grateful

although today was a rough day at school, long and stressful, this afternoon was good. i felt energized to study hard, eager to learn, and confident that in Christ I can learn all i need to by monday and tuesday. i’m grateful for days like these

library

Here is where people,
One frequently finds,
Lower their voices
And raise their minds.
~Richard Armour

quiet and calm
cool and hushed
the perfect place for hours of study

i've so enjoyed sitting for hours in the library to study for a&p
it's quiet and i accomplish much while inside the big brick walls



plus, i have a lovely view

a tribute

after the last few days, i've once again realized how perfect my mom is for me. and even more importantly, how much her life reflects Christ.

ever since i was little, i can remember my mom constantly serving us. i also remember going to friends' houses and the moms slept in on saturdays, left dishes piled in the sink, constantly planned fun stuff for themselves with friends/husbands, and i remember thinking that was weird. while i know most of these moms lived for God, their strengths were in other areas, though they never neglected their kids in any way. but it seemed weird to me still because my mom never slept in, tried to keep the sink empty and always had the laundry going, and rarely planned fun outings for herself, but instead spent most free time doing fun things for and with us.

while it used to seem weird to me the way other moms did things, i now realize my mom is the weird one. and not in a bad way at all. she excels at serving her family. she goes over and above in the category of putting her family before herself. and this, more than any other way, is how i see Christ in her.

proverbs 31 says

an excellent wife who can find? she is far more precious than jewels.

my mom is an excellent wife, and she is indeed far more valuable than all the riches in the world.

the proverb continues on to say

she works with willing hands...
she rises while it is yet night...
she makes her arms strong...
her lamp does not go out at night...
she opens her hands to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy...
she makes linen garments and sells them...
she opens her mouth with wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue...
she looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness...
charm is deceitful and beauty is vain but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. give her of the fruit of her hands and let her works praise her in the gates.


wow. my mom excels at daily living out what it is like to be a Godly woman. and what a better way to teach and train her four daughters than to live out a Christ-like example every single day.

she works with willing hands
my mom complains less than any other person i know. she does not grumble or gripe when she is left to do the laundry again, or when it's time to pick up. but instead she frequently offers to clean up the kitchen after dinner so that we might go finish homework or run off to some fun engagement. willing hands, i tell you.

she rises while it is yet night- her light does not go out at night
she is basically always up before me in the mornings. even on saturday, her one day to sleep in. she still rises early to begin her day, and she usually begins with God. spending time with Him is of first importance, and she displays that by making that the first thing she does. she stays up late often times to complete her work, to pick up after everyone, or to ensure we are all home safe and sound.

she makes her arms strong
i've always thought my mom had the prettiest hands. now, i know it is because her hands and arms are continually busy, working to ensure everyone else is comfortable.

she opens her hands to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy
even while my dad was out of work for 17 months, i still found thank you notes in my mom's room from families thanking her for the generous check or gift she had given them, because their family was also struggling financially. she never drew attention to her giving, but God used her generous heart to bless others regularly. i know of many times she purchased gifts for others and then had to run an errand. a couple times i went with her and found her errand was to return that thing she bought for herself in order to pay for something for someone else. and we had gotten so excited that she actually bought something for herself for once. we should've known.

she makes linen garments and sells them
she works hard at her full time job to help support our family. and she does an excellent job. and then she puts in extra hours tutoring to save up money for the future, go ahead and pay that other bill, or to give us swimsuit money for the summer. she is not lazy and she is not stingy.

she opens her mouth with wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue
i personally think i have gained the most wisdom-next to the Bible- from my mom. she almost always has a Biblical answer or solution and does not neglect to get right to the heart of the issue. though this wisdom at times is hard to hear, i always look back and see that it was indeed wise. she studies God's word and is close to her Savior, and in turn imparts wisdom to others.

she looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness
she is always on the look out for us. she cares for both our physical and spiritual needs. my mom is not idle. she works hard five days a week and then comes home and works her second full time job being a wife and mother, and a stinkin good one at that. lazy and slothful are not things my mom practices.

give her the fruit of her hands and let her works praise her in the gates
that's the point of me writing this. i'm overcome with gratefulness for her and want for her God glorifying deeds to be praised. while she never draws attention to herself, her actions and life are indeed worthy of attention because Christ is alive in her and doing a good thing through her.

summer colors

these past few days i've been so enamored with colors. and not just bright, cheery, bold hues, but the white washed, clean tones too

some are my own pictures, some i've seen. so here are a few

fresh salsa

green chocolate vine

clear and i love the touch of beachy green

turquoise and orange. summer. summer. anthropology. yes.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150269874651416&set=a.10150269874321416.373216.107418161415&type=1&theater

snowcones

sunsets

sea shells

fossil

love this white by lizelle lotter

green and gray from pottery barn

pretty golden glow

feminine in white ruffles

i've always loved the colors in this perfume ad

shades of the jade sea

beach streets

patterns and shades

candy jars

and lastly, it doesn't get more summer colorful than this


a ferris wheel at the beachfront. lovely and blurry, i know

36. new shoes that got here

37. getting a good laugh out of the fact that somehow, probably because i'm brilliant beyond belief, i ordered 2 identical pairs of shoes. not one. TWO. i only wanted one though

38. being a nike member, which means i get to ship back my clone shoes for free. $0 : ) yes!

39. summer sandwiches. chicken, mayo, black pepper, spinach. all on some good wholesome wheat bread. chips and fruit on the side and you've got a close to perfect lunch

40. my ipod. i love it. oh it's so good to have

41. my silver bracelet from brighton that mema gave me for my birthday. i love it too!

42. i got to see cutie giselle lastnight

43. shade. ahhh. when driving without an ac, driving under trees, in the shade, feels like heaven. it's seriously 10 degrees cooler. so nice

44. a car that works, that i don't have to pay for. Lord, help it live a few more years. pleeeeaaaasssseee.

45. taylor swift, the national, mumford, and coldplay. coldplay and taylor mostly. but all provide a nice background for studying

46.ac in our house. 93 and feels like 100. or so says the weather channel. so grateful for air conditioning

47. chels and all the others made it home safely from next. thankful for protection

48. my express sunglasses. make it much easier to drive with the windows down. plus, they're super cute and stylin. or so i think

49. new bare minerals eye shadow. i love it. thanks mar for the late bday gift!

50. sunburns. ok maybe not. well yes i am. because it means i got to go to the beach. i got to lay out in the blazin sun, with nothing to do for hours, obviously too many. and i enjoyed having the time to relax beside my family. so i'm grateful for this ever so painful sunburn.

word to the wise, do not plop down on black leather car seats if your car has been sitting for hours in the sun and if the backs of your legs are sun burnt. it hurts. it really hurts. like really really hurts. so yea, don't do it

51. homemade salsa. delish!

52. being neat and organized

53. yellow highlighters

54. pretty flowers and little leaves to look at while studying

55. good, fresh, ice cold water to drink

56. windows! i don't think i could live somewhere without windows. i love having a the view outside, and the light from the sun is simply splendid

57. snagging some magnolias and gardenias from public property to bring home to my mom. then enjoying the sweet fragrance of the gardenias

georgia on my mind

for the first time in my life, i flew on a plane. wednesday night my dad and i headed up to the airport and our flight took off at 7:50 and we flew down to georgia.

i loved flying over the clouds, looking down at the snake-like rivers, patches of farmland, and streams of cars that looked more like ants.

then as the light faded and the time grew later we began to see the city lights. atlanta. we were almost there.

i loved flying. i knew i liked traveling. i like going away, taking a break from the normal swing of things, but only for short periods of time. i wouldn't like to be away from home for very long, especially without my family. so anyways, first flight, good flight.

after taking groom to macon, we found the car with the help of a little map uncle ray drew for us, enjoyed some homemade peanut butter cookies aunt jeannie left for us, and made our way to mema's. she was waiting up for us and we talked til almost 2 am before calling it a night. i enjoyed having the upstairs room to myself, complete with a queen size bed. i love sharing with chels, but a break is nice too : )

mema's room is filled with jewelry boxes and drawers

a picture of mema when she was younger

the next morning we slept in and then enjoyed a country breakfast prepared with love by mema. she lives to serve other people food. it gives her such joy to whip up something delicious and she always finds little ways to add a touch of something pretty. her table is always set and rarely goes without a centerpiece.

so after breakfast, we made our way into milledgville, the place my mom grew up in and where most of her siblings and her mom, nanny, lives. we first stopped by ryal's bakery, the best bakery in the world, to grab some of nanny's favorite sweets.


the party cookies and petit fours are the best so we stocked up on those. then we made our way over to nanny's house to visit with her. we sat around the kitchen table catching up and chatting with uncle jeff. it was so good to see nanny. since papa passed away last april, i've thought about her so much more. her lifelong friend and love is no longer here on earth with her. what a tough thing to go through. it's sometimes hard to visit, knowing it will make me sad, but at the same time i'm so glad for every opportunity i get to visit with her. before long though, the visit ended.

next we ran by aunt donna's to see her but she wasn't home, so we said hello to uncle ray then made our way to walmart. mema needed a new dvd player and i wanted a hairdryer : ) so after walmart and a delish lunch at chili's we headed back over to gray. we made a quick stop at miss dottie's, mema's favorite place, picked out a birthday present for mom, and then drove home.

back at mema's, we ended the day with a bbq dinner and the king's speech it was a great day!

friday morning we took it slow around the house, my dad fished some. and i took some pictures...

mema's shed and tools

grandaddy used to pull us behind the riding mower in this little trailer. i loved bumping along through the woods with my sisters and tyler

mema's always had a little grape vineyard in her yard

the old oak tree in her back yard that used to provide a shady roof for our playhouse and held onto the swings we loved to fly in

her country house, built by my grandpa, uncle ed, and my dad. home to many sweet memories of mine

this heart shaped vine has grown on the chimney for as long as i can remember.

this bird feeder is just one of many in mema's yard. she loves, loves, loves birds

in the afternoon tyler stopped by and we all headed into s&s for dinner. it's our favorite restaurant in ga. delicious food. cafeteria style, though not cafeteria quality. aunt jeannie, uncle ray, matt, gina, anna kate, gina's parents, and the rest of us enjoyed dinner and then headed to the waters for dessert. it was fun spending time just talking with them.

mema cracked us up as she told jeannie that a little ornate container on her coffe table was so ugly. she told her it looked like an urn. it was so unlike mema to so boldly give an unkind opinion. haha it made us all laugh though. the best part is that the container came from mema's brother's house.

tyler spent the night with us back at mema's. the next morning my dad and i got up and headed back into milledgville. we visited furniture city, my grandpas's furniture store. we talked for a while with uncle david, who loves talking about sports, his dogs, and other fun stuff. it was good seeing him. we then went downtown and walked around. looking at some of the old houses that remain there

then we snuck across the lawn in front of the old governor's mansion.

the lawn was raised up above street level. just a unique touch

pretty flowers lining fence

downtown is filled with pretty buildings

after snapping a quick pic, we continued on

we strolled past the church my parents were married in

and then we made our way to the college they attended

considering it was almost 95 degrees and humid out this fountain looked so refreshing

i loved how every little corner was landscaped

and such homey details, like rockers on the front porch of a classroom building

pretty in pink, oak leaf hydrangeas

after walking around the school, we passed by the old theater where my dad got saved

we took a quick stop at the old home of flannery o'connor

there was the coolest old water tower in the backyard

and before visiting nanny, we took a couple minutes to quietly walk over to papa's grave site

it was so good to visit with nanny again. we even took some time to read some psalms with her and uncle jeff, quite an unusual experience to share with uncle jeff, the comedian of the family. with promises of visiting again later in the summer, we had to say goodbye

i so loved spending the day with my dad. just taking our time together having fun. that night, everyone came over for dinner and it was good to see them all one more time. we watched seven years in tibet later on with mema, which was on tv. the next morning was sad knowing we'd have to say goodbye in a few short hours. i asked mema about some of her jewelry, which she ended up giving me.

we took a few pictures and then headed into macon to enjoy s&s one more time with gigi and ray

after saying goodbye and riding the groom we found ourselves sitting and waiting at our gate. it was pretty watching the sun set

so glad we flew at night, cause i so loved going over the city lights!

and though i didn't get any pictures, we watched lightning out the window on our flight home. my dad loves stuff like that, and so do i.

i'm so grateful for the time i had in ga, visiting with family, spending time with my dad, and taking a few days to just slow down. i studied lots of scripture and finished persuasion and northanger abbey while there. it was a good end to my 2 week summer.