the angry female songs are pretty easy to get into and sing your heart out! Apparently Matt filmed some of our songs, but I'm yet to see the videos...they will not be making it on the internet!

Our Rock Band evening reminded me of our tour guide in Costa Rica, Jaime' would hear me singing along with the radio in our tour van and dubbed me a "rockin' girl." My official Costa Rican nickname.

Brrrrr

It is so cold! We're living in an old house and once we got our lastest power bill realized the window unit and space heaters are not gonna cut it...warmth or expense wise. Matt checked into propane, but after much debate, we headed to Lowe's Hardware last night. We bought an oil filled heater, more efficient than the window unit, and also bought these clear plastic sheets to put over the windows...the Lowe's man told us he'd used these when he rented and didn't have double pane windows... So we got home, opened up the kits and started double sided taping, pressing the plasticy paper (think saran wrap) to the window, and then I hair dried the edges. That's in the directions, seal with the hair dryer! It doesn't look as ghetto as it sounds...promise! Our evening was pretty full of handy-man/woman adventures. The result? A bit warmer today - I warm myself over the oil heater like it's a campfire...and hopefully a happier power bill at the end of the month!

Writing the New Year

It's 2010. I can't write 10 just yet. In my thank you note writing I find myself writing 1/6/2010. For some reason 1/6/10 doesn't sit right with me yet. We shall see if I change over... I suspect I will at some point in the next year.

On that note, writing thank you notes is a big deal. I didn't start until after the holidays mostly because I knew the big endeavor they would be. So, I've started, and I actually enjoy it. It helps me reflect, and because I'm truly grateful, I enjoy sending friends and family a sweet little note. When I was much younger, and began to write thank you notes my mom engrained in me the proper way to write a note. Her mother, a socialite in the south and drilled in her the correct way to write. It's a combination of chatty, with a definite amount of thankfulness. It's amazing the thank you notes people write, which are hardly a note at all. Anyway, that's my tangent...and what's going on in my corner of the world.