Riley!

I am thrilled to announce via blog now that my sister is having a girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really thought it was a boy all along. I kept calling it a him or he without even meaning to. I knew girls would be more fun to shop for but I really thought it was a boy. Boy was I wrong!

Since hearing that precious baby is a girl who will be named Riley... middle name to be deteremined....

 I've done a little shopping....

 

Yes, I am a very proud aunt! And the little Riles will be very spoiled! 

Preschool Conference

This past weekend I attended our annual preschool conference. This was by far the best conference that I have been to regarding preschool. Our main speaker was Reba Bowman. She is the founder of Dare to be More Ministries for women and girls. She was fabulous. She helped us refocus on why we do what we do. We have all been given a purpose. Are we using our gifts and abilities to better serve ourselves or others? She challenged us with: Are we building our own kingdoms or God's? We may never make 6 figures doing what we do, but our job has eternal value and that should mean more to us than a paycheck. It was the perfect reminder as we start this new school year.

I also attended very beneficial break out sessions on organization, decorating ideas, and how to make learning more fun. As I get my classroom ready in the next couple of weeks I'll post pictures of some of the great ideas I received.

So thankful for a school that sends us to beneficial conferences that enhance our abilities and creativity as teachers.

Mission Trip to Destin

July 15-20 we took about 56 students and leaders to Destin, FL for a mission trip. I know, I know... tough life. Originally the church had a mission trip planned for Ohio, but after D began talking with their connection it began to fall through. All the while I had been communicating over the last year with a friend who moved to Destin several years ago. She happened to mention that her church, Village Baptist, hosts groups often and that it was a huge possibility for us to come down there and work with them and the community ministries they help. Not to mention it was in walking distance of the beach.

It was a great trip. A good combination of  hard work and serving, but some nice relaxing beach time as well.

Here was our weekly schedule:

Sunday: Travel
Monday: Indian Reservation 9-2:30, Beach 3:30-5:30
Tuesday: Indian Reservation 9-3:30, Beach 4:30-5:30
Wednesday: Neighborhood outreach 9-12, Beach/ Shopping12:30-4:30
Thursday: Beach Evangelism: 10-12:30, Beach/Shopping 12:30-5
Friday: Travel

I was so proud of these students. They worked hard and served selflessly.

Sleeping arrangements- air mattresses

 

My family group:

This was how we ended our days: worship services


I know many really hate the sand, but I'm really ok with this look:

So thankful for the opportunity to go serve Jesus in Destin. Hoping it spurs on the desire for us all to do a better job of serving Jesus here at home.

Old School

I found Daniel's old wallet the other day. I'm talking the one he had in high school and I found these treasures.

I love that out story began so long ago. What a treat to be able to grow up with this guy, but also now grow old and wrinkled with him. I am beyond blessed. And I deserve none of it.

July 4th

I love July 4th. I love the fact that the old men break out the flag shirts and ties and the little old ladies break out their sweet flag scarves. I love that we sing patriotic songs at church and have a greater appreciation for our flag and the men and women who protect it.

So... when I saw this shirt at Target a couple of years ago I couldn't pass up the $5 deal.

God bless Target for good deals and God bless America.

July 1 Bellevue had their annual Fireworks show. We headed out there after church and ran into some of our favorite people.

Will didn't know what to think about the fireworks.

Don't let these sweet smiles fool you. All three girls had their hands covering their ears the whole time.

Then the next day Tori, Stephani, and Tiffany and I celebrated America's independence by freeing our feet from dry rough skin. I do love a good pedicure.

July 4th is always spent at my in laws with a huge pool party. I'm talking my whole family, most of his, and lots of friends. Sadly I took no pictures of this day, but imagine lots of food, pool time, and volleyball.... not to mention lots of sweat and smiles. It's a day that we look forward to every year!

Try It Tuesday

Hot Fudge Sundae from McDonald's

This has been my glutenous summer crave. For a $1 its hard to pass up especially when my husband has an extreme love for ice cream. It doesn't take much to talk him into a quick trip to Mickey D's and it doesn't hurt that there's one 2 minutes from the house.

So now that your mouth is watering as much as mine.... go treat yourself to this wonderful dessert!

Summer Happies for the Neighbors

Every season I try to do a little something for the 5 families in our cove. I've done anything from candles to homemade goodies... its just my attempt at showing some love for the neighbors. I struggled this summer to come up with a good idea. Last summer I did sonic gift cards. Then I thought what more do you want in the summer?! However I didn't want to repeat the gift so... as I was cruising through target I saw kitchen hand towels with cute, bright lemons. Then I thought summer, lemons, lemonade... done. So I got a cute lemon towel and a container of lemonade and tied them together. Wola.... summer happies for the neighbors that didn't break the budget.

The towels appear to be covered in oranges but I assure you they look like lemons in person.

New Running Shoes

I have been in need of some new running shoes. Although I can't fork out $100 ever 3-6 months or so for new running shoes, but since I run so frequently and wear mine down so quickly a new pair is needed. Well, I got this genius idea. My birthday is  June 25 which is exactly 6 months from Christmas so I worked it so now I can get a new pair for each of those holidays.

I got these bad boys this past week and am loving them! Brooks Pure Connect... the most comfortable and most supportive shoes I've owned. They are super light and they are cute which was also important. I'm in love.

Chip and Jenny

2 of the most precious people I know got married a week ago today. We met Chip at FBCHW and he quickly became one of our most faithful youth leaders and dearest friend. Jenny, I had actually known about all of my life but didn't really know her until her and Chip got together.

D was a groomsmen and I must say their rehearsal dinner and wedding was one of the sweetest we have ever been apart of. Both families love the Lord and were thrilled about this union. Every single touch of the the events were very personal to them and pointed people to Jesus.

Rehearsal dinner touches.... he's a farmer.


Pie was served instead of cake.


And I got to hang out with some of my favorite people.

Congrats to Chip and Jenny! We wish you guys the very best and look forward to hanging out soon!

Merge

Merge is the middle school and high school camp that FBC Millington puts on. This year we had over 850 students/leaders from 29 different churches. Some came as far as from Texas. This camp is called Merge because it combines camp and missions.

Schedule:
-Breakfast
-Morning worship
-Missions projects
-Lunch
-Free time
-Dinner
-Evening worship

It was a great week seeing the students serve and and love people. Our speakers and worship leaders were great as well. Ryan Fontenot was our evening speaker and Phil Newberry was our morning speaker. Jeremy Horn led worship for us. It felt like a Bellevue reunion because Phil was speaking then Mike Jackson played drums for Jeremy and Derek Shipley played bass. So Phil had essentially 4 of his former students helping lead the camp. It was really cool.

Wednesday night though things took an interesting turn. People started getting sick. I'm talking vomiting everywhere sick. Couldn't make it to the restroom... throwing up in the sanctuary and hallways... It was insane. That night over 50 people got sick and the next morning more people continued to get sick as well. There were rumors that it was food poisoning because so many people were getting sick about the same time, but after talking to several there was no consistency in what they ate. Some people at the food and others didn't. Come to find out over 200 people ended up getting sick and it was just a vicious stomach bug that spread quickly.

We ended up ending camp Thurs morning instead of Friday. Not exactly how we expected to end camp but it was certainly the right thing to do. We still had many come to know Christ and lives impacted through missions so it was def successful, but an interesting camp to say the least!

Worship Service

Will hung out with us Tues morning and was a huge hit.

Will with some ladies.

The kids at the Vietnamese Baptist Church loved him too!

Early morning breakfast sporting our camp shirt.