NW Women's Day & Leaves in October

This past Saturday our church, North Wake Baptist, had our annual Women's Day. It was such a wonderful time of fellowship and encouragement with friends~old and new! Our women's ministry team did a beautiful job of putting everything together--decorations, food, agenda for the day, etc, and the workshops were so fun and informative. Here's my friend Wendy (mom of three boys) teaching her workshop on "Creating Holiday Memories with Your Kids." She taught us how to make "rainbow toast," decorate a kids table for each season, and make sweet treats for different holidays. In this picture, Wendy, demonstrated how to use leftover pumpkins from the Fall to make a snowman for Winter!

Another practical workshop I went to was Brazilian cooking. Marina & Tammy taught this hands-on workshop by having us mix together ingredients to make rice and beans and then taking us into the kitchen to cook our food! We were able to sample an entire meal and then take home a pamphlet with the recipes. It was so yummy! Here's me cooking (with Marina's help!)

Throughout our time at NorthWake, Caleb and I have really enjoyed our time with our small group. It has grown a lot since we joined and there have been many small group births and new people to meet! Here I am with Jeni and Shawna, some of our newest small group members. I really enjoyed getting to know these two ladies even better.

Lastly, last Saturday was the peak of leaf season in Wake Forest (in my opinion). I snapped these shots before the rain came. Here's the view of our road...we live to the left and the seminary is on up ahead. The colors were gorgeous!

I couldn't resist capturing the beauty of these trees....gorgeous!

Baby Shower for Heather

Last Saturday, I had the honor of hosting "Baby Cheat's" baby shower! We've known John and Heather Cheatham since our college days at NGCSU (before her last name was Cheatham and mine was Holland)....it's been so fun getting to know them even better in North Carolina, too!

Heather and John are waiting until the baby's birth to find out what gender they are having. So, I opted to decorate using Fall colors & yellow, of course. Here's Heather posing with the fun rubber duckies that tell you if the bath water is too hot.

Shower decor...

The food: homemade pumpkin bread, pecan tartlets, & oatmeal cookies with pecans & chocolate chips. And of course some healthier options (veggies/fruit/cheese:)).

Heather's shower favors included hershey's kisses and a little poem/bible verse for the baby.

Friends!

Kimberly & Heather

I had such a great time getting ready for her shower and planning all the details. It was so fun having new people in our home and meeting Heather's neighbors, friends from work, and church friends. Caleb helped me out quite a bit (thanks so much Babe!) to make sure that everything was ready, and I appreciate his help very much. I'm sure there will be many more baby showers to help with in the future since it seems that we're transitioning from all of our friends getting married to them having little ones. Fun times! Can't wait to meet "Baby Cheat" some time around November 4th!

Fall is in the Air!

I just LOVE this time of year! The air is cooler, the leaves are changing colors, and the aroma of baked apples and pumpkin spice fills the air (or at least I want it to :)). I'm currently on my track-out break, and I have really enjoyed doing all sorts of things that aren't school-related...you know, the kinds of things that I want to do during the week while I'm teaching, but I'm so exhausted by the end of the day that it's usually difficult to muster up the strength (cleaning, organizing, reading, trying out new recipes, spending time with friends, going to some of Caleb's seminary classes, etc). Here are a few pictures of our Fall decorations.

This is a Fall wreath I placed on our front door. I made it some time in the last few years. I bought silk flowers at the dollar store (or possibly Michaels--on sale) and used Caleb's wire cutters to cut them apart. I bought the grapevine wreath (at Michaels, I think) and placed the flowers in between the vines.

This little display is to the left of our front door. Here, I glued a dowel rod to the back of the larger scarecrow (again from the dollar store) before placing him in this plantar (full of dirt & bulbs that will hopefully bloom again next summer!). I glued florist's wire to the back of his arms so that they would stay outright. I had several strands of Fall leaves that I wrapped around the top and bottom of the pot for decoration, but hopefully they will provide some coverage for the bulbs from cooler temperatures when they come. Eventually, I'll take the decorations off and cover the planter with hay or pine straw.

I added a little sign to this display that I made on the printer. It's actually double sided (with a picture of apples on the back that reflect against the bathroom mirror). I backed each picture with brown cardboard and glued a skewer in between the two pieces of cardboard so that it will stand up between the flowers (Thanks, Stephanie, for this cute idea from Hollie's baby shower!).

Mama and I found this candle display at the Craven pottery in Commerce, GA (since gone out of business) a few years ago. I placed some Fall garland around it (purchased last year on sale!) and added pumpkin tea light candles to the candle holders (dollar store).

I know it won't officially be Fall until next week, but I wouldn't mind if it were here already!

Abby's Wedding

We went to Georgia over Labor Day Weekend for my cousins (Abby) wedding. Abby asked me to be a bridesmaid (how fun!) to which I readily agreed. I loved being able to see our extended family while we were down in addition to seeing our immediate family. Caleb and I were so blessed by our time with our families and by being able to spend time together. We even had time for some target practice and a chance to pick muscadines!

Abby and me on Friday night at the rehearsal dinner.

Abby and Troy getting pictures made before they said "I Do". Abby is so beautiful in this picture and Troy looks handsome, too. Congratulations!

Caleb and me at the reception at Franklin Springs City Hall.

Surf's Up?!?!

During the hot month of July, I went to the beach with a group of girls from our small group. We had a WONDERFUL time relaxing, getting to know each other better, eating some great sea food, and just having fun! One night before our trip, I was talking to my sweet friend Doris about my desire to learn how to surf. It turns out that Doris has been surfing since she was little and wanted to teach me! She even arranged for us to have surfing lessons so we could learn the safety aspects of the sport and the proper way to surf! We weren't able to take lessons on our first beach trip back in July, so we decided we'd have to go back to the beach (how sad! :)) to take the lessons. So, one Saturday in early August we took surfing lessons at Carolina Beach (NC). We had so much fun learning together! Next summer, I would like to continue learning and maybe even get up on my board. A strong core is a MUST for surfing, so for now, I'll keep doing pilates exercises :)

I was a bit anxious about learning how to surf, but not scared like this picture depicts. But, I thought it would be fun to take a "before" and after picture, anyway. Below, Doris and I are posing in front of our surf boards after all of our hard work!

June and July 2009

Well, it's been a while since I've posted and a whole lot has happened in the past few months! I recently began my 4th year teaching...my how time flies...3 weeks under my belt already! I'm really enjoying this group of students, too. I hope it is a wonderful school year.

This post is somewhat random since I'm playing "catch up."

This first picture is of a gladiolus. I bought the bulbs at the dollar store, and I was pleased to see they grew so well. 3 of the 4 bulbs I planted, bloomed. They were beautiful.

We went down to GA for Caleb's maternal Grandmother's 80th birthday party, and we had homemade ice cream during the festivities. Here's Tim & Alice's cat, Lucky (AKA Satan cat) in one of our ice cream buckets. Isn't he so cute?!? Don't let him fool you, though, he will attack you in an instant!

This picture was taken July 3rd on the Seminary Campus as we waited to see the Town of Wake Forest fireworks display. We enjoyed the show and spending time with friends :).

I hope everyone is enjoying their Summer as fall is quickly approaching! Caleb started a summer class today, and I am still resting up from my day-trip to the beach this past Saturday. I enjoyed boogie boarding and catching some rays. My friend Doris and I are going back in a few weeks to take surfing lessons! I am so excited about this opportunity. I can't wait!

Friendship Bread Anyone?

Delicious Friendship Bread 

Caleb LOVES friendship bread, and our friend Ashley M. gave us a starter a week or so ago.  I had never made this before, but had tried it this past Christmas (if not before) when a sweet friend, Anita, from Caleb's home church made us a loaf.  The process is somewhat involved, taking 10 days from beginning to end, but not very time consuming.  You "mush" the bag the starter is in every day and add additional ingredients on two of the days including day 10 when you bake!  The recipe makes two loafs.

I have two starters left to give away if anyone is interested!