Christmas Tradition #2

While driving through all the mall traffic today, this song came on the radio. It is a song that no matter where I am, brings a smile to me face.

You see, every year my home church did a Christmas program. My beautiful mom say this song every year in her famous "stocking" sweater. I always think of her when I hear this beautiful song.

A song, can mean so much.

"Grown-Up Christmas List"- Amy Grant

Friday Favorites

What I am loving right now... thank you Pinterest :)

Source: milkbottles.com.au via Anna on Pinterest

If I could, I would paint everything with chalkboard paint. Event planners dream. 

Source: centsationalgirl.com via Anna on Pinterest

Who would not want to crawl into this bed... love all things about it 

Source: samichals.typepad.com via Anna on Pinterest

           Just an easy Christmas decoration. Going to be on the look out for these kind of jars. 

Love the color of these flowers. My favorite :) 

Source: google.com.au via Anna on Pinterest

Christmas Traditions

Christmas is my favorite time of year. Nothing gets me more excited than lights, hot chocolate, giving and blessing others. Christmas has always been a special time in my family. As our family continues to grow and we are starting traditions of our own. I was blessed to be a part of my favorite tradition again this year.

Growing up, I only knew of one kind of tree. A real tree. I did not even know fake trees existed. I serisously thought everyone went out to the Christmas tree farm and chopped it down with a hand saw. I think it was about high school when I realized there was another kind of tree. I know sheltered.

But anyway, Friday after Thanksgiving, my family will load up in the truck and head out to the Christmas tree farm. We would discuss on the way there what type of tree we would get. Mom loved one, Dad loved another, the kids loved another. When we were younger, it would take a while to pick out what tree we would take home. It was a competition. Which kid could find the winning tree. Rows and rows of trees to pick from. We tell our favorite stories each year of the years past, and laugh about all the memories we have made going out to the tree farm.

Once the tree was selected, we watch Daddy chop it down. Then the boys would bag it and off we go to put up our family tree.

This has become a special tradition for our family.

Now, it takes less time to pick the winning tree, we have to take two cars and Daddy has passed the torch of cutting the tree down to Stephen. But one thing remains the same, family is still there.

Sadly, I have had to purchase an artificial tree, but I am determined to get a real one back into my house soon. Nothing says welcome home like the smell of a live Christmas tree.

This is a Christmas tradition I look forward to each year.

Dan's first experience to a Christmas Tree farm 

Always a photo shoot to be had in the middle of the trees

Our leader

The winning tree

Papa 1 & Papa 2

Taking charge of the tree

All ready to go get the tree bagged 

Family tree all decorated 

My tree 

A Tifton treat

Nothing says welcome home, then a big white box full of these.

Mi-Lady has been around Tifton since 1959, 52 years of these babies. You can try and make your own, but no need to dirty the kitchen, you will never achieve the same flavor.

A trip home is not complete without a few of these, and of course they are on the Weight Watchers plan :)

Me Time + November

Me Time, oh how I love it.

I love being busy. I love being around people. I love a good schedule.

All these qualities are great, however, they lead me to always wanting to be on the go. When I have a few hours to myself, I honestly do not know what to do with myself. I feel like I am missing something.

Last month I hit my wall. I was overwhelmed with looking at my work calendar and personal calendar that I did not even know where to start. I felt like every minute of my day was planned. I had something every night after work. Sadly, I was scheduling dinner dates with friends for two weeks out, really??

I decided then and there something had to give. I can not keep going on like this. I need to plan "me time". But what was going to give? After looking over my calendar I realized, I honestly could not give up anything. My nights were filled with things important to me, that I knew if I cut out I would be turning away from something that blessed me.

So after realizing that I could not change my week schedules, I decided that this month would be rest time. No plans, no agenda, just whatever. It will be glorious.

I realized how much my body needed re-energizing.


I am learning how to be spontaneous. Bold step, I know. I like to be a woman with a mission, a plan, an agenda. My friends joke that I do not know what the word means, but I have decided I am going to figure it out this month. 


It is sad that it takes me hitting my wall to realize that I have to stop. That I cannot go on. But, that is life. 


I have committed to focusing on myself. 


I. Can. Do. This. 

Wedding Recap

October was a big month.  We just had a little wedding you see. My big sister married an amazing Godly man on October 22 and it was a glorious day.

There are many words to be said about this day, but I will let the pictures do the talking. Nothing beats seeing your sister beam and glow all weekend while marrying the man we have all prayed for.

Girl's night out with the bride to be

Proud sister and mother at Bridesmaid lunch

Best siblings every

Getting ready for the big day

Lots of hairspray

Last minute touchups 

Family

No better best friend 

The happy couple

Parents looking amazing 

Generations

The weekend could not have gone any better. So excited for Rebecca and Dan and look forward to the holidays for them to join us as our family. Love you sister!

Welcome Fall!

Who doesn't love the Fall, when...

- you get to wear boots and scarves

- you get to sleep with your windows open

- you get to enjoy lunch outside

- you get to watch football all day while eating chili

- you get to carve pumpkins

- you get to go to corn mazes and roast marshmallows

- you get to start thinking about Christmas decorations

- you get to pull out your oversize college sweatshirt to wear

- you get to sit outside and read while sipping hot chocolate

Man, I love Fall. I have never been a big Halloween fan, but I do love outside festivals and wearing fall clothing. Nothing warms my heart more than layers and boots.

Fall, I welcome you! You are going to do great things to my soul!

The first and last trip to Netherworld

One Year!

I have had this blog written for months, but never got around to posting... better late than never. 

They always say the first year is the hardest. The first year is when you are getting your feet wet and trying to stay above water. The first year is when you are labeled “the new girl” or the one that looks confused in a crowd of people. Ah, the first year.

I remember my first day. I made sure I got up extra early to be ready and out the door. Of course, you can’t be late on your first day! I sat in my car waiting for the clock to hit a little before 8:30am so I could walk in right on the minute. I’m telling you I was WAY early. I walked in the office to find new faces and new surroundings. I quickly heard, “oh you must be the new girl.” Well of course I am, doesn’t my freshly pressed suit, laptop bag and matching Vera Bradly lunchbox just scream, “I’m new?” Of course it did.

I remember going home that night and wrapping my mind around the day I had just experienced. It was a mixed feeling. I had just completed day 1 of my job and I knew that this wasn’t an internship, it was real life.  You know the real life you have dreamed about for years and all you can think about in college is the job after you graduate. I was living this. I was in that moment.

Right after I graduated from college I was searching. I was searching for a job in a place I could make my home. I was searching for a church family. I was searching for people my age to build me up and encourage me. I was searching hard. 

If someone would have told me when I moved about the year ahead of me, I probably would have laughed at them. What a fun crazy year it has been. It has been a roller-coaster, but the best roller-coaster of life.

Blessed to know these ladies 

The group celebrating April birthdays

Red Team domination in Field Day

Amazing group of Ladies 

Blessed to know these ladies 

Finally Football

Finally. Finally. Finally. It seems the wait gets longer and longer each year.

Lady & Gentlemen, College Football has arrived!!

It is more than a game, it is tradition for our family!

A little rain will not stop us

My favorites 

Nothing warms my heart more than Homecoming

Saturday. Saturday. Saturday

Typical dancing to the Red Coats

Saturday on North Campus

Always have to shoot to get a Christmas card picture

Saturday in Athens, so happy to see you back!

Lessons in Trust

Growing up we all heard the verse, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3: 5-6

We all hear, "just trust, He will lead you", but can we really fully trust? 

A couple of weeks ago, I crossed something off my bucket list. Well, I technically don't really have one, but if I did it would be on there. I put my big girl pants on and went whitewater rafting. When I told my family what I was doing, I was greeted with a "seriously" and "can we get a video?" 

I have to say, it was a blast and I managed to stay in the boat the entire time. My worst fear was falling out. I was determined to do whatever it took to stay in the boat. I had my plan set, if I felt like I was going to fall out, I was going to fall inward. I wasn’t letting any Beaver sharks or rapids get me. 

After the weekend was over I got to thinking, I completely put my trust in our guide. I listened to everything she said and did not question anything. Whatever the command she said, I followed her. 

Why can I trust someone I have no connection with but struggle in completely trusting our God? Don't get me wrong I trust Him, but when it comes to completely trusting and not questioning, I can't say that I don't think twice. 

Following a guide who I have no connection with really got me thinking about trusting our God. Putting complete trust in Him to guide my life… it is easier said than done. It is also easy to tell others to trust, but do I trust completely? Or is that just my standard answer?

I remember when I was in the stage of looking for a job. I would trust in some areas, but not others. I could not let go of all control. I had this life I had dreamed about and I wanted to control it. I told myself I was trusting, but was I really? When I finally let go of my I-want-to-control-everything attitude, He lead me right where I needed to me. I had to trust in moving, I had to trust in a new town, I had to trust that it was the right step.

Then I remembered my planner from my senior year, across the top was the word trust. I carried this around with me 24/7. It was my life. For some reason I was not into putting dates into my phone, instead I color coded my planner. But needless to say I opened it pretty much every hour. So why did I write trust on my planner? Because I needed to be reminded of God’s promise. I was having issues of trusting with life after college, life during college and life at the moment. I was searching and trying to trust, but could not completely give it up.

Trust has always been something I have struggled with. Although I have told myself I was completely fine.

So here to trusting completely and remembering these friendly reminders to keep trusting. 

Decorating and Pinning

I am obsessed with reading decorating blogs. I am blown away with the flipping of houses many people do. Which is bad for me because it gives me so many ideas to do in my own house. Then I remember I have to be realistic and we are renting and it takes time to collect furniture and decorations.

I do not know if I could ever live through a complete house flipping. Although I lived through my parents completely over-hauling our kitchen/living/sun room and that was intense enough. I am one of those who is way too eager to get everything done and start multiple projects at the same time. Or the person who can walk around Hobby Lobby with the intent of getting 1 thing and walk out with a cart full of projects I just dreamed up.

It dose not help that I have discover "Pinterest." If you have not discovered this new world of "pinning" it is quite addicting. The basic idea is that Pinterest is a virtual bulletin board. You can pin all kinds of party ideas, gift ideas and home decor from all over the internet. Seriously how smart is this? 

As soon as I find a holder like this, I will be adding this to my bathroom. 

But, we have been in our townhouse for 2 months and I feel like we finally getting to where it feels more like home. The only room that has been completely neglected is the front dining/living room. Which we have a deadline of August 24th to get that room together since we are hosting girls' dinner that night. 

I have a list of projects to still complete, but I wanted to update on what has been completed now. 

Plates finally hung above the bed

New chairs have arrived

The living room almost complete minus wall decorations.

Much left to do, but I am getting there. Now if I can just stay off Pinterst, I might finish my current project list without adding more projects. 

Big Day!

Today was a big day. A day with mixed emotions.


I handed in my keys to sweet 608...my first place on my own.


Now, I've been living in my new place for a month with my super awesome roommate, but technically I still had the little apartment until the end of July. Having keys to two places at a time was quite interesting. Many times I caught myself trying to use the other key to get in the wrong house. Oh well.


As I turned in my keys today, I was full of mixed emotions. My keys felt lighter and I didn't have the annoying gate card anymore. Which by the way, is the most annoying thing ever when it is raining. But needless to say, I drove out of the Overlook with it in my rear-view mirror and I smiled through the tears.


This is probably boring to anyone else, but my parents. But I began thinking about the 12 months I spent living there and the lessons learned...

• Everyone should live alone at some point in their life
• When you run out of toothpaste, there isn't anyone down the hall to borrow from 
• You quickly learn that if you don't pick up after yourself, no one will know
• Deep cleaning a 1 bedroom apartment can be done in 2 hours 
• The noisy neighbors upstairs become a comfort sound at night to know you are not alone
• 608 became a place to grow friendships 
• You can sit alone and eat ice cream without anyone getting on to you 
• Carrying grocery bags up the stairs becomes a talent
• Coming home to an empty apartment can do craziness with your head 
• When your apartment has hills, don't drive when it is icy
• Never under estimate the space of a 1 bedroom... anything can be done 

I could go on and on, but sweet 608 will always be such a fun memory. As I was cleaning this past weekend and taking down my famous vinyl letters, "Make each day your masterpiece", it was the sign that the transition to adult life was over. (Pause... I am no way saying I have this adult life thing figured out, more I have my feet wet and it is time to just swim along.) 608 severed as the transition place for me to merge college life into adult life. Now, it is all adult life. I found myself putting out less college stuff in my new places and packing up boxes for home to store. Now, I am not saying that I am completely done with college, but the my life is transitioning into adult life. A new life with new beginnings and new challenges. Although, I am proud of my collection of stuffed Alphies and the memories we have shared, it is time to move to the next chapter God has for me. 

This past year has been nothing short of amazing. I am so excited about what this next year has in store. I am reminded of this quote, “God doesn't call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn't come through.” Francis Chan, Crazy Love. 

I think back a year ago moving to a completely new town and literally being on my own, to where I am now. Loving the town, loving community, but most importantly, loving being more in love with God than every before. 

Thank you sweet 608, you taught more than you will ever know. 

Flowers Family Reunion

When you hear about family reunions, many people cringe. Not me. I get so excited every July to be able to take some time down at the beach to enjoy our precious family.

My mom’s family has been gathering down on the Georgia coast since the early 80’s. This weekend is full of nothing but catching up with some of the greatest people in the world.  Family comes all across the states to celebrate the lives of The Flowers.

For 23 years, the weekend after the 4^th of July I have spent in the sun with this family. What a fun time we have. What other family has organized golf outings, fun runs/walk, pretty much takes over the beach on Saturday and has the biggest low country boil? When the Flowers come to town, we do it big.

As I sat and listened to my Papa tell stories of his family on Sunday morning it brought tears to my eyes as I looked around the room. The room was full of nothing but loving people who love the Lord and who would do anything for anyone in the room. Every reunion we close with the singing of “Amazing Grace”, oh how sweet it is. 

This is more than a family reunion, it is a reminder of how special this family is. 

Saturday Morning beach time 

Signing of Amazing Grace

First Cousins & Spouses 

My sweet sweet Grandparents

Flowers Family


"All Because Two People Fell In Love" .... Looking forward to next July already!