A Beautiful Beach Wedding

We had the privilege to go to a beautiful wedding located on Tybee Island, which is about 15 minutes away from our house.  Harry and Candace Brodmann were determined to have a beach wedding, but they had a lot of things to overcome to get to this point!  One of the biggest challenges was the annual Beach Bum Parade (a huge water fight of water balloons, water guns, etc.).  The wedding party was concerned about this parade because it makes it very difficult to get onto the island and they were afraid all the wedding guests would get soaked.  This parade was beginning at the exact same time as the wedding ceremony and they were located only a few yards away from each other.  Instead, the weather became the largest challenge as the sky opened up and rain poured down for about an hour and a half.  I heard the parade didn't have a very good turnout, so that actually didn't become a big problem. The wedding guests patiently waited for the rain to stop so that we could witness this couple get married.  Boy, was it worth the wait!  Just look at these amazing pictures:

You May Now Kiss The Bride!

The bride walking down the aisle with her father

Me with the groom's mother, Cheryl

Harry and Candace were married on the beach right before the sun went down.

Women of Joy

From May 4-6, I went to my first Women of Joy conference in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  Our team consisted of 9 women; most of these ladies attend Grace Church.  It was such a fun time to get to know these sweet ladies that I haven't gotten to spend a lot of time with.  Our time together at the conference consisted of three speakers - Carol Kent, Sheri Rose Shepherd and Thelma Wells, two music artists - Mandisa and Brandon Heath, one worship leader - Charles Billingsley, and one comedian - Anita Renfroe.  I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing!  I think my favorite parts were the speakers and Brandon Heath.

One of the days we went to a restaurant called the Noisy Oyster.  I got a club sandwich and I had no idea that it was going to be this huge triple-decker!  It ended up being two meals for me. :)  I actually gave up the chance to eat at Chick-Fil-A because I wanted to finish this sandwich!

Our room had an amazing view.  This picture below was taken from our balcony!  

On Saturday, I laid out on the beach with Jean and Brea, it was so relaxing.  We also floated down our hotel's lazy river.  I am so glad I was able to get away and be refreshed by God's Word, encouraging ladies and praises to our Lord!

Curtis Turns 28

On April 18, Curtis turned 28.  We didn't really get an opportunity to celebrate on his birthday, but I think that's just a part of growing up.  So, we waited until Friday and went to Longhorn for dinner and a movie.  Here we are at the restaurant with Curtis sporting one of his new shirts (from one of his favorite shows - Arrested Development) that I got him.  Usually I give him dress shirts to wear at church, but I decided that he needed more T-shirts that he could wear casually.  I also got him an Seinfeld T-shirt (pictured later in this post) and an Office T-shirt.

Earlier in the day, I made a cake for him.  He said he wanted a chocolate ganache cake.  When I pulled out the KitchenAid mixer to get started, Lion-O climbed into the cabinet!  I guess he wanted to help.

And here it is:

It was really, really good!  The ganache icing really made it rich.

On Saturday, my parents came up to visit.  They were glad to get away for a little bit and celebrate Curtis' birthday also.

Here we see that Curtis is now sporting another one of his shirts that I got him for his birthday (another favorite show - Seinfeld).  This one has a special meaning since we actually went to The Original Soup Man restaurant in New York City last year for our anniversary.

I also got to spend some time with my mom...

...and my dad!  Curtis was preaching that Sunday and it was the first time that my parents were able to hear him.  He also was leading a Sunday School class so they got to see him teach, too!

After church, we went out to eat to celebrate Curtis' birthday with the family.  It was yummy!  My parents also bought Curtis some casual T-shirts.  Not only did he get the "More Cowbell" (from the SNL skit with Will Ferrell) pictured below, but he also got a Big Bang Theory shirt.  I think Curtis would say that had a great birthday!

Relief in Trenton

Last week, I had the privilege to be a part of a disaster relief mission team that traveled to northern Georgia (Trenton).  It was a difficult trip for me because I had started feeling sick about 4 days before we left and battled my sickness the whole time!  I went to the doctor afterwards to find out that I have Acute Bronchitis.  Even so, the trip was well worth it.  I definitely recommend going on a mission trip to anyone who has the opportunity - even if it isn't out of your own state.  

 

We had a really fun group of people!  Pictured above is our entire team plus Jim (on the left).  Jim Boyd is the founder of Rebuilding Hope, a non-profit ministry.  To learn more about this ministry, you can visit this link.  We worked with him last October when took a group to Dalton.

 The next few pictures show some of the devastation that took place when the tornadoes hit.

It's hard to believe it was almost a year ago - April 27, 2011.

One of the local churches, Trenton United Methodist, graciously offered to host our team while we were working there.  We could see that they had a real heart for tornado victims.  Look at this sign that was in their kitchen - they served meals to 13,763 people within 2 weeks of the tornadoes last year!

On the first day, Zack, Becca & I split up from the rest of the group to work on installing hardwood laminate flooring in a woman's Master Bedroom.

 Zack was very skilled in this area and he did most of the work.  Becca and I just tried to assist him in whatever way we could!

Becca and I got to know Charlene, the homeowner, while we were working.  She told us that she had lost several shady trees plus five rooms of her house.  She was underinsured so she was unable to afford fixing her house until she heard about Rebuilding Hope.  We were so glad we had the opportunity to help her!  She shared with us how it was nice to see young people serving the Lord. 

 When our task was complete, we traveled over to the job site where the rest of our team was working.  I helped clean up tornado debris in someone's backyard.  I even held a little frog in my hand!

Not only were frogs found, but also a snake!  Chris was fearless enough to pick it up!

A local news crew came by and interviewed two of our team members.

 The rest of the team worked on finishing the deck.  Here's a before shot! 

Here's the after!  Wow!  What a great job they did!

The next day, we spent our time leveling out the crawl space of a house that hadn't been built yet.  There were lots of rocks and debris and it took a long time to finish this task!  

Then, we had 3 small teams that nailed pieces of wood together.  One of the teams was Lisa (right) and Jean (middle).  Pictured above is one of the patterns that I worked on with Joan (on the left) and Robbin (not pictured).  We helped make 28 of these C-shaped pieces!

Every day, we would take showers after working 9-10 hour days.  This particular evening, April 13, was Becca's birthday!  We made sure to celebrate with her throughout the day.  Here we are having a drink at Pizza Hut!

Last day of work - Bobby (left) and Chris (right) continued making specific shapes with the wood for the door frames.  You can see the progress of the house behind them.  The floor joints were being completed.  

Here's a better picture.  We are creating the floor of the new house!

I was making marks so the boys knew where to align the next floor joints.

Lisa got to use the power tools as ply wood was laid on top of the floor joints. 

 Joan and I tried to make the ground more leveled so that there wouldn't be any accidents as people carried wood towards the house.  Joan really knows how to use a Pick Ax!

All of our wooden shapes are now coming together to make the outside wall of the house.  

 It was a team effort to lift it up! 

 Nice poses!  If you were wondering where I was though... 

I was actually below them in the crawl space with Robbin.

Here's a picture of me, but it's kinda blurry.  I thought I was slightly claustrophobic, but I guess it wasn't that bad considering how far away I was from the opening of the crawl space!

This is how far we got before we left.  Those long pieces of wood are the ceiling! 

We finished the evening with observing the beauty of God's nature.  We went to Cloudland Canyon - it is the western rim of Lookout Mountain.  It was gorgeous!

I wish we could have spent more time here!

Later in the evening, we went to downtown Chattanooga for a nice dinner at a restaurant called Public House.  It was really good!  Before we traveled back to Savannah, we worshiped at the United Methodist Church.  I really enjoyed their service!

We traveled back in 2 cars.  The car that I didn't travel in stopped in Dalton to see Mr. Arthur's finished house.  Mr. Arthur was the man that we helped on our last mission trip - you can read more about it in this previous post that I wrote.

I just love that Mr. Arthur put this sign on his house.  He gave all the glory to God!  What a great feeling it is to be the hands and feet of Jesus and serve those that are in need!

We Will Miss You, Regis!

Regis was a great cat.  When I went to the shelter in 2001, Regis stuck his paw out at me.  It seemed like he was saying "Pick Me! Pick Me!"  In high school, I would always say that I didn't need a date because I already had someone who was always wearing a tux for me!  When I got married, my parents consistently came up with excuses as to why I couldn't take him with me to St. Louis or Savannah.  Regis is the one who inspired me to have my next cat look like him (Lion-O).

He ran out the door on April 1st and my parents haven't seen him yet.  We are pretty sure he has probably passed away because he wasn't in the best of health before he left.

So, here's a few pictures that I took with him back in 2006:

Kissing Regis

He loved nudging my head!  This is something that I wish Lion-O would do!

Lastly, here is a video that my parents have found that has helped them cope with their loss - the cat in this video looks so much like Regis.  It's hilarious!

We will miss you, Regis!