Huckleberry

Deep Creek 2011

2011-07-25T11:32:00.000-07:00

This weekend Joel and I got to spend some time in beautiful North Carolina - Bryson City - while camping with family. I celebrated a birthday, ate lots of good food, enjoyed camping and tubing in Deep Creek, and had an all around good time.

We all got there on Friday afternoon/evening and camped for two nights (some of us 3). On Saturday, Uncle Larry took us all trout fishing to catch our supper. Everyone had a good time, but Sanders and Wynn especially thought it was a great idea. I took most of my pictures while we were at the trout farm - so that is all I have to post. The rest of the weekend was spent sitting around talking, eating, or tubing - the best parts about camping!

It was a great trip, and I think fun was had by all.

Meghan & Daniel preparing to fish. You can also see Grandpa in the background there.

Aunt Florence watching and taking pictures of everyone fishing.

Harris had a grand time camping. He did really well - he wanted to be free (out of the stroller, playpen, someone's lap, etc.) as much as possible. He walked around barefoot on rocks and other ground materials like it was no big deal!

Harris trying to escape from Grandma's arms - he wanted to fish too!

Joel catching a trout.

Uncle Larry helping Wynn fish.

Sanders fishing.

Nathan & Wynn fishing.

Where we've been...

2011-05-28T23:02:00.000-07:00

Over the last two weeks, Joel and I have been doing a LOT of traveling. We have been talking about going out West for several years now, and we decided to go for it while we have a schedule that allows for a two week trip.

So, on May 11th, we boarded an airplane in Atlanta and flew to Denver. From there, we rented a car and drove to all of our (many) destinations. We made a big loop, landing back in Denver on the 24th of May to fly out on the 25th.

So here is the itinerary:

Day 1 – May 11th

· Fly Atlanta to Denver

· Travel Denver to Great Sand Dunes (CO)

· Camp at Pinyon Flats Campground

Day 2 – May 12th

· Great Sand Dunes

· Travel to Mesa Verde (CO)

· Mesa Verde

· Camp in Morefield Campground

Day 3 – May 13th

· Mesa Verde

· Travel to Grand Canyon (AZ)

· Camp at Mather Campground

Day 4 – May 14th

· Grand Canyon

· Camp at Mather Campground

Day 5 – May 15^th

· Travel to Hoover Dam

· Hoover Dam

· Travel to Las Vegas

· Night in Las Vegas, NV (MGM Grand)

Day 6 – May 16th

· Travel to Sequoia (6:20)

· Camp at Lodgepole Campground - This didn't happen because it was around 20 degrees outside. We stayed in a hotel instead!

Day 7 – May 17th

· Sequoia (Also didn't happen because the state of California requires snow chains for tires after a snow)

· Travel to Yosemite

· Camp at North Pines Campground

Day 8 – May 18th

· Yosemite

· Camp at North Pines Campground

Day 9 – May 19^th

· Yosemite

· Travel to Carson City, NV

· Camp at Washoe Lake State Park

Day 10 – May 20^th

· Travel to Salt Lake City

· Night in Salt Lake City, UT (Dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse)

Day 11 – May 21^st

· Travel to Yellowstone

· Grand Teton National Park

· Night in Jackson Hole, WY

Day 12 – May 22nd

· Yellowstone

· Night in Jackson Hole, WY

Day 13 – May 23rd

· Travel to Laramie, WY

· Night in Laramie

Day 14 – May 24^th

· Travel to Denver

· Night in Denver, CO

Day 15 – May 25th

· Travel Denver to Atlanta

All in all, we drove (once we landed in Denver) 3,851 miles total. We traveled into these states: Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming. We saw all but one of the national parks we had planned to hit, and we had a great time.

I'll be posting pictures in the next few posts of each of the places we visited.

Grand Teton National Park

2011-05-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

Information about Grand Teton.

Jackson Lake

Jenny Lake

The moose we got to see up close - Joel got a video of it. Go here to see it. We were very excited to see a moose so close up!

View of Snake River

View of the Oxbow bend of Snake River

View of the Tetons

Yellowstone National Park

2011-05-28T10:47:00.000-07:00

Here is the site about Yellowstone. Joel and I were both glad we decided to go to Yellowstone because it is so different and interesting, but much to our surprise it wasn't our favorite. There are lots of crazy things to see - geysers, mud pots, fumaroles, hot springs, etc.

Driving into Yellowstone - crazy amounts of snow that had been plowed.

Abyss Pool - a little bit of information about the hot springs: the brighter the colors the hotter the pool actually is. So, this one is hot, but not as hot as some of the others you'll see. When you see bright blues, orange, and yellow those are the hottest.

Beehive Geyser (Video Here)

Black Pool

The edge of the Black Pool

A buffalo - we ended up seeing buffalo, moose, elk, deer, bighorn sheep, chickaree, and pronghorn.

Firehole River

Fishing Cone Geyser - this geyser got it's name because it is located near the edge of Yellowstone Lake. People used to fish in Yellowstone Lake and then dunk it into the geyser to cook it in the steaming hot spring. As you can imagine, this was not the safest practice, so now it is not allowed.

Fountain Paint Pots - mud pots that literally bubble and pop

A fumarole (definition from Wikipedia)- is an opening in a planet's crust, often in the neighborhood of volcanoes, which emits steam and gases such as carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrochloric acid, and hydrogen sulfide. The steam is created when superheated water turns to steam as its pressure drops when it emerges from the ground.

View of hot springs

Lakeshore Geyser

Old Faithful Inn

Upper stories looking up from lobbies

Fireplace in the lobby

Old Faithful (Video Here)

Opal Pool

Yellowstone Lake

One other video from Yellowstone: Red Spouter

Washoe Lake State Park

2011-05-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

This was a stopover on the long journey to Yellowstone. We found a great state park that had really nice campsites and a great mountain/lake view.

Campsite - Joel watching the grill :)

Just before sunset

At sunset

Yosemite National Park

2011-05-28T10:16:00.000-07:00

Yosemite National Park ended up being a favorite for both of us. I loved the Grand Canyon and Yosemite, and Joel put Yosemite in first place definitely (this was his 3rd time to be at the Grand Canyon and my first).

Here is some more information about Yosemite. We camped at Yosemite, and the first night we were there we woke up to snow on the ground and on the tent! Joel and I decided that we have far exceeded our quota for snow this year!

Abbi in front of a giant sequoia tree

Joel in front of the roots of a downed sequoia

Three sequoias next to each other

This one is named the Grizzly Giant. I put the picture with people in it so you'd be able to get a sense of how big it really is.

Bridal Veil Falls

El Capitan - we didn't see anyone climbing, but it had snowed the day before, so we think everyone was letting all the ice/snow melt first.

Half Dome covered in snow

Half Dome after the snow melt

The Royal Arches - if you look closely you can see the striations in the mountain that make an arch shape.

View 1 of Yosemite Falls - notice the upper and lower falls

Up close view of the lower falls

View 2 of Yosemite Falls - you can see the upper and lower falls more clearly here.

Here is a video Joel took of Vernal Falls - we took a hike (uphill) to get to see this view of the falls.

Hoover Dam/Las Vegas

2011-05-28T09:59:00.000-07:00

Here is some info about the Hoover Dam

Hoover Dam

New bridge that bypasses the dam.

Lake Mead

Lights/Water show at the Bellagio (short video here)

M & M's store on the strip. I immediately thought of my niece Avi - she loves M & M's.

It's not every day that you find yourself in Las Vegas, so we wanted to swing by the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop while we were there. This is a shop that is featured on the History Channel - see more about it here.

We did not make it inside the shop because there was a BIG line of people waiting outside the door to get in. But, we can say we've been there :).

Grand Canyon

2011-05-28T09:15:00.000-07:00

http://www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm

Abbi & Joel at the Grand Canyon

Campsite at Mather Campground

Canyon Views

Canyon at the start of sunset

Mesa Verde National Park

2011-05-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

Here is the site for Mesa Verde http://www.visitmesaverde.com/.

Montezuma Valley Overlook on the drive up to the dwellings.

Cliff dwelling ruins

Cliff Palace - the largest cliff dwelling at Mesa Verde

Spruce Tree House - this is the dwelling we chose to see up close (the pictures above are obviously from afar - Spruce Tree we walked up to it and got a closer view).

Far view of Spruce Tree House

Joel next to tower at Spruce Tree House

Kiva - used for religious ceremonies. When occupied, this area would have had a roof.

Square Tower House - also viewed from afar.

Great Sand Dunes National Park

2011-05-28T09:01:00.000-07:00

Here is the official site for Great Sand Dunes http://www.nps.gov/grsa/index.htm.

Campsite - this was my very FIRST time camping (ever), and it was literally freezing. It got down to 29 degrees or so that night, but I made it! There was ice on the top of our tent when we got up that morning.

Wildlife

View of one side of the dunes - they go on forever!

View of the other side of the dunes

Dunes somewhere in the middle

The Truth About Digital Copies

2011-05-10T16:25:00.000-07:00

So, I thought I'd come share a little bit of a rant tonight while it is on my mind. Joel and I both love movies, and we have our fair share of DVD's and now Blu-Ray's. If it is bought today, according to Joel, it MUST be Blu-Ray :). (This post is not against Blu-Ray's)

The trend right now is for Blu-Ray's to come bundled with either a DVD copy & a Digital Copy or just a Digital Copy. For those of you thinking, "What is a digital copy?" - here is a link to help you understand what I mean - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_copy.

The purpose of a Digital Copy is that you can put your favorite movie onto your portable device, i.e. your iPhone, iPad, etc.

So, my gripe is that tonight as I was preparing to download a few of our digital copy movies to my computer and then to my iPhone I got this message.

If you can't read that it says - Sorry, the offer is no longer available. Now, when I first saw that message I thought surely not. There must have been some kind of error, but nope, much to my dismay as I tried it again I got the same message.

This prompted me to do a little more looking. So, two issues I now have with the Digital Copy idea. One, you can only put it on ONE device. I sort of understand this, I mean copyright law should come in somewhere. But, for example, Joel and I both have phones that we could play the movie on, but we are only able to put it onto one of them. Ultimately, I am ok with this issue - that's not really my gripe.

My real issue is that the Digital Copy offer expires (see picture above) after a certain amount of time. It should never expire - you only get to use it once, but you should be able to choose when you use it - you paid extra for the Blu-Ray, DVD, & Digital Copy. Therefore, you should get to use all of them, at whatever time is convenient for you.

In case you're wondering how you might find out when your digital copy expires here's where you look:

Either on the back cover of the case OR on the bottom of the insert that has your one time use redeemable code. Notice it is in the extra fine print that I have circled in the picture above.

Here is a close up view so you can see that in just a single (very small print) sentence they make your paid extra for the digital copy no longer useable.

So, moral of the story is that if you have bought or plan to buy digital copy versions in the future, you should check the expiration date. Also, make sure you put it onto the device you plan to use it on the first time, because after that you have no choice.

Moral of the story for me: I will no longer pay extra for a digital copy.

Twilight in Athens II

2011-05-01T10:57:00.000-07:00

The women's race started at 7:45 and lasted until about 8:45. Up next were the men (9:00-11:00) - there race consisted of 80 laps around the course! Again, it was fun to see how fast these guys were moving and how easy they made it look. The men were moving at speeds of 40 mph.

The race got really interesting about the 5th or 6th lap. Two sprinters decided to take off and separate themselves from the rest of the pack. They continued to sprint around the course and eventually (many laps later) actually caught up to the group! It was fun to watch, and it was amazing to see all of the guys keep up that pace.

Here are a couple of videos of the men. On the first one, you can see how fast they were going - just a blur past us. On the second one, I turned as they came by so you could watch them go past. For those Mississippi State fans out there, in the second video in particular, you'll hear a very familiar sound - the cowbell. Joel and I felt right at home with the ringing of the cowbells!

Here are a few pictures from the evening. There are a couple of the crowd/route, just so you can get an idea of the atmosphere. Also, the sunset was really pretty. You can see some of the beautiful downtown buildings in this picture too.

Looking at one of the curves in the race.

This is the crowd for the women's race - it got MUCH more crowded for the men.

Twilight in Athens

2011-05-01T10:48:00.000-07:00

Last night Joel and I went out to enjoy the Twilight races in Athens. Here is the official site for this year's race: http://www.athenstwilight.com/ Last year, we went on Friday night and enjoyed the music and food while watching the racers qualify on stationary bikes, but we didn't make it back out for the actual races on Saturday because it was pouring down rain. This year the weather was perfect so we ventured out to see what it was all about.

It was certainly a unique experience. When the Twilight races come to town, the entire area of downtown is gated off. The actual route that the races take is a big loop in the middle of downtown. For those of you familiar with Athens the route starts at College Ave. (near The Grill) and heads toward the Georgia Theatre for a big turn, then comes down that street and heads straight for the Classic Center. After making that turn (past the classic center toward the ABH) they come all the way back around and head toward the start/finish line. There are 4 intense turns that they have to make on the course.

The first two videos that I am posting are from the women's race. The women's portion of the evening consisted of 40 laps around that course. These women were riding at speeds of 25+ mph. It was really fun getting into the feel of the event and watching how easy these athletes were making this look. Unfortunately, we saw TWO spills during the course of the 40 laps. One was near the middle of the race, but the most heartbreaking one was on the LAST lap after the 4th curve. They were in the home stretch and about to be finished. I felt so sorry for the 4 or 5 girls that were almost finished!

Take a look at these videos: (Notice how much of a blur the women are as they ride past us. You can see across the street (the other side of the course) the gate that separates spectators from riders.)

Flashback Friday

2011-04-29T17:59:00.000-07:00

Tonight as I was getting my camera out to delete some pictures I found an old jump drive. I knew immediately what would be on it - beach pictures from almost 2 years ago. Kelli, do you even remember that I still have your jump drive? I knew I had it, but I had no clue where it was! I found it tonight :)

So, in honor of finding the long time missing jump drive here are few pictures.

Here is baby Avi standing on the fold out couch bed with me. Notice her feet/legs are hidden by Uncle Joel's socks. For some reason she was enthralled with them and wanted to put them on!

Mine and Joel's feet along with our name at the beach. This was a couple of month's after our 2 year anniversary. In 13 days we will celebrate our 4th anniversary. Time flies when you're having fun :)

Another shot of Avi - look how tan she was! Go here - The Anthony Girls - to see up to date pictures of Avi and her sister Sally Sharp.

John Michael and Madison - they have gotten so big since then. JM went to prom this year (all handsome in his tux).

Here is a flashback picture of Joel and me. We have been working for the last year to lose some weight, and you can tell in this picture (versus those in the birthday post below) that we have made some progress.

I hope y'all are having a good weekend so far. We are enjoying being home and relaxing! Enjoy these flashback pictures.

Joel's 30th Birthday

2011-04-14T18:52:00.000-07:00

In March, I pulled off a surprise 30th birthday party for Joel. It was so hard to keep all of the little detail plans that were going on behind the scenes from Joel during the month that I was planning it.

We had great friends and family that were gracious enough to help celebrate this milestone. Joel was completely surprised - no clue anything was being planned.

Here are some pictures from the fun night.

Joel's first view of the party attenders - while they were yelling surprise.

Sanders saying something like: We got you :)

Joel's 30" party pizza for his 30th birthday. This came from a local pizza place (our favorite). Since Joel saw one when we first moved here he has wanted to get one. It's not everyday that a 30" pizza is doable, so I thought this would be the perfect occasion!

Here you can get a good idea of just how large the pizza actually is.

Uncle Joel and Harris - Harris' first trip to GA.

Blowing out his candles!

The Oakley clan that was in attendance. We are very blessed with a great family. I was thrilled to find out that his family would be able to make the long drive to make this night even more special.

A look at the party attenders waiting to say surprise.

Our Sunday school teachers.

New Seasons

2011-04-14T18:36:00.000-07:00

So, obviously a lot has happened since my last post. I completely got off track with my blogging - sorry!

Here are some pictures to show the new season we are in.

Today was a beautiful day, and I took a walk down to the lake to enjoy some of the nice weather. I will update more soon on what's been going on in my absence!

More Snow Pictures

2011-01-11T10:04:00.000-08:00

On day 2 of being cooped up in the house, Joel and I decided to venture out...on foot. We got out and cleaned the snow off of the cars, and walked down our long hill to the road (about a half mile one way) to see what life looked like out in the world.

The main road has one lane cleared (as far as we could see), but our driveway leaving the apartment complex (going downhill the whole way) is still very slushy/icy. GDOT still says to stay off of the road. So here we are back inside after playing for about an hour and a half.

We are very thankful to still have power, and that we are able to enjoy these snow days at home. There are a lot of people in the Atlanta area stranded at the airport, the greyhound bus depot, and even out on the interstate. So, we are very thankful to be at home during this crazy weather!

Here are some more pictures...beyond our back porch view :)

Abbi making a snow angel (There is a layer of ice on top of the snow now, so we both had to chop through the snow with our arms and legs to be able to make these!)

Abbi's snow angel...look closely :)

Joel making a snow angel

Joel's snow angel

Abbi all bundled up

Joel all bundled up

View of snow across the lake

View across the lake (different angle)

View of parking lot (a few brave people have ventured out as you can see from the tracks)

Joel holding a sheet of ice and snow that came off of the car.

This was the buildup of snow and ice on top of the car. (Before)

We made a tunnel on top of the car....The top of the tunnel is a layer of ice. We scooped out all of the soft snow that was underneath. (After - see picture above)

View looking downhill (down our long driveway to the main road)

View looking back up the hill

Snow in 2011

2011-01-10T06:42:00.000-08:00

Joel and I are enjoying our snow day today. Thankfully, we were both able to stay home today due to school closings. We are hoping that it stays as snow, and we don't lose power.

Here are a few pictures to document:

Boots in the snow...this is on the porch (I didn't make it off the porch :))

View of the cars in the parking lot

View of our side yard...we got about 4-5 inches of snow. Joel loves to look at the blanket of snow!

Hope everyone is having a warm and safe day!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-31T16:00:00.000-08:00

Joel and I were glad to hit the road last week and head to Mississippi. We were excited to have some time with our family. All of our nieces and nephews are growing up so fast and getting big - So every chance we get to see them is great.

Here are a few pictures from our visit.

This picture makes me laugh. Sally Sharp had a cute shirt on with a Christmas tree - with a bow on top....she couldn't stop putting that bow in her mouth. That was her entertainment all day.

Joel reading to Avi Grace. Notice her Cindarella dress up outfit :)

Mimi, Sally Sharp, and Papa

Abbi & Sally Sharp

Harris & Nathan - You can see Harris' favorite part of the evening in the next picture!

Can you find Harris?

Grandma scored big with her project boxes she created for all three big kids. They all LOVED them, but Rebekah made the most use of hers immediately. Here she is looking inside for the first time.

Sanders opening a gift.

Somehow I missed getting a picture of Wynn - he is too busy to pose for pictures :)

Also, you can see that I don't have picture of John Michael & Madison. We were thankful that they were even able to come. Madison came down with the flu a few days before Christmas, and only got to come to Starkville the morning of Christmas day. We were very glad they were able to make it!

Hope y'all had a great Christmas season as well!

Christmas Cards & Holiday Fun

2010-12-04T07:30:00.000-08:00

So, it’s the Christmas season again! Joel and I love Christmas, and we really get into decorating our house, sending Christmas cards, watching Christmas movies, and eating all the Christmas goodies! I am usually the one that spends a lot of time picking out the different Christmas cards that I think are cute and would like to use. At the end of that process, Joel always helps me pick – usually it is difficult to narrow them down!

This year I am planning to order my Christmas cards from Shutterfly. I have not used Shutterfly in the past, but I know SO many people that have used them for all sorts of things including prints of their photos, photo calendars, invitations (the New Year’s are really cute!) and for sharing their photos with others. The last one that I mentioned – Free Photo Sharing – is the one that I see most often used.

Logo from Shutterfly.com

Shutterfly allows you to upload your new album of pictures, and send a link to that album to family and friends for viewing. So imagine, your family just got home from picking out that perfect Christmas tree, and you captured it all. All you have to do to share those photos is login to your free Shutterfly account, and upload them. Once you’ve done that the link is automatically ready for sharing! The best part is that grandparents can order prints of their favorite photos directly from the link you share with them.

Well, back to the task at hand, I have been trying to decide on a Christmas card for the season. Here are the ones I like the best so far: Yuletide Village, Paper Ornaments, Elegant Wishes, In His Name, and Christmas Plaid Cherry. Hopefully I will be able (with help from Joel!) to narrow these down to the favorite one today. It’s time to get to ordering them!

Samples of a few of the cards listed above: (In this order: Yuletide Village, Paper Ornaments, & Christmas Plaid Cherry).

**All pictures from Shutterfly.com - See links above for more information on each card

So, why am I sharing all of this information about Shutterfly? This amazing company is giving away 50 free holiday cards to those bloggers that choose to participate. Go HERE to learn more about it! I hope you have as much fun as I did while looking through all the fun choices!

Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T16:16:00.000-08:00

Joel and I just got home from our trip to MS for Thanksgiving. We were very excited to see everyone and spend some time with our family. We are more aware each day how much God has blessed us with our families, and we are very thankful for each and every member.

Here are some pictures so you can see how much fun we had:

Uncle Joel & Avi Grace

Avi giving Sally Sharp kisses

This is one of the good shots I got of Avi while I was trying to coax her to smile for a picture! She wasn't thrilled to be taking pictures :)

Uncle Joel & Sally Sharp

Sally Sharp's pretty smile

Harris is so tall!

Graham, Joel, Sanders, & Nathan

Wynn, Sanders, Rebekah

(Notice Wynn's funny face)

Rebekah & Abbi

After all of our Thanksgiving fun, Rebekah was worn out. She found her a spot in the den and curled up and went to sleep!

As you can tell we had a great time with family and friends this Thanksgiving. On Tuesday evening before we left for MS, Joel and I got to enjoy a Mannheim Steamroller concert. Joel took me out to dinner before the concert, and we had a great time on our date. Here we are all dressed up:

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving too!

Georgia Thanksgiving Celebration

2010-11-14T15:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Joel and I were able to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with a group of friends here in Athens. We had a good time enjoying all of the food and company. Here are some pictures to show the fun:

Our smorgasbord of food...Rolls, spiral-sliced ham, cream corn, sweet potato souffle, strawberry pretzel salad, zipper peas, green beans, macaroni & cheese, dressing, gravy, and broccoli casserole.

Not pictured: Apple pie, Pecan pie, and wassail for dessert

Another view

Clay and Marie's beautiful new table worked perfectly for our gathering.

The group

Back Rock Mountain State Park

2010-10-23T18:57:00.000-07:00

Our second destination today was Black Rock Mountain State Park, which is about a 20-25 minute drive from Tallulah Gorge State Park.

This state park is at a high elevation, and we definitely noticed the difference as soon as we got out of the car! I had to put my jacket on, but it was worth it! We enjoyed the views by sitting and taking it all in. I hope you enjoy these pictures too.

This was our first clue that it was going to be a great view from the overlook. We were treated to these vibrant colors on the road up to the entrance to the state park.

From this sign you can tell how high we were when we were at the overlook.

I was pleased with how the colors showed up in this picture. It was really pretty to look out over all these mountains and see the vibrant colors among the green.

This was the first view we had when we parked after entering the park.

I love this picture of us with the beautiful scene behind it!

Tallulah Gorge State Park

2010-10-23T18:45:00.000-07:00

Today, Joel and I headed up to north Georgia to take in some of the beautiful views of fall. It was an absolutely perfect day - weather and scenery wise. We left around 10 this morning and drove to Tallulah Falls, GA for our first stop.

Our destination here was Tallulah Gorge State Park. We got out and found a nice spot to have our picnic lunch, and then we got ready to do some hiking. Enjoy the pictures.

This sign tells it all...We hiked down into the gorge to see Hurricane Falls from the gorge floor. The first "stop" on the hike is a suspension bridge that takes you across the gorge. It is 310 stairs down to the suspension bridge, and then 221 steps to the floor of the gorge. Once you go down, you must walk all of it back up - which totals to 1062 steps!

We had a lot of fun, and really enjoyed all the sights along the way. We definitely got our exercise in today!

A view of the steps going down...

A pretty arbor at the entrance of the trails. We ate our picnic lunch near here.

We also hiked a trail to Inspiration Point, where you had a good view of Bridal Veil Falls.

View of the gorge floor from the bottom of those stairs!

Path on the way to Inspiration Point.

Suspension bridge - I was a little nervous about this guy, but I went across it twice! The more people that got on the more it shook.

View of another falls at the state park. This one is called Tempesta Falls.

In the next post, I will show pictures from our second (and last) stop of the day...Black Rock Mountain State Park.

Hope you got out and enjoyed this beautiful day!

Grading - A hilarious take

2010-10-20T17:37:00.000-07:00

If you need a good laugh, take a look at the post on the link below. If you are a teacher, you will especially appreciate the post information and the comments section!

http://notthatkindofdoctor.com/2010/10/the-five-stages-of-grading/

The Monotracer

2010-10-18T14:43:00.000-07:00

So, on the way home from campus today Joel and I saw one of these:

Picture from here.

We thought it looked pretty cool, and we got to stay behind it for a little while. When we stopped at a red light we witnessed the two side wheels fold down to balance it while at a stop - notice the black wheel on the rear of the vehicle in the picture above (it is folded up in the picture).

I just did a little googling to find out more about what we had seen. Go here for a pretty good description. After reading that short article, you should be stunned to find out how much they cost! Around $82,000 - granted it does have air conditioning, navigation, cruise control, and seats 2 - but boy that's a hefty price tag.

So, little did we know what we were actually seeing this afternoon!

Go here to see it in action or just put Monotracer into the search bar on youtube to see more.

UGA Football Game

2010-10-16T14:29:00.000-07:00

Today, I got to enjoy a UGA football game with Joel and a couple of other friends. For those of you that know me, you know I am not a huge football fan, but I wanted to go to at least one game for the experience. Our friends (and Sunday School teachers) were gracious enough to allow us to go with them this weekend.

It was an absolutely beautiful day - high of 65 degrees. I really enjoyed the game (A shutout: UGA 43, Vandy 0) and most of all the company. Enjoy some pictures from today:

Debra and Abbi

Joel and Abbi

Band Hat - Notice the UGA Arch on the hat.

Players coming through the Dawg Walk

Fans watching the Dawg Walk from the bridge on Sanford Drive

Georgia Flag

Hairy Dog leading the Dawg Walk

Mike, Joel, Abbi, & Debra

This was the cutest couple - I loved their old sweaters. You can see his wife next to him...she had on a red skirt and cute red and white saddle shoes.

Team huddle

Team running out - led by Coach Mark Richt (that link takes you to a page where Coach Richt shares his testimony)

Today was homecoming - this is the Alumni Band (what a great turnout in numbers!)

The Redcoat Band

The graves of the previous Uga's

Uga VIII being welcomed by the crowd

View of the stadium

MSU Fotball

2010-09-09T06:46:00.000-07:00

Last weekend while Joel and I were home, we got to partake in the first MSU football game of the season. Pictures to document the fun:

The band (view from where we were sitting)

Band spelling out STATE

Bully as he comes out onto the field!

Flyover during pregame

Jumbotron - with a view of the stadium

One side of the stadium from the outside

Fondue Fun!

2010-09-02T17:36:00.001-07:00

I am thrilled to announce that Joel passed both of his qualifying exams that he took in August!! He studied hard for them all summer, and boy did it pay off! Two down, two to go.

To celebrate, we had some fondue fun:

Strawberries, bananas, and rice krispie treats. Yum!

Chocolate all ready for dipping

We are gearing up for a fun weekend. Hope y'all have some fun plans!

Way Past Due

2010-08-28T16:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Sally Sharp and Harris from the last time we were home. They are both growing and growing. I know they have already changed from these pictures!

Sally Sharp and Uncle Joel

Sally Sharp and Aunt Abbi

Harris and Grandma

Big Smiles

Swing Bag

2010-08-28T16:16:00.000-07:00

Joel and I had a nice lazy Saturday today. I chose to use part of my afternoon to make Amy Butler's Swing Bag - http://www.amybutlerdesign.com/products/patterns_display.php?id=18.

I am pleased with how it turned out, and it was a really easy pattern to follow. The other nice thing is that it is very roomy!

This light is not true to color, but you get the idea.

The bag is completely reversible. I think the patterned side can pass as a purse that can be worn with black, and the other side is brown. So hopefully I will be able to get a lot of use out of this :)

Introducing...

2010-07-21T19:18:00.000-07:00

Sally Sharp Anthony

Born: 9:06 a.m.
Weight: 8 lbs. 1 oz, 19" long

Joel and I are very excited to have a new niece. We can't wait to meet her in person, but for now these pictures will have to do.

Everyone is doing well. Thanks for all the prayers! I can't wait to see how Avi Grace likes having a little sister! Should be fun and interesting! :)

GA Aquarium...Fun, fun, fun!

2010-07-13T06:19:00.000-07:00

Joel and I took a trip to the Georgia Aquarium this past weekend. We had SO much fun. This was my early birthday present....one exhibit (Ocean Voyager) was worth the price of admission alone.

We got to enjoy the experience with some friends, Clay and Marie. We all had a good time. Take a look at the pictures to see what all we enjoyed.

We got to see four whale sharks varying in size (this is the only place in North America that you can see a whale shark!). The manta rays were amazing too...they are huge!

As you can see, we got to see a lot. The manta rays and whale sharks were probably my favorite. The beluga whales were definitely Marie's favorite. Take a second and enjoy the video/song below. This became our theme song while getting geared up for the trip and while there!

Elder's Mill Covered Bridge

2010-06-12T19:55:00.000-07:00

Joel and I are both enjoying this new season of summer. I finished up my spring quarter class on Thursday. So, I am officially off for one week, then I start a summer class for a month. Joel started classes on the 5th, but his schedule is MUCH less hectic than during the semester. Yesterday we took advantage of our new schedules and took some time to galavant around Oconee county - specifically Watkinsville.

The main thing we went to find was Elder's Mill Covered Bridge. It is one of the few covered bridges still standing in Georgia. It is also unique because it still carries traffic...yes I said people still drive over it!! I must say that Joel and I were not comfortable with that idea...so we parked a little before we got to the bridge and walked down to see it! We were much happier with that decision. :)

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy:

Proof that people still drive over it! (Just not us :))

The view underneath the bridge.

Wooden pegs holding it together

Vote! Free Credit Report Contest

2010-06-07T09:49:00.001-07:00

Hey Y'all,

Please go vote for this group that is trying out to be the Free Credit Report.com band. These guys are from Starkville, and are a great group of guys that are very musically talented. You can vote once a day from now until June 21st! Click on the video to watch and vote, or click on the Go Vote below to go to the page where you can cast your vote!

Go Vote!

Pleated Purse

2010-05-14T19:03:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I set out to work on a project. In the middle of working on a cute pleated purse, I made supper and stopped to make Joel some spice tea. Unfortunately, Joel is not feeling well...he is coughing his head off and very congested. Hopefully he will get better soon!

Anyway, back to the project. Tonight I finished up the purse. It is a really cute pattern that is free here. It was a great easy pattern. It took me a couple of hours to complete - including the distractions mentioned earlier. I had never done pleats on anything...so easy and I think they make something ordinary a little unique! Also, I had never put on a magnetic snap. Overall, the magnetic snap was easy to work with. The instructions on the back of the box called for you to add a small piece of cardboard to help reinforce the snap. At first I was unsure of what to use, but then I went to the pantry and looked around. I ended up using a flap from a nutri grain bar box...but any cereal box material would work nicely I think.

The fabric that I used for the outer part of the purse is an Amy Butler piece that I got for free at the local quilt shop on the shop birthday. I really like the pattern and think it looks nice as a purse.

So...enough talk. Here are a few pictures:

Brayden's Quilt

2010-05-12T08:56:00.000-07:00

So, I should have posted these pictures a LONG time ago...but better late than never. In March, Joel and I got to visit with my friend Brooke and meet little Brayden. He is so adorable, and I was so excited to get to hold him.

I wanted to make him something special, so I made him a small baby quilt. This was the second quilt I have made doing machine quilting. I used a walking foot (first time using one of those), which worked out really well.

Close up of Brayden's Quilt

I used these - Micron Pigma pens that allowed me to write directly on the fabric for the quilt label.

Here is a picture of the front of the quilt. The back is a polka dot blue flannel...I hoped it would be nice and soft for little Brayden.

Family Weekend

2010-04-13T16:11:00.001-07:00

Joel and I traveled to MS this weekend to spend some time with family. My sister and her family moved into a new house about a month ago, and we had not gotten to see it yet.

Also, we needed to meet two new babies. My friend Brooke had her baby boy a month ago Saturday, and Aunt Abbi couldn't wait to meet little Brayden! And, of course, we needed to meet little Harris, our new nephew. Overall, it was a great weekend and nice to spend some time with the family.

New living room

Mom & Dad enjoying the day on the porch.

We played cards all morning while enjoying the porch and the nice weather.

JM, Maddi, and I played on the trampoline for a while too.

Precious Brayden

Brayden and his little protector, Belle!

Beautiful little Harris

Rebekah, the big sister

Sanders, the older brother

Wynn, the older brother

Uncle Joel and Harris

Rebekah got a big girl haircut. It looks very cute!

Introducing...

2010-03-29T16:57:00.000-07:00

Harris Wise Oakley

Born: 11:59 am this morning
Weight: 8 pounds 13 ounces, 22 inches long

Joel and I are very excited to have a new nephew. We can't wait to meet him in person, but for now this picture will have to do!

Everyone is doing well. Thanks for all the prayers!

South Carolina

2010-03-21T11:04:00.000-07:00

Joel and got to enjoy a weekend in South Carolina. We went to visit Jeremy and Amber (who we knew at MSU) in Clemson, S.C., which happens to only be an hour and a half from us. It is hard for us to get used to being so close to things.

On Saturday we spent the day exploring some local landmarks and enjoying the beautiful weather. We could not have asked for better weather...mid to high 70's with a nice breeze. I pulled out the shorts for the first time this season.

The first stop on our galavant was Stumphouse Tunnel. Click on the link to learn more about it...it was quite cold in the tunnel! There is a draft that flows through it year round...would definitely be a nice place in July!

Stumphouse Tunnel

Right in the same area as Stumphouse is a nice waterfall, Issaqueena Falls. We took some pictures from the top of the fall, and then we hiked down close to the falls to get some better pictures.

Abbi & Joel at Issaqueena Falls

Issaqueena Falls

Jeremy & Amber at Issaqueena Falls

After we spent some time at Issaqueena Falls, we headed to Caesar's Head. We drove all the way up the mountain to get a great view.

View from Bald Rock...on the way up to Caesar's Head

Lake view from Caesar's Head

And finally, to end the day we drove to Greenville to check out the downtown. It was one of the prettiest downtown I have seen.

River in Falls Park - downtown Greenville, S. C.

Falls Park

Waterfall at Falls Park

Suspension bridge at Falls Park

Pretty tree at Falls Park

I hope y'all were able to enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend. Looking forward to more nice weather!

It's Really March!

2010-03-08T16:18:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe how fast this year is already going. March is a big month for us in the birthday department. We will celebrate Joel's birthday next week, hopefully with some chocolate covered strawberries (he really likes those) and maybe cupcakes (I like cupcakes, haha :)). We also have a nephew who will celebrate his birthday this month. He is getting so big...crazy!

Also, we will be adding to our nephew count at the very end of this month on the Oakley side. We can't wait to meet the new little guy in less than a month! Hopefully, we will get to see him not too long after he is born and celebrate with the family.

My friend Brooke will be having her little boy sooner than expected. She was not due until the end of March, but she and Justin are excited about Brayden's arrival on Wednesday (if all goes as planned). I can't wait to meet him and get some pictures of him!

Joel is enjoying his week of Spring Break that officially started today. In Mississippi, he always got his birthday off during SB, but here, he will have to celebrate a week early. :) Today he has been enjoying some time playing Super Mario Bros. for Wii. He stays extremely busy during the semester, so I am glad that he can take a little time for himself. (He still has to do some homework this week, but at least nothing is due!)

I am off for part of the week. Two of the classes I teach are at a school that is on the quarter system. Unfortunately the end of the quarter ends one week after Spring Break, which I do get at the other school. So, this week, I have classes on Monday and Wednesday, but I get the rest of the week off. I am certainly not complaining. I am glad to be getting SB! :) I checked the book "A Time Traveler's Wife" out from the library this weekend. It has been nice to have a book to read while recovering from the flu, and hopefully, I will get to read a good bit this week while I am off.

I hope you have had a taste of this beautiful weather that we were given today. Here's to hoping it stays for a bit!

Quilt border & Snow!

2010-02-12T14:09:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to write a quick update and show you the border I put on the crazy quilt. I really like the small pattern in the fabric I found for the border.

Last night the prediction for the weather was that we would get snow...I really wasn't convinced. However, as of about 2:30 this afternoon the snow started falling. It is really pretty to watch it coming down.

I know for some of you this amount of snow is nothing...but for a Mississippi girl this scene is really exciting and fun!

Joel and I are staying warm...hope you are doing the same. Have a great weekend!

Latest Project

2010-01-24T15:27:00.000-08:00

The last day or so that we were in Starkville at Christmas, Stanthia and I started a project. We set out to make Krazy Quilts. Before I left, I had enough blocks for a twin size quilt, and Stanthia was on her way to having enough for a queen or king size quilt.

I finally took the time to put the blocks together today. Here is what it looks like so far (still needs a border).

Our Christmas Break...

2010-01-04T15:44:00.001-08:00

Joel and I had a great time visiting our family over the break. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment...

This is JM...can you believe how old he is looking? He is 13 now...you'll be able to see just how tall he's gotten in another picture.

Here is Maddi. She is 10 now...they are just getting too grown!

Can you believe how tall he has gotten? Maddi will soon be taller than me too!

Here is a picture of Kelli and Avi. Avi is getting so big too...she is doing really well with her potty training!

Glad Sheri and I remembered to take a picture together too!

We also got to spend some time with Joel's side of the family. We are very excited that a new little one will be adding to this family this spring.

We also got to see Joel's brother Daniel and his wife Meghan. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of them! We were glad to get to spend some time with them.

Here is my lion. Tang had a good time getting brushed by everyone while we were home.

Lastly, I will leave you with this picture. This was the first thing I attempted to quilt with my free motion foot after the quilting class I took. I gave this to Sheri as part of her Christmas present. Hopefully it will serve her as a good bookmark.

Thanksgiving Break

2009-11-28T19:28:00.000-08:00

Joel and I were lucky enough to be able to spend a week with our family over the Thanksgiving break. During the week, we attended a birthday party, three family celebrations, and plenty of time just hanging out.

Here is the birthday boy, Wynn...turning the big 5 years old!

Here is Rebekah sporting her Mom's sunglasses. She is so stylish!

Sanders is getting so grown up. Here he is right after he got a haircut.

Just the boys. Uncle Joel, Sanders, and Wynn.

Uncle Joel, Aunt Abbi, Sanders, Wynn, and Rebekah.

Joel and I are so blessed with amazing families. We both incredibly enjoy being an Uncle and an Aunt. Every moment we get to spend with these kiddos above and our other nieces and nephews is special to us. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from this past week with our older niece and nephew...I will have to do better at Christmas. Avi Grace is pictured below in her overalls that I blogged about last time. I was very pleased with how well they fit.

Just lounging...

Here is a back shot so you can see how well they fit.

On the way home today, Joel and I stopped at a Chick-Fil-A to get one of their AMAZING milkshakes. My personal favorite is the cookies and cream one. Anyway, while we were waiting for our handspun treat, we got to take a picture with the chick-Fil-A santa cow. Aren't we too cute?

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving break, and that you were able to spend a little time relishing in how much you have been blessed by God. I know I sure did. Now, I am looking forward to the upcoming Christmas season.

What I've been up to lately...

2009-11-10T15:10:00.000-08:00

A couple of posts ago I mentioned that I had taken a machine quilting class. I have been practicing my free motion quilting on scraps of fabric. I have a small boy's quilt in mind that I plan to donate to a charity (perhaps Project Linus), so that is why I have been practicing on all of these trucks and cars.

These are in NO way perfect, but it was fun to try out something new. I did the train first, and you can definitely tell it! I think the truck looks the best. By the way, the color in these pictures is awful, but at least you can see the quilting. (It is actually green fabric with white thread.)

Also, I found a good deal on a Burda pattern - 9772 at the local JoAnn's store this week. I decided to go out on a limb and try it! It is the first piece of clothing that I have made that is partially lined. I am proud of it, but most of all I am proud because I didn't have any difficulties while sewing it! I almost always have some sort of major question about what the directions mean or something like that.

I still have to do the buttonholes on the bib and put the buttons on the straps. I thought the fall fabric was too cute.

I hope you are having a good week. It is nasty and rainy here today. We turned on the heat for the first time this weekend. I am about to whip up some waffles, and then maybe we'll watch a movie.

Sunday Afternoon in North Georgia

2009-10-25T16:20:00.001-07:00

This afternoon Joel and I took off and headed up to North Georgia. We have been enjoying all the beautiful changing leaves and wanted to see more. These first pictures are from the entrance to our apartment area. The trees are so beautiful right now, and we get to see them every day! It was great to get to see all the pretty fall colors up in the mountains on our drive.

from across the lake

close up
This one is for Joel...he likes the yellow/orange/green ones. I like the red ones the best!

Finally, after I got these pictures taken, we headed to North Georgia. Our destination was a town called Helen. Every year for the entire month of October, Helen, GA, has Oktoberfest festivities. The town is quite interesting in its decor...just see the pictures below. Their specialty during this month is beer and brats. We did not try either, but we did enjoy the beautiful weather and the unique atmosphere.

I hope y'all had a great weekend!

Ok, so it's been forever, literally!

2009-10-22T16:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back on track with blogging. Joel and I have been super busy.

We are really liking our new town, and we have found a great church. I started working with the Cubbies at Awana, and we have 20 - 3 & 4 year olds on the roll. On any given Wednesday night we usually have at least 18! Talk about a crazy night. It has been a lot of fun and has helped me meet other people at church.

Today I had the second (in a 2 part series) beginning machine quilting class at a local quilt shop. I had a great time and learned so much. I got to meet several great ladies, and we talked about different ways to machine quilt and ways to mark the quilt. Also, I got to practice using my new walking foot and free-motion foot. The teacher of the class was super nice, and she brought several beautiful quilts to show us. You should go check out her blog...she does some really beautiful work and some neat things with real pictures printed onto fabric. Hopefully I will have something fun to show you soon.

Joel has been staying super busy with all of his classes, teaching schedule, and the homework that keeps him up late at night! He is really enjoying his classes and learning a lot. He just registered for next semester's classes this week. Only a month and a half left in the semester and then he will get to take a much deserved break for Christmas.

So that's a little about what's been going on with us. Hope everything is going well with you. I will try to do better about blogging in a timely manner (better than I have done since we moved :)).

Updated Apartment Pictures

2009-07-27T13:41:00.001-07:00

Here are some updated apartment pictures. Everything has a place to call home now.

I have a sewing area set up in the office/guest bedroom.

Master Bedroom...it is impossible to show the color of the walls in a picture. The color changes depending on if it is natural or lamp light that is shining...I am very pleased with the color though.

Living Room....sorry the blanket isn't folded and the pillows are not where they should be :P

Much needed bathroom storage!

Our tiny kitchen :) So far it has worked out...I have had enough room to do what I need.

Last but not least...our new entry table. It might look familiar...it matches our bookshelves. Joel and I both really loved the look of the bookshelves so we decided to use the same look for an entry table. We are really pleased with the outcome.

DCI

2009-07-27T13:28:00.000-07:00

So Joel and I have been quite busy since we moved. We took a week to get all the boxes unpacked and get settled in. After that we headed to Destin to visit with my family for a week. The day we got back from Destin, Michael came to visit. We got back on Friday and Michael met us here in time to go out for my birthday dinner. We ate at Outback, and Michael made sure to have the people at the restaurant sing to me for my birthday.

On Saturday afternoon we headed to Atlanta to see DCI. I have watched DCI on television for several years, but this year was my first time to get to see it live.

Here are just a couple of pictures from 3 (out of 18) corps that performed.

The Cadets about to start their show.

Phantom Regiment getting ready to start.

This show was in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. This is a view of the JumboTron that allowed us to see the forms on the field more clearly because we were sitting on row 5.

The Cavaliers about to start their show.

Cavaliers during their show.

The Cavaliers show this year was about crossing the "Great Divide." You can see the guard dressed as hikers and climbers. At one point in the show the horn line actually acted as a mountain and one of the guard "climbed" up. It was a really neat show.

It was a lot of fun to get to see DCI in person. Overall the weekend was a great success. We had a great time visiting with Michael and getting to see Graham in Atlanta.

Vacation

2009-07-27T12:55:00.000-07:00

Joel and I took off last Monday (a week ago) headed to Destin to meet up with my family. We were there for several days, and we really enjoyed the beach, good food, and great family time.

This is the second time that my family has taken a summer trip to the beach. Last year I saw people parasailing and thought it looked like a lot of fun, but I did not get around to doing it (plus I would have had to go by myself.) This year Joel came along to the beach with me. I mentioned how fun it would be to parasail the first day we were there. My sister's decided that would be the perfect birthday present for me (they were right!). So on Thursday morning Joel and I headed off to get on the boat.

Here are some pictures to prove that we did it :) :

Us leaving the boat...
Starting to get higher...in the one on the right you can see how far away we got from the boat. The total length of rope was 800 ft.

Finally coming back to the boat...as they brought us back in we got dunked in the water to about waist level.

Eventually we got all the way back to the boat. It was a lot of fun...we could see so far in every direction when we were all the way up in the air.

The last night that Joel and I were there the whole crew headed down to the beach to take pictures. Here are a couple of shots that we got:

How cute is she?

Here is one of Maddi...how grown up is she getting!He is getting so handsome! About to start 8th grade...hard to believe!

We got them to pose together!
And finally, Joel was nice enough to pose with me for a picture or two :)

New everything...

2009-07-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

SO I have obviously been behind on blogging, but I think I have a good excuse (at least for the last week or so!). Joel and I are all moved into our new apartment and are slowly getting everything put in its place.

Here are a few pictures:

View of the living room...the door to the left is the front door. This is the first day we moved in...lots of chaos still.

View of half of the bathroom.

Here is a view of the windows in the living room before curtains were added.

Here are the curtains up...we decided to add a third panel, so it looks a little different now. Try to post up to date pictures sometime soon when everything is finished.

View of half the guest bedroom. This is our multipurpose room...extra bed, computer, and sewing room.

This is our pantry/laundry room. Our kitchen is tiny=not much storage, so Joel and I got one of these shelving units from Lowe's and it has been a lifesaver! This picture was taken not long after we put it up. More stuff is stored on the shelves now...still need to organize it! But seriously without these shelves I don't know where everything would go!

And finally...our much needed bookshelf. We got this bookshelf from Ikea. I will have to do a whole separate post on our trip to Ikea...let's just say we were novices and did not know what we had gotten ourselves into! Once we figured out how to maneuver the store we were good to go!

So far we are very pleased with the storage this bookshelf is providing. The cubbies are deep enough to hold books two deep, which means that we actually had room for all of our books. This is the first shelf we have used that held all of our books.

So that gives you a general idea of the apartment. I will try to post more once we get things more organized. Hope you are enjoying your Wednesday!

Off to do some more organizing.

New Desk :)

2009-06-16T08:35:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago Joel and I went shopping for a desk that I could use to sew/use my laptop on. Right now my sewing machine and all my accessories sit on our dining room table, which is fine because we always eat supper at the bar in the kitchen. When we move we will no longer have a bar (sad)....meaning that we will need the table back!

We went shopping at a store about an hour away but were unsuccessful. When we got back to town we went into one of the local stores just on a whim. We found the PERFECT desk for me! It was actually in the children's section and called a child's writing desk. It has a pull out part for a keyboard - or in my case laptop storage! It also has a big open area on the right side that I can store my sewing machine in when I don't want it out on the top of the desk! I'm telling you it's the perfect size. I love it.

Anyway, we had them store it for us because we were getting ready to move and had NO where to put it. This weekend we moved a bed out of the guest room to make room for it (We wanted to go ahead and pick it up instead of having to do that later when we're trying to load the trailer). So I got to play with it some last night, and I am just super excited.

Ok, enough from me...here are the pictures:

See my sewing machine will fit in there perfectly (if I want it to!)

Perfect place to store the laptop :)

What we've been doing...

2009-06-04T09:24:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been packing and enjoying the summer days (although I'm still and work and Joel just found out he's teaching a class for the June term). I've packed up what I can - the things that we can live without (other than some of our clothes and such that we're just going to put in the car as is)...now we're down to the things that really can't go into boxes- for example kitchen items - until I don't want to cook for us anymore!

Joel and I also had a conversation about how we shouldn't unpack boxes that have been packed! He's been warned! :)

On Sunday we headed to Athens for me to meet with a principal. We took the opportunity to look around and enjoy some time there. It was a quick trip...headed down Sunday afternoon and came back Monday afternoon. The meeting with the principal went well...they just don't know if they'll have any positions because of the budget and such. So if you get the notion to pray, please be praying for a job for me! Thanks!

Here are a couple of pictures of the famous Arch at UGA. I didn't take these pictures...but thought you might enjoy them.

The Arch is the official walking entrance to the campus. It is on the north side of campus and separates downtown from the start of campus grounds. This view of the arch is from a person standing on campus looking into downtown.

This picture came from here.

This view from the arch is standing in downtown looking onto campus. Same place...just a different view.

This picture came from here.

Hope things are going well for you. Are you enjoying the summer (before it gets blazing hot!)?

Big Weekend

2009-05-18T00:09:00.000-07:00

So last weekend was fun and eventful. The biggest event was graduation. Graham has officially graduated from high school!

On Friday afternoon before graduation Graham had a little get together with family to celebrate the big event. I made some cute graduation cap candy things...instructions found here...

Close up of the hats...notice the orange and blue tassels for the school's colors!
(They were fun to make but messy!)

On Saturday we got to keep our niece and nephews. We had a good time playing outside until it started raining! After lunch we watched a movie and enjoyed being inside for a while.

How was your weekend?

Yard Sale!

2009-05-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

So this week has been pretty crazy. Monday night we got to go to my parents house and visit with my sister who was in town for just that night. We ate hamburgers and played some games. Then on Tuesday night we watched the movie Deja Vu with Denzel Washington in it...if you haven't seen it go rent it this weekend. It is a really good movie (Of course pretty much all the movies I've seen with Denzel Washington in them are good). Then Wednesday night we had LOST, which was good, but it was mostly just an episode to set up for the Finale...2 hours next week! Last night we got to go and play with some kiddos and start preparing for the yard sale. Which brings me to my next point...

YARD SALE

If you are in town on Saturday morning you should swing by the second house on the right on Hiwassee. It is three families worth of items...should be some good things. Hope to see y'all out there!

Pillows...

2009-04-24T08:25:00.000-07:00

Finally, I am posting the pictures of the pillows that Kelli and I made for Mom. I think they turned out really well. It was my first time to do a buttonhole, and I think they look pretty good :)

If you'll notice the couch they are being shown on...that is our new couch. We got it at Flexsteel, and we love it. It is SO comfy!

Here they are...you are able to see what the front and back's look like here. The bigger pillows have 4 buttons instead of 3.

Here you can see our new couch...doesn't it look comfy?

Close up of the front.

Close up of the back.

By the way...isn't it a beautiful Friday?

Bad Blogger award goes to...

2009-04-14T06:41:00.000-07:00

So obviously I've been a bad blogger lately! I looked at it this morning and realized it's been almost a month, to be exact just two days shy of it! How awful! To make matters worse lots of things have been going on. I have more birthday pictures to post, pictures of the pillows I helped make for my mom, and big news to share.

Unfortunately the pictures mentioned above will not be posted today because I don't have them with me! I promise to try to get those up soon...

So the big news. Most people already know, but Joel has officially decided to pursue his doctorate in mathematics at the University of Georgia in Athens. We are pretty excited about all of this, but we are also nervous. We found an apartment a couple of weekends ago and are just trying to get everything else in order to be ready for the move in July. Still don't know the exact date of the move yet, hopefully will know sometime soon. We've been furniture shopping and I've been hoarding any good packing boxes I see!

So I guess that's an update for now. Again I'll try to do better and post those pictures soon!

Hope all is well with you.

Busy Weekend

2009-03-16T10:56:00.000-07:00

We were able to celebrate two birthdays, visit with family, and help a couple of new people discover LOST this weekend. Joel's birthday was yesterday and our nephew Sanders birthday is Wednesday. We had a combined party on Saturday complete with two cakes and gifts. I only have pictures of Joel's cake today...but more to come I promise.

Joel's LOST cake...if you don't watch Lost you won't get it.

Side view...

Last night we got Nathan and Deborah to watch the first two episodes of LOST, and we sent them home with the DVD set of the first season. Hopefully they'll get hooked on it!

Hope you had as good a weekend as we did.

Chocolate Chips...Yummy!

2009-03-04T15:30:00.000-08:00

On Monday I was perusing through my usual reading of the blogger dashboard when I came across this new recipe on Our Best Bites. Once I realized I already had EVERYTHING I needed to make the chocolate chip cookies at home, I naturally decided I'd make them, that night.

So here is the recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Go check it out, and then immediately go make them. Just do it!

Snow...

2009-03-03T12:29:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I'm behind. We had snow on Sunday, but I couldn't get the pictures ready to post until today. Now for those of you not from the south this may seem like nothing, but for us it is AMAZING! Haha! It has been at least 8-10 years since I have seen snow actually accumulate and stick! So here it is:

This is at about 6:30 a.m. when the snow was still falling. (Picture taken through the window because it was too cold to go out!)

Scene from out the front door.
Looking out toward the pasture.

This is around 9 a.m. It had stopped falling, and we went out and threw a couple of snowballs.

This was too much fun for us. Hope y'all had a great weekend too!

So...

2009-02-25T08:30:00.000-08:00

I promise I'm still here. It's been a week since my last post...sorry about that. Anyway, I do have several projects in progress with a couple of family birthdays coming up and the secret sister project we have going on at church. I'll try to update soon on some of those projects.

On Monday I ordered this book...Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. I can't wait for it to get here. It shipped yesterday, so hopefully sometime next week! I have read many reviews of the book on amazon and on other blogs and it sounds like a book to really be excited about. Over 40 patterns in the book. Right now I think the first one I'll try is this as seen on Film in the Fridge Blog. I'm nervous to be making clothes for myself, but I'm hoping it'll turn out great. Just from the pictures the shirt looks GREAT!

So I'll keep you updated on that front as well. Hope you're having a great Over the Hump Day!

Great find

2009-02-18T10:55:00.000-08:00

On Sunday afternoon Joel and I headed to the local JCPenny. Now I have to be honest, most of the time it is hard to find anything good in there, but we were up for the hunt since they were having a 65% off sale!

Anyway, Joel was able to get some new khakis and a belt, and I found a cute shirt. It's like a rosey maroon color. It's different from the other shirts I have in my closet so I was excited about that too. But wait, the best part was that it was on sale for more than 65%! I got a shirt that usually sells for 36 or so dollars for $6! That's what I call a steal. I wore it yesterday, and I really like it.

So there is my exciting news. What's going on with you?

Finally finished!

2009-02-13T08:56:00.000-08:00

I actually finished my quilt on Wednesday night, but I wasn't able to get it washed or take pictures until last night. But finally I am able to show you the completed quilt. I'm so excited with how it turned out, I really love it. It is super warm and snuggly, especially after washing (and it smells so good, I got the Gain Joyful Expressions detergent last time I bought detergent, and I am LOVING the new scent).

So here goes:

Front after washing

Back before washing (see some wrinkles)

Back after washing...look at all that wrinkly goodness!

Here is one of the front corner...I was pretty proud of the way my corners turned out since this is my first time to do binding like this. I like it!

And here is one corner from the back. Again, pretty pleased with how it turned out.

So there it is. What do you think?

Ragged Squares Quilt

2009-02-04T10:15:00.000-08:00

I started working on this project last week and got sidetracked, so unfortunately it's still not complete. But I have been meaning to show these pictures for a while now. So here goes...

My version of the Ragged Squares Quilt as seen over at Crazy Mom Quilts:

All of the fabric is from Moda the Bistro line by Deb Strain. My sister-in-law Deborah started my stash of this fabric, and then I found the whole line at a little quilt shop that I happened to go into. I was very excited to get more pieces.

Layer 1

Layer 2

Top all put together.

I'm excited about this quilt. I think it'll be a good size for me to cuddle up under. I am also excited about the back (sorry no picture yet) because it is mostly a green color with a blue strip down the center.

It looks a little crazy with all of the patterns, but I really like how it all comes together and goes together.

Hope to finish the quilting this week and then I'll post those pictures.

Have you Ever...

2009-01-28T14:22:00.000-08:00

So I wasn't tagged, but it looked like fun...so here goes!

Copy and paste the list below into your own post, and then make bold (and/or italicize) all the things you have done. Tag 25 people plus the one who sent it. (I am NOT tagging 25 people. Do it if you wish!).

HAVE YOU EVER?

Started your own blog
Slept under the stars
Played in a band
Visited Hawaii
Watched a meteor shower
Given more than you can afford to charity
Been to Disneyland/world
Climbed a mountain
Held a praying mantis
Sang a solo
Bungee jumped
Visited Paris
Watched a lightning storm at sea
Taught yourself an art from scratch
Adopted a child
Had food poisoning
Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
Seen the Mona Lisa in France
Slept on an overnight train
Had a pillow fight
Hitchhiked
Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
Built a snow fort
Held a lamb
Gone skinny dipping
Been to a Broadway show in NY
Ran a Marathon
Been in three states at once
Ridden in a gondola in Venice
Seen a total eclipse
Watched a sunrise or sunset
Hit a home run
Been on a Cruise
Seen Niagra Falls in Person
Visited the birthplace of your Ancestors
Seen an Amish community
Taught yourself a new language
Had enough money to be truly satisfied
Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
Gone rock climbing
Seen Michelangelo’s David
Sung karaoke
Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
Visited Africa
Walked on a beach by moonlight
Been transported in an ambulance
Had your portrait painted
Gone deep sea fishing
Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
Kissed in the rain
Played in the mud
Been to Grace Kelley’s grave in Monaco
Gone to a drive-in theater
Been in a movie
Visited the Great Wall of China
Started a business
Taken a martial arts class
Swam in the Mediterranean Sea
Visited Russia
Served at a soup kitchen
Sold Girl Scout cookies
Gone whale watching - dolphin watching
Gotten flowers for no reason
Donated blood, platelets or plasma
Gone sky diving
Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
Bounced a check
Saved a favorite childhood toy
Visited the Lincoln Memorial
Eaten Caviar
Pieced a quilt
Stood in Times Square
Toured the Everglades
Been fired from a job
Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
Broken a bone
Been on a speeding motorcycle
Seen the Grand Canyon in person
Published a book
Visited the Vatican
Bought a brand new car
Walked in Jerusalem
Had your picture in the newspaper
Read the entire Bible
Visited the White House
Killed and prepared my own meat
Had chickenpox
Saved someone’s life
Sat on a jury
Met someone famous
Joined a book club
Lost a loved one
Had a baby
Seen the Alamo in person
Swam in the Great Salt Lake
Been involved in a law suit
Owned a cell phone
Been stung by a bee

What about you?

So...

2009-01-23T09:14:00.000-08:00

Over the Thanksgiving holiday my sister brought home this new game called Bananagrams. It is so much fun. It can be compared somewhat to scrabble in that you use tiles to form words, but my favorite part of the game is that you play with your own tiles and don't have to build off of other people's words. My in-laws and my husband are EXPERTS at Scrabble and it's just no fun for me to play because I'm not good enough! But with Bananagrams I can go at my own pace and make my own words. It's a great game! So for Christmas we had to get a set.

Last weekend I decided to play the Solitaire version of the game. Joel came in and decided to help so we ended up using every single tile! Here's what we came up with...

For the last 19 days Joel and I have been participating in the Love Dare Challenge. It has been a fun experience so far. Yesterday's Love Dare was:

Love Dare - Day 18

Prepare a special dinner at home and focus this time on getting to know your spouse better.
Proverbs 3:13

So last night I made spaghetti (one of our favorite meals) for supper. When I got home Joel had gotten me flowers! I was so excited, and the tulips were beautiful, don't you think?

LOST and other things

2009-01-20T09:58:00.000-08:00

So our long weekend is now gone. We enjoyed having the day off and were able to run a few errands that needed to be taken care of. Next up for the week is the season 5 premier of LOST! We cannot wait. We are super excited because we feel like we got shortchanged last season (not as much as other shows) on the number of episodes. So we are ready to get back into the full swing of all that is LOST.

If you haven't seen the sneak peek of the premiere yet, go here:

http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index?pn=index

So we are officially counting down, and we only have a little longer to wait. Tomorrow night at 7 we will be sitting on the couch awaiting the beginning of the 2 hour premiere. So if you need to talk to us you better call before 7 or after 9!

Hope y'all have a great Tuesday (and a short week!). Would not want to overlook the historic even that is happening today of the Presidential Inauguration. We are watching it on the TV in the office here now...even though he's not my guy, I can appreciate the historical value of this event.

Growing up in the 80's

2009-01-14T10:30:00.000-08:00

Although a couple of these don't apply to me, most of them do. It is hilarious to read this and think about just how true the statements are!

Enjoy!

You Know You (or your kids) Grew Up In the 80's IF:

1. You've ever ended a sentence with the word SIKE.

2. You can sing the rap to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and can do theCarlton

3. You know that 'WOAH' comes from Joey on Blossom

4. If you ever watched 'Fraggle Rock'

5. It was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons.

6. You wore a ponytail on the side of your head.

7. You got super-excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school.

8. You made your mom buy one of those clips that would hold your shirt in a knot on the side.

9. You played the game 'MASH'(Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House)

10. You wore stonewashed Jordache jean jackets and were proud of it.

11. You know the profound meaning of ' WAX ON , WAX OFF'

12. You wanted to be a Goonie.

13. You ever wore fluorescent clothing. (Some of us...head-to-toe)

14. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off, his cheeks shifted and his nationality became questionable.

15. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.

16. You remember the CRAZE, then the BANNING of slap bracelets.

17. You still get the urge to say 'NOT' after every sentence.

18. You thought your childhood friends would never leave because you exchanged handmade friendship bracelets.

19. You ever owned a pair of Jelly-Shoes.

20. After you saw Pee-Wee's Big Adventure you kept saying 'I know you are, but what am I?'

21. You remember 'I've fallen and I can't get up'

22. You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates.

23. You have ever played with a Skip-It.

24. You remember boom boxes and walking around with one on your shoulder like you were all that.

25. You remember watching both Gremlins movies.

26. You thought Doogie Howser/Samantha Micelli was hot.

27. You remember Alf, the lil furry brown alien from Melmac.

28. You remember New Kids on the Block when they were cool...and don't even flinch when people refer to them as 'NKOTB'

29. You knew all the characters names and their life stories on 'Saved By The Bell,' The ORIGINAL class..

30. You know all the words to Bon Jovi - SHOT THROUGH THE HEART.

31. You just sang those words to yourself.

32. You still sing 'We are the World'

33. You tight rolled or french cuffed your jeans. And still debate on which is the right term!

34. You owned a bannana clip.

35. You remember 'Where's the Beef?'

36. You used to (and probably still do) say 'What you talkin' 'bout Willis?'

So...

2009-01-13T09:40:00.000-08:00

So it's been a while since I've updated. Last week was the beginning of a new semester, which brings with it a new schedule for day to day operations. So far it's been pretty good. I'm still not adjusted to being back at work after our wonderful Christmas holidays. Joel is teaching four classes so that is keeping him busy, and I am working and taking 2 classes this semester. Once we get used to the new schedule it should be fine (thankfully I don't have any night classes this semester!) We are trying to be careful with our time and not add too many things to our plates.

Hope this new season is going well for you. I have not been able to do much sewing since the start of the semester. I did get a pair of pants hemmed (I like them a lot, very comfortable), and I have been doing a good bit of quilting. I'll have to take a picture so you can see my progress. It's still a long way from being finished, but I am making a dent in the work!

Christmas season and a New Year

2009-01-05T09:20:00.000-08:00

Joel and I have been on break for the last two weeks...it was so nice to be able to relax and do the things we wanted pretty much whenever we wanted. We celebrated Christmas with my family on December 25th at lunch, visited with more family that afternoon, and had Christmas with Joel's family on the 27th. It was great getting to see everyone including all of our siblings, grandparents, and most aunt and uncles. I love the Christmas season because it brings everyone together.

By the time we were finished making the rounds to all the family Christmas gatherings it was almost the new year. Joel and I went to visit his brother and family and got to stay for a couple of days and bring in the new year with them. On New Year's eve night we shot fireworks (it was COLD outside!) and then on New Year's day more family and friends came together to enjoy a lunch as a celebration of the year that has passed, the blessings our family has received, and to look forward with anticipation to the new year.

Yesterday during the sermon a verse really stuck out to me.

1 Peter 1:21 (NIV)

21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

The entire verse is amazing because it reminds us of the sacrifice Christ made for us and that we are able to become a son or daughter of his by simply believing in Him. The last part of the verse is what really jumped out at me, "your faith and hope are in God." This verse was a great reminder that our faith and hope should NOT be in ourselves or the things we can accomplish but in God. So the prayer that Joel and I have for this new year is that we would allow ourselves to be guided by God in his wisdom and that we would focus on having our faith and hope in Him.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a great New Year's celebration.

Just to let you know a little sewing did occur during the break (although not as much as I would have liked):

Baby boots...

With fun (but hard to sew on) grippy dots on the bottom!

Hope you're having a wonderful day!

Candy Making

2008-12-15T09:51:00.000-08:00

On Saturday morning we headed out to visit my sister. This is the third year that we have gotten together to make candy. The candy goes to my niece and nephew's teachers and we give some to some family members. This year we got bold and decided to make 5 different types of candy. The list includes: Martha Washington balls, Reese's cups, Turtles, Peppermint Bark, and Toffee.

Apparently I somehow managed not to get a picture of the Martha Washington balls!

Turtles before dipping.

Turtles after (sorry it's blurry).

Reese's cups...yummy!

Peppermint bark...yum, this is SO easy and tastes really good!

I also don't have a picture of the toffee!

So as you can see we were busy bees, but it all turned out good. We have the tins all filled and ready to give! We had a great weekend!

Christmas fun...

2008-12-15T09:35:00.000-08:00

I decided I needed to take a few more pictures of the Christmas decorations we have up at our house, so here goes:

As a graduation present Joel added to my nativity collection. The camel, shepherd, and two darker sheep are new to the crew. I love them!

He's my favorite!The other new guys.

Up close of our stockings...

Our tree has not had a topper...at all...so this year I decided maybe a bow would work nicely. Deborah made me one, and I think it looks great!

We also got this beautiful "gift" from Nathan and Deborah this weekend. It's not in its permanent home yet, but I just had to take a picture so I could show it!

Graduation

2008-12-14T18:00:00.000-08:00

My graduation was on Friday night. I have officially finished my masters degree...and I can't explain how good it feels just to be finished! Here are a few pictures from the event:

The whole group coming into the coliseum.Mom and Dad, glad they were able to come see me graduate!

Joel, I'm sure he's glad I'm finished as well. He did great dealing with all my tears throughout the program :)

Deborah was so nice to come to my graduation. I was so glad to have her there :)

Brooke, we only got to take one class together, but we helped each other through the last semester and summer. Studying for comps was a major obstacle, but we both overcame it and were able to walk together!

Tasha and I actually work together, and we took one class together in the program. It was nice to be able to walk together.

What we've been doing

2008-12-10T08:56:00.000-08:00

Last night I made sugar cookies using this recipe. They were so yummy. (I even had one for breakfast...shhh! :))

I've also been doing some sewing. I made a couple more crayon rolls:

One for a very girly girl.

and
One for a little boy who loves to go hunting.

I also saw this post yesterday and happened to go to Wal-Mart right after I saw it so I picked up a Styrofoam ball. I wish they had had a smaller ball, but it was either this size (which is just a little large) or a tiny one.

It was super easy, and I think it turned out pretty cute. By the way, hopefully in the next couple of weeks you'll see that Christmas fabric reappear in another project!

Our favorite food...

2008-12-04T08:11:00.000-08:00

Last night Joel and I made pizza, which is by far on of our favorite foods. The recipe came from www.ourbestbites.com. You should check out that site, it has tons of good recipes. The pizza recipe includes the dough recipe (Joel made the dough last night, and it was good!) and a pizza sauce recipe. There is also a recipe for Alfredo sauce...next time we're going to try an alfredo chicken pizza...yum!

Doesn't that look delicious?

The process makes a pretty big mess...but it's all worth it!

Let me know if you try any recipes from that site so I can try them too! The two I've made so far have been amazing!

Playing Catch Up...

2008-12-01T10:03:00.000-08:00

So it's been several days since I last posted...and a lot has been going on during that time! We celebrated Thanksgiving with both sides of our families, and enjoyed every minute we got to visit with them. I have been reading all of the different ideas and ways that people celebrated Thanksgiving and how they remembered what they were thankful for...this year my family made a chain (the sort that you take off a chain each day it gets closer to Christmas) and on each chain link we wrote something that we were thankful for. It was really neat and fun to hear the different things people said.

So here's a picture roll of all the things we've been doing this last week...

First off some family pictures:

Wynn is looking so much like Sanders!

Sanders is looking so grown up!

Rebekah posing!
(Isn't her outfit adorable?)

The whole family.

A potential Christmas card photo...
(Check out my mom's new cabinets in the background)

The competing Christmas card picture :)McPhail family Thanksgiving '08

There has been much project work going on over the holiday...

This year we are donating to the Project Linus organization.

From the Project Linus site:

Be a Blanketeer

Our volunteers, known as “blanketeers,” provide new, handmade, washable blankets to be given as gifts to seriously ill and traumatized children, ages 0-18. It is Project Linus’ policy to accept blankets of all sizes, depending on local chapter needs. All styles of blankets are welcome, including quilts, tied comforters, fleece blankets, crocheted or knitted afghans, and receiving blankets in child-friendly colors.

So in order to help with Project Linus we are making and donating a few blankets this year. The picture above is of the one blanket I've made so far and the other one was made by my nine year old niece Madison. This was her first sewing project, and I think she did quite well :)

Madison posing with her almost finished blanket.

This is my first time to quilt on a machine...so let's just say I
need a little practice, but I think it's a good first effort.

I got in the sewing mood on Saturday...

A fabric basket...it's already full!

A Christmas present...

An organization tool...now that I am cutting Joel's hair there are several things that have to be kept up with in order to have everything when it's time for a haircut. So a bag was in order...

PJ Pants made with Amy Butler's pattern from In Stitches. These were a collaborative effort and I think they turned out pretty well. They are super soft flannel!

And finally (if you're even still reading) a few Christmas decorations...

Our tree all decorated

Finally, the presents have a home!

Well, if you even made it through this post I'm impressed! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. As you can see we were busy....

Thanksgiving

2008-11-24T11:50:00.000-08:00

Well, sorry for the hiatus in blogging around here. Classes have started slowing down (finally), but only for a short time because exams start next week! I have a few more projects to finish up and then exams and I'll be done! Done as in graduating the next week, done. :)

I have several projects in progress right now, but I can't show you the work until after Christmas seeing as how several of them are gifts!

I mostly wanted to post today about this new site I have found...www.ourbestbites.com. I love it. They have really good recipes on there (meaning the recipes are some I'd actually like to eat!). You should go take a look and see what you can cook up this Thanksgiving holiday. This weekend I made Apple Pie. It was SO good. Joel's exact words were, "Now, this is how apple pie is supposed to taste!" I made the crust and lattice top (recipe included on the site). It was the first time I'd ever attempted to make my own crust...so good and really it was easy. You really should try it...it'll make you proud when the finished product turns out so yummy!

(Picture from www.ourbestbites.com, but mine looked pretty close :))

We are excited to get the Thanksgiving season started this week. Joel and I both love holiday's because it guarentees time to spend with our families. We will be having two separate Thanksgiving meals, one for each side of the family. Can't wait for that yummy turkey and dressing! What are your Thanksgiving plans? Any ideas to help your family realize all there is to be thankful for this season?

Holiday project & a little quilting

2008-11-17T09:34:00.000-08:00

This weekend was a lot of fun, but it went by too quickly as always! On Thursday and Friday of last week we had a Holiday Bazaar on campus and my sister-in law Deborah had a booth. It was great to get to go over after work and visit with her. I think they had a good time at the bazaar so maybe that means they'll be back next year!

On Saturday Charlotte and I worked on a holiday project...It's a Christmas card holder. (Click on the pictures to see the fabrics better).

I still have a few things to do, like finish the edges and the top to make it stay on the door (we're holding it in the pictures :)).

I never know what to do with my Christmas cards, they are always so beautiful and I want to display them in some way. So here is what we came up with. What do you think of it? Is it something you might use in your own house?

Also...
I've been doing a little quilting...still not very far along, but I thought I'd at least update you.

I got a stencil to go in the blue blocks (it's called simple celtic I think...I like it).

So that's what we've been up to last week and this weekend. Can't believe Thanksgiving is next week...we're excited. We love to visit with all of our family and holidays provide the perfect opportunity.

What have you been up to?

Finally

2008-11-14T09:04:00.000-08:00

Well, this week at work has been absolutely crazy. Our department has been stretched to all corners of the state and we have been trying to keep up. Everything went well and relatively smoothly this week though! But, I am definitely glad it's Friday...time for a little break.

This weekend I plan to relax and also do a little more Christmas shopping. As of today I am about halfway finished with the Christmas list (several packages are already wrapped and just waiting for a tree to rest under!) On Saturday I'm going to run some errands (mostly Christmas related) and do a little shopping in town. Then on Saturday afternoon I plan to meet up with a friend to try and make a holiday craft...hopefully I'll be posting it here once it's finished!

I also have a few more projects that I have completed that I need to take pictures of to post, and I have done some more quilting on the quilt. I promise to take a couple of pictures and post those as well.

Hope you have a great weekend! (Remember only 41 days till Christmas!)

Great weekend...

2008-11-10T09:30:00.000-08:00

Well, I took off work Friday and my Mom and I headed to Jackson early Friday morning to do some shopping. We met my sister-in-law, Deborah and my sister and niece, Sheri and Madison. We looked at a couple of stores, including Continental Sewing...where I was able to find the sewing machine I have been wanting! So yes, that is right, I now have my very own sewing machine. It is however my Christmas present so I will not be able to play with it for a little while (Really though Christmas is just around the corner).

After purchasing my new machine, we all headed to Mistletoe Marketplace to brave the crowds. There were a LOT of people there as always, but we had a good time looking at the different booths, and my Mom even got a few presents marked off her list! I found a pretty scarf and bought a dip mix from Apple Annie's to make for a Christmas party I'm going to next month! I'm excited because their dips are SO good.

Once we had done all the shopping we could handle for the day my sister, Mom, and I headed to the Women's Conference. There were over 3,000 women in attendance at the Extraordinary Women's Conference this weekend. The speakers were great and the music was amazing. My favorite speaker was Angela Thomas, she is just SO funny and personable. The conference ended with a concert my Mark Schultz. I had no idea I knew so many of his songs. He is a great artist and seemed so very humble during the concert. His words were sincere and heartfelt through his lyrics. Here is one of his new songs that I just love. We got to see the music video while he was singing it on stage...that was really neat!

Mark Schultz - Letters From War

She runs to the mailbox
On that bright summer day
Found a letter from our son
In a war far away

He spoke of the weather
And good friends that he'd made
Said I'd been thinking 'bout dad
And the life that he had
Thats why I'm here today
Then at the end he said
You are what I'm fighting for
It was the first of his letters from war

She started writing
(Chorus)
You're good and you're brave
What a father that you'll be someday
Make it home
Make it safe

She wrote everynight as she prayed

Late in December
A day she'll not forget
Oh her tears stained the paper
With every word that she read

It said "I was up on a hill
I was out there alone
When the shots all rang out
And bombs were exploding
And that's when I saw him
He came back for me
Though he was captured
A man set me free
That man was your son

He asked me to write to you
I told him I would oh I swore

It was the last of the letters from war

And she prayed he was living
Kept on believing and wrote every night just to say

(Chorus)

Still she kept writing each day

Then two years later
Autumn leaves all around
A car pulled in the driveway
And she fell to the ground
And out stepped a captain
Where her boy used to stand

He said, "Mom I'm following orders
From all of your letters
And I've come home again."
He ran in to hold her
And dropped all his bags on the floor
Holding all of her letters from war

Make it home
Make it home
Make it home

This is Mark's new CD...you should check it out sometime if you get the chance.

Find it here

Huckleberry

Deep Creek 2011

Where we've been...

Grand Teton National Park

Yellowstone National Park

Washoe Lake State Park

Yosemite National Park

Hoover Dam/Las Vegas

Grand Canyon

Mesa Verde National Park

Great Sand Dunes National Park

The Truth About Digital Copies

Twilight in Athens II

Twilight in Athens

Flashback Friday

Joel's 30th Birthday

New Seasons

More Snow Pictures

Snow in 2011

Christmas 2010

Christmas Cards & Holiday Fun

Thanksgiving

Georgia Thanksgiving Celebration

Back Rock Mountain State Park

Tallulah Gorge State Park

Grading - A hilarious take

The Monotracer

UGA Football Game

MSU Fotball

Fondue Fun!

Way Past Due

Swing Bag

Introducing...

Sally Sharp Anthony

Born: 9:06 a.m.Weight: 8 lbs. 1 oz, 19" long

Joel and I are very excited to have a new niece. We can't wait to meet her in person, but for now these pictures will have to do.

Everyone is doing well. Thanks for all the prayers! I can't wait to see how Avi Grace likes having a little sister! Should be fun and interesting! :)

GA Aquarium...Fun, fun, fun!

Elder's Mill Covered Bridge

Vote! Free Credit Report Contest

Pleated Purse

Brayden's Quilt

Family Weekend

Introducing...

South Carolina

It's Really March!

Quilt border & Snow!

Latest Project

Our Christmas Break...

Thanksgiving Break

What I've been up to lately...

Sunday Afternoon in North Georgia

Ok, so it's been forever, literally!

Updated Apartment Pictures

DCI

Vacation

New everything...

New Desk :)

What we've been doing...

Big Weekend

Yard Sale!

Pillows...

Bad Blogger award goes to...

Busy Weekend

Chocolate Chips...Yummy!

Snow...

So...

Great find

Finally finished!

Ragged Squares Quilt

Have you Ever...

So...

Love Dare - Day 18

LOST and other things

Growing up in the 80's

So...

Christmas season and a New Year

1 Peter 1:21 (NIV)

Candy Making

Christmas fun...

Born: 9:06 a.m.
Weight: 8 lbs. 1 oz, 19" long