My Girls

Outside of my main girl, a few more have stolen my heart.
Here's to my girls!

 First ever beach baptism

 After they threw me in the pool. Gotta love them :)

Boo Bash 2010

Each week someone cooks and bakes.
Dino cookies by Viki & Kattie :)

Their creativity shining through.
And I cannot tell you HOW PROUD I am that I see
all of them taking notes during services.
Awesome, say what?!!

Best SG Girls Ever!

Catalyst Highlights

At the beginning of October, Cory and I headed to Atlanta for Catalyst2010.The outcome of that conference is a whole post in itself soon to come.

But there were a few highlights I must tell you about!

Most of you have seen posts about my friend, Lori Wilhite from L&LI

Well, I got to meet her .... In real life ... Face to face ...
Eat lunch with her ... Laugh with her ... Hug her!

If your a PW or a woman in ministry, believe me,
it will benefit you to make yourself familiar with her and her site.

Some of the other ladies who help Lori out on the blog were there too.

Seriously, how can ladies be so inviting and make you feel so welcome? I know ... cause they love Jesus and and other PW's!

Jessica Cornelius

Brandi Wilson

I also got to visit with my friend, Steph  and her husband Matt.

I met her through L&LI blog last year. Genuinely loving folks right there!
Steph and I do virtual small groups together. She's an encourager and a true friend. Love that woman!

Cory also has a friend, Matt Gross who we sat with and were able to hang out with a little. His girlfriend, Candace was pretty as a picture and their sweet personalities mesh together!

Check out the poor maintenance guys job.
Proves that Pastors are messy too :)

Didn't know she was gonna be there, but Kari Jobe did some worship at the conference. Passion flows out of that girl.

John Mark McMillan sang How He Loves.
Beth Moore spoke on insecurities in ministry.
Francis Chan spoke heart language to everyone.
You know what .... maybe I just need to do a snip-it of my notes and what God spoke to me during the conference.

Cory and I will put our heads together and write that post together, maybe, possibly, hmmmmm .....

Fall Family Time in Pics

Fish House .... cheese grits .... shrimp .... sweet tea .... YUM!

Golfing .... my first time ever off the driving range.

We golfed with these thugs .... I think they're cussing us out in gang-sign-language.

My rocker girl all ready for the Skillet Concert.

 I warned them that I yell and scream .... and they might get embarassesd. And they did :)

 She loved her first concert!

Easton shooting his first bow with daddy.

Can you believe Easton is the one with his shirt on? Wow!

Then all the big kids ran off and left him. Poor baby :(

TO BE CONTINUED ... we headed to Catalyst 2010 and that's a whole other post in itself!

The Big 3.0.

My best friend, lover and father of my children will be... dun dun dun ...  30 years old this month.

The actual day of his birthday (the 15th) will be the first day of our student Fall Retreat. So, he has made me promise not to do anything on that day. He says too much stuff will be going on. And of course he wants the focus on the students and not himself .... that's just my husband :)

So my daughter and I made an executive decision.

Since we can't celebrate on the 15th, we've decided that every day leading up to his birthday (starting today, October 1st) we will let him open a gift. That way he really feels celebrated.

30's a big deal!

I've warned him that some gifts will mean more than others ... some will be store bought .... some will be home made! Some will be small and insignifigant and some will be gifts he will keep forever.

I'm excited for him to be celebrated for a little while.
And man, it was fun shopping for him!  
He deserves it!
I can't wait to grow old with him!

Our Miracle Day

September 18, 2007

September 18, 2008

September 18, 2009

September 18, 2010

It Happens

I went to bed in an irritated mood.
And I woke up in an irritated mood.
Mostly cause I'm irritated at my husband.

It happens.

The kids and I reheated pizza for lunch.
And we were still in our pajamas.

It happens.

I didn't start school with Autumn until after our "healthy" lunch.
And when I graded her papers from last week, I cried.
Today is a day I feel 1000%  she needs to let someone else teach her, cause she just isn't "getting it" with me.

It happens.

I made my first pot of coffee at 2:30 this afternoon.  
Autumn saw me making it & said "mom, it's after lunch".
I've already sucked down two cups.

It happens.

Easton keeps doing this high pitch horrible scream thing.
I run to him thinking he's been gouged in the eye with something.
Only to find out that's his new laugh.

It happens.

I stood up to go help Autumn with her schoolwork.
In the process I knocked my whole cup of coffee on her school folder. The school folder that contains ALL the work she's completed already this year. I have about 45 coffee drenched papers drying all over my kitchen counter right now.

It happens.

Easton turns three on Saturday.
If you know me, you know my kids parties are highlights of my year. Well, I haven't done the first thing for his party .... 4 days away.

It happens.

I sure am glad tomorrow is a new day.
I'm also glad that our lives aren't perfect.
It sure would be boring if they were :)

My Very First Giveaway

*** GIVEAWAY CLOSED***
Winner is:
dreamzz12{at}aol{dot}com
I follow you on twitter @deegee13
September 12, 2010 11:35 PM
Way to go! You will be contacted by email for your address!

I mentioned during The Challenge that I'd be doing a giveaway soon.

Well, it's here!
This is my 100th post.
Ahhhhh!

Well, in honor of my 100th post, I'm giving away something I think you're gonna like.

Fall is in the air .... well, on some mornings the temp is going below 100, anyway!
The smells of pumpkin and cinnamon are everywhere.
The leaves will be falling soon.
Sweatshirts will be pulled out of the back of the closet.
So ...What better way to enjoy this time of year than with a Starbucks giftcard?
You heard it right .... A Starbucks Gift Card for $20

Here's the rules for the giveaway
(you can have up to 4 entries.
Make them seperate comments
so they can be counted as seperate entries!)

1 entry - Be a follower to my blog.
1 entry - Be my friend on facebook.
1 entry - Be my friend on twitter.
1 entry - Tell me who your favorite blog/blogger is and why.
(I LOVE finding new blogs. Make it good!)

Giveaway will end on September 17th at midnight.
Winner will be notified by email.
(Make sure you leave an email to be contacted)

10 Movies We Love

*
10. The Godfather

9. Dirty Dancing

8. The Kid

7. Inception

6. Gladiator

5. A Walk to Remember

4. Shawshank Redemption

3. Steele Magnolias

2. The Bourne Series

1.  The Notebook

What's Some Movies You Love?

(some of these have only been viewed in the tv editted version. don't judge.)

My Network of Ladies

Cory was teaching at a conference last week and was sharing with some youth pastors & workers his favorite people he networks with. You know, people who you learn from. People you allow to speak into your life. People you speak the same language with.

It got me thinking.
It's been a while since I posted who I'm learning from ... Who I'm connecting with.

Some of these ladies don't have a clue I exist.
Others, I have forged a great relationship with.

I'm excited to meet this lovely lady at Catalyst this year.
It'll be our first real life face-to-face.
We chat through email, twitter, virtual roundtables, and she's a epic Words With Friends player.

Check her out over at Leading and Loving It.
She is hosting an amazing Virtual Conference that starts tomorrow. FOR FREE! Who does that? ... Lori!







Another lady I check out at least once a week is Holly Furtick.

My husband started listening to her husband a few years ago, and I saw a link on his page: The Preachers Wife.
I thought "Hm, I'll check her out". And I've been hooked ever since.
Her and her husband speak a lot of the same language Cory and I do.
Our kids are around the same age.
We honestly just like them as a couple, yet they both have much to give individually.
She's one of those who have no clue who in the world I am, yet I am still able to learn tremendous amounts!

This next lady, I'm not sure how I stumbled upon her blog, but she is funny and blunt and I love the way she writes! One minute I'm laughing reading her stuff, and the next minute I'm crying. I can feel what she writes. I love it!

There's a ton more I could tell you about.
Like here and here and here and here and here.

But I want to know who the people in your  network are.
Who do you learn from?
Who do you "follow"?
Who inspires you?
And who do you just simply enjoy reading/checking out?

The Girls : ReGroups

Tonight we started our Renew Small Groups
for the fall term. Lindsey and I tag team a group.
We've got a few of our original girls and we added a few.

Tonight was a foundational night.
We don't really dive into any studies,
we just sit around and eat, then move
to the living room floor. It's amazing what you can learn
by just "being". Tradition in our small
group is to make a journal for the term.
Look at what an awesome and creative job they all did.

I think this group is gonna be better than
any group before. I can't wait to start our study
in James next week.

Get ready to dive in Arielle, Ashlie, Brittany, Courtney, Kattie, Kayleigh, Kristin, JoJo, Shelby and Victoria!

If you're not connected in a small group ... child, teenager, or adult ... I encourage you to plug in. There's nothing like Small Groups. It's where change happens!

Wordless Weekend : Orange Beach, AL : Family Reunion

Excuses, Excuses

I could try and "explain" the reason I'm 8 1/2 hours late on posting this blog. You remember The Challenge, right?

Here we go:

I could tell you that I woke up early yesterday and took the kids to co-op. While I was there I helped teach 3rd and 4th graders zoology. And then went to help teach music to 4 and 5 year olds.


I could tell you that immediately from getting home we loaded up the car and headed to Orange Beach for a family reunion. Here's the view from our balcony.

I could tell you that after we spent $60 on dinner, for three of us, I went into a slight coma.

I could tell you that I was forced into doing this till 2 AM.

 I could tell you that between my sister-in-law and us, we have 5 children to take care of - while on the 5th floor of the condo (without locks or screens on the windows). So, my mind was a little occupied.

Don't you feel sorry for me yet? :)

BUT ... I'm not gonna make an excuse.
I'm gonna politely ask for a little grace.
So, please forgive me for being 8 1/2 hours late!


I'll call it a half-fail. How about you?

Mr. & Mrs. Tortoise

We were driving to the church after lunch Sunday and we saw people pulled over on the side of the road. We slowed down and saw that three cars had stopped to save a turtle in the middle of the road. Highway 98 folks. People were stopped just so they could help a turtle. Don't hate me, but I'm not about to risk my life to pull over and rescue Mr. turtle off the road.

So, we continued on and pulled into the back church parking lot.
Lo and behold, I think a husband and wife turtle had got seperated. Right in the middle of the parking lot was Mrs. Turtle.

You'd think my kids had just landed at Disney World.
Autumn and Easton were chasing that thing everywhere.

Justin picked it up so they kids could touch it.
Mean ol' mom wouldn't let them pick it up! 

Once we'd scared the poor turtle half to death, we helped it find shelter under a portable building where we knew the shade and moisture would do her good.

Hopefully the Mr. and Mrs. found each other again that day.

Where You'll Find Me

If you come looking for me,
Or shoot me a text,
Or send me an email,
Or try to play Words with Friends with me,
You just might think I'm ignoring you ...
But I'm not.

On Wednesday nights I shut everything down.
For a few hours I'm closed to off to the world ...
except for our Renew Students and leaders.

Even my own kids get put in their own classes,
and I ask that they now show back up until our service is over!
It's the few hours a week that our students get me
without interruption. To worship, talk, pray. I love it!

Tonight (right before I knew I had to get East from his class) a girl raised her hand to accept Christ. I checked my phone
for the time and thought "I've got time. I can do it!"
So I rushed over to her and we talked for a few moments
and then she allowed me to lead her in the sinners prayer.
Never gets old, Never gets old.

I also enjoy the fact I get to sit under my husbands
preaching and teaching. He's seriously got the gift for it.
And I'm not just saying that cause I'm married to him.
He's honestly my favorite pastor.
He doesn't just speak flying by the seat of his pants.
I see the time, research, prayer and heart that he
puts in to what he puts out.
It's good stuff. Really good stuff.
Need proof?
Here's my notes from tonight.

So, anyway. Next time you might need me
on a Wednesday night, you know where to find me!