livingmercy

A Broken Down House...

2010-08-22T20:30:00.007-04:00

Would you live here?

Did you know that you already do?

"Last week your boss gave you your walking papers, or your teenager rebelled to your face, or you were diagnosed with a disease, or a tree fell on your garage, or your best friend gossiped about something you said in confidence, or your aging body ached, or your church disappointed you again, or you pulled your back out, or your vacation proved to be more work than retreat, or you found out that your exorbitant city taxes are being misused by a politically hungry elected thief, or you learned that someone stole your identity, or you felt drawn to something you knew was wrong.

Last week you encountered the world as it really is: broken.

How did you do?"

Broken Down House, pg. 31

Currently Reading:

Through Tears...

2010-03-08T21:12:00.004-05:00

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

~Psalm 116:15

I believe that God is author of life and of death. I believe he ordains all things and that His will is ultimate. I believe that it is great gain for a believer to die. For families and loved ones left here, death doesn't always taste so sweet. Especially at first.

Just over a week ago, I learned that a gentleman that my family knows, my cousins' grandfather on their mother's side, passed away after some time of medical complications and deteriorating health. While I cannot count for you the number of years it had been since I had seen him or spent time with them, my heart was saddened by the loss. Perhaps because it made me one step closer, in my mind, to losing my own grandfather. Maybe it was simply the idea of weeping alongside my dad's family who I have not spent much time with over the last few years.

The service was small and very beautiful. The wind was blowing and the sky changed from blue to grey. Friends spoke of the way the life of the gentleman and how he cared for his family. My aunt, his daughter, shared about her father's example as a husband to her mother, and as a spiritual leader in their home by his faithfulness to pray. Men cried and shared about how he trained them in the fields to work and to be diligent. His family wept together and watched as his body was lowered into the earth. The county's Honor Guard stood by ready for their salute and when Taps was played, I'm not sure I could have held back my tears any longer.

I am grateful for my family. I'm so thankful to them for letting me share that day with them.

Thank you for opening your home to me on a day like that. Thank you for sharing your gift of hospitality and your hearts... and your hugs. I enjoyed our conversations and the laughter... and the tears.

I am grateful to God for the ways that death made me think about life.

I Promise I'm Still Here...

2009-12-08T08:18:00.004-05:00

Blogging can be daunting. Some people are really great at it. Others are hard to follow because they rarely update... like me. Oops. ;)

Just a few updates, perhaps?

I have a new work schedule. Starting in November, I was approved for a flex schedule. Now, I have Mondays off and I work 10 hour days Tuesday-Friday. So far, so good. My goal is to make a plan, a list of sorts, for each Monday of things to accomplish. I've been able to do that a little bit, but already see where I need improvements after only one month at the new schedule. Ideas?

Thanksgiving...
I didn't go home this year. That's the first major holiday I've not been with my family. Since my parents weren't going to be home for Thanksgiving again this year, (they are long-distance team truck drivers and didn't take off for Thanksgiving) I had decided to stay back in Raleigh and then a family at church asked if I would help with their house and dog while they were gone, so I did that. My roommate's friend, Megan, invited us both to eat Thanksgiving lunch with her and her parents, so I did get to have a really yummy, and beautifully decorated, dinner.
I did miss my family and felt okay about being in Raleigh... but the funniest of things trigger emotion, you know? Thursday night, back at the home I was watching, I was thinking about heating up my leftovers from Megan's and how I wished I had brought some of the dessert home with me, too... which made me think about my Granny's baking... and I just lost it! Isn't that the most pitiful think you've ever heard?! LOL... I cried for about 20 minutes thinking about pie and missing sitting around late on Thanksgiving with my aunts and uncles eating leftovers and pie. I guess I'll have to eat extra at Christmas? ;)
On Saturday, I got to go to Kristin's 4th Annual Happy Thanksgiving Saturday. I love that event! She gathers her family together and invites a few friends to enjoy an extended Thanksgiving dinner. The food is always so good, and I get to see all of her family! Love both of those things. :)

New Moon...
Pretty much every person in my life knows how much of a Twilighter I am. For a year now, it's been a big part of my "hobby" life. Through Twitter, I have met TONS of other Twilight ladies around the world, and several of them, I've become pretty close friends with. So, some of us decided we'd like to get together when the second movie came out in November. We planned it and talked about it for months! I couldn't believe when it got down to the wire that it was actually going to happen! Since two of us live here in Raleigh and another fairly close by in Charlotte, we decided it would work out well to have the other 4 girls come here. That way, hotel costs would be eliminated and we'd have two locals to plan things, not having to worry with a new city. Thursday morning arrived, and so did the drama! Planes were delayed, FTA computers were crashing... what a mess! No worries... every one got here just in time and we all spent the weekend at Erin's house. We went to the midnight showing of New Moon, then again on Friday and Saturday afternoons. We ate out together, had pedicures, sat around and laughed like crazy... we even got to take Sarah to the Super Target like she asked. ;) I'm grateful for the friendships and so happy we were able to all get together... Discussion have already begun for the June opening of Eclipse, the third film in the saga. I plan on visiting another friend out in California in the summer, so who knows where we'll all end up!

Holidays...
Christmas is coming and I can already see the hours and days flying by! My roommates and I were finally able to decorate last night. We went all out... it was a frenzy of lights, ornaments, candles... the works! We laughed a lot and even decided to try our fate at a few outdoor lights. Here are few shots I took with my phone. I apologize for the quality... but you get the point. ;o)

I'll be going home for Christmas on the 23rd sometime and because I have off on Mondays, I'll get to stay until the 28th. Alicia, Kristin and I had planned to try and go to Texas over New Year's to see Dan and Casey, Zoe and Jack, but tickets for air travel at that time are RIDICULOUS! Wow... almost 400 dollars!! Twice the normal rate. So, we're having to wait and have tossed around the idea of having a New Year's party like we have had in the past. We'll see what shakes down on Seawell Ave...

So... just a few updates. If you've made it this far, I'll send you a Christmas card... just comment and let me know you did. ha! ;)

Words.

2009-09-06T20:06:00.002-04:00

I am currently in a home-study at my church. Those of us who teach a class during the Sunday School hour are encouraged to take most of these classes as they are offered so that our souls are being encouraged to pursue Christ in a class-form discipline... since we don't attend the adult Bible time. This is apart from our regular participation in the regular worship service and our small groups, of course. The work is takes time, but the reading is deep and the questions are thought-provoking and prick my heart.

The current class is a book study on Relationships: A Mess Worth Making by Tim Lane and Paul Tripp. I'm in the middle of answering a question about the power of words in relationships... and was overwhelmed by this section in the chapter:

The world of talk is a world of trouble

Nobody articulates this more powerfully than James: "If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check" (James 3:2b). Who can honestly say that all his words are well-intentioned and appropriately spoken? Who has not hurt someone with words or used words for a selfish purpose? Who hasn't used words as a weapon of anger rather than an instrument of peace? Don't let yourself back away from the troubles. If you are honest, you have to admit that your relationships have been troubled by words as much as they have been helped. James calls us to admit that our words are the most powerful and consistent indicators of our need for the grace of Christ. James say that if we were without fault in this area, we would be perfect in every way. So listen to your words. Don't they expose how deep your need is for God's forgiving grace? We stain our relationships with thoughtless and evil words. We are guilty of turning this gift into a weapon. We need forgiveness and we need help.

Wow. I am guilty. I know that you are, too, because none is perfect. None is righteous apart from Christ. I have seen some very, very strong relationships broken by one wayward word. One quick quip. One unthoughtful blurb. Words cut like a knife.

I want to be better. I want to wield this weapon of my tongue in an expert way that heals instead of hurts others.

Not much... just a short post... but something that was really heavy on my heart to share with you all.

California Love

2009-08-05T14:23:00.008-04:00

Through the years, I've come to really enjoy the work of some great photographers. Two of my very best friends, Casey and Kristin work for Poiema Photography, based here in Raleigh. They are so good at what they do. Angey's on the team, too.

Because of them, I've learned about several others around the country - ones they love and follow and learn from.

Through Twitter, this year... and our mutual love for some various things (wink), I met this lady...

And if you're in Northern California, you need to book her. Pronto. Because she's moving to Ohio in just over a year (to be closer to meeee. ok. not really, but still). Check it out.

(click to reach her blog)

Follow her on Twitter.

Friend her on Facebook.

Be amazed...

Polyvore.

2009-06-25T14:09:00.001-04:00

I have only just discovered this from a super rad friend.

But now I love it. Here's my "first" attempt... (first one that YOU'LL ever see, that is!)

Lucky by livingmercy featuring Charles David shoes

A Tagged Post To Bring You Back To Me...

2009-06-01T22:27:00.003-04:00

I haven't posted in a few weeks... Sorry! And Sarah and Erin both tagged me in this quite some time ago... sorry, ladies!

Here goes!

8 Things I am looking forward to:

1. My Birthday!
2. My Birthday Cruise!
3. Visiting Friends in Memphis!
4. New Moon, The Movie! EEEEP. See Number 3.
5. To Finally Get A Chance To Read City Of Bones.
6. Paying Off All My Debt.
7. Reaching My Goal Weight.
8. Visiting Friends Overseas Again.

8 Things I did yesterday:

1. Went to Church
2. Went to a Graduation Cookout for DAWN!
3. Grocery Shopped... for only 2 things! YAY!
4. Played On My New Mac!
5. Grilled Out With Friends Next Door
6. Hung Out With My Aunt.
7. Watched The MTV Movie Awards and Life Chatted with Taylor Blue and Willow Raine - SO FUN!
8. Finally Got To See The New Moon Trailer!!! EEEEE.

8 Things I wish I could do:

1. See New Moon Already.
2. Meet Famous People.
3. Have Better Disciplines.
4. Sleep More.
5. Spent More Time With My Friends.
6. Pay Off Debt.
7. Buy A House
8. Master My Guitar.

8 Shows I watch:

1. Lost
2. Heroes
3. Survivor
4. The Office
5. Parks and Recreation
6. Grey's Anatomy
7. Private Practice
8. Friends

Now who do I tag:

Hmm. I won't be offended if you don't do this... but let me know if you do! ;)

1. Jessica

2. Betsy

3. Mara

4. Chevy

5. Meghann

6. Alicia

7. Nicole

8. Myria

If I tagged you and you decide to follow along be sure to leave me a comment!

Saturday Day of Fun

2009-04-11T16:59:00.010-04:00

Here are some photos of my day of Nicole fun. :)

First, I got to have lunch with Kristin and Brett and Baby Elliot! What a cutie. She's super cute and I'm excited to watch her grow and see how smart she's gonna be. Her parents are superbly smart!

Then, I went shopping a little bit... you know, for Easter. ;) There are no photos of this, but I bought some clothes, which is nice... including pants that are 5 sizes smaller than I was wearing 10 months ago. FIVE SIZES. whoa!

After I left the store, I grabbed a drink and started snacking on the treat that @genawilson sent me from Scotland... Wine Gums! My favorites are the purple ones, and my pack had THREE in there! yay!

Next, I drove over to buy some Twilight Treats...

Finally! My own PE! (p.s. - I got permission from Lauren to use that term...)

Sorry, I was lame and took the photo before I removed the pricetag. lol.

Then, I got home for an evening of fun and rest... checked the mail, and GASP...

a PACKAGE! @thebraysmommy is super fun and famous forever now!! Lookie what she sent:

And if that wasn't enough fun for me for one day... I got to talk with Gena on Skype since I downloaded the free app on my ipod Touch... She was talking and I was typing. It was so nice to hear her voice. Miss that lassie. I cropped me out of the picture because I just looked dumb... haha.

Now I'm home listening to some of the fun songs that people told me about for freshening up my workout mix... I'm gonna make some veggies for dinner and watch Bones Season 3 on DVD... just a few episodes.

Tweet ya later!

A Crafty Fun Giveaway!

2009-04-06T20:04:00.002-04:00

I was FIRST (that's right!) at Sasa's blog for this...

The first five people to respond to this post will get something handmade by me!
My choice. For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!

2- What I create will be just for you.

3- It will be done this year.

4- You will have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be photography or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may sew or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!

5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who follow the directions.
{Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!}

The Fear of the Lord

2009-04-04T20:55:00.004-04:00

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:7

I've been wanting to post this video on my blog for a long time now... but now I have a fun reason to do it instead of just "hey, look at this funny video."

A few months ago, I started having some trouble with one of my wisdom teeth. I knew that I only had 2 (the lower left and upper right ones) from previous dental x-rays. It would sort of "come and go" with pain and beginning to feel like it was actually coming in. Ugh. So, finally, I could start to see the tooth, and week by week, the pain was becoming more intense. I went to see Dr. Hall (who is also a deacon at our church) - who is SUCH a great dentist... so gentle and explains things so well! Not only was the tooth coming thru, but the area was infected. So, I started a run of antibiotics and schedule a visit with the oral surgeon.

Dr. Ken Benson, in Apex, was also so great! Very kind - even all his staff... all so nice and gentle. The date was set... Friday, April 3rd.

Super Julie took me in, since I had elected to have the full sedation for the surgery. I don't handle pain very well, so this was probably best. I was a little giggly before the surgery just because I didn't really know what to expect. Boy, that was just the beginning. They started the IV and I was going to sleep. I remember feeling them start on the first tooth and expressing some pain to them... then I remember starting to cry. Within "moments" the nurse was rubbing my arm saying, "Ok, Nicole... we're all done..." I said, "But you have to do the other tooth now." They had already done it. Ha.

Then, the laughter began. I just kept laughing. I felt weird. She kept saying, "Did you like the wine? We gave you a lot of wine, Nicole." Then I saw Julie and kept laughing. I could hear them talk about getting me in the car. The nurse had wheeled me to the handicap ramp and I got myself in the car. I really don't remember much about the ride home. I know I laughed a lot and I'm fairly sure I was talking.

Julie was great. She got me in the house and I got on the couch right away. She made me some pudding and went to get my medicine's filled. Casey came over and stayed with me in the morning while I dozed and changed out my gauze hourly. Around lunch, Kristin came home from work and she hasn't left my side, really. It's been great. Heather came in and checked on me, Alicia brought me a Coke from Cary's house. Lots of folks sent me Facebook messages and even checked on me via Twitter! Love those Twitter Girls!

So, Friday went well and I was laughing off and on all afternoon. I dozed some, but the pain wasn't so bad. Once, I was chatting with a friend on IM and laughing with Kristin. She and I both thought I was fine because I was just laughing and chatting online, etc... So, she decides to leave and grab a couple of movies at Red Box. The moment the door closed behind her, I burst into tears. I have no idea why, but I was overwhelmed with the fact that I was alone. So weird!

We watched a couple of great movies, Australia and Rachel Getting Married, so I got all my crying out and went to bed around 11. So far so good.

Today, the pain has been a little more intense and the emotions come in tidal waves. I'm feeling okay, but really ready to be healed. I'm fine with the smooth food diet and feel so cared for by so many! Dan and Casey brought me some super yummy homemade mashed potatoes and Kristin has been great all day again... even made me a super good Raspberry Peach Smoothie.

Thanks so much to all my fun friends who've called, texted, emailed, Twittered and come by! It's made this process great! It's only the end of day two, of course, but I expect great things for the rest of the healing process...

Oh! And here's the video I wanted to show you. haha...

Here I Go Again...

2009-03-28T19:36:00.002-04:00

Changing backgrounds

and reminding myself that i haven't posted in so long!

I even gave that little tease of a post that I had things to tell you about... but alas, it hasn't happened!

However - a new time consumer for me... Twitter. So follow me already!

go here.

I haven't posted in so long!

2009-01-25T20:58:00.004-05:00

Thanks, Lorie P. for reminding me that some times people do read what I write. Ha!

I haven't written in a long time... but plan to soon. I want to update this with some things from my winter:

~my most recent infatuation

~holidays with family

~New Year's Eve in Times Square!

~winter weather and adventures

~finally meeting Baby Elliot!

for now... Here's a photo tease of each event... :)

Holiday Mood

2008-12-12T11:37:00.002-05:00

I think I'm actually going to get some Christmas shopping done this weekend - fun! This made me laugh... I remember seeing it last year, but still... enjoy!

If you haven't heard the news...

2008-12-10T11:10:00.002-05:00

or know the story behind this little boo-boo head... you better check this out.

Some of these made me laugh a lot

2008-11-22T11:50:00.002-05:00

1. Put your iPod or iTunes on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag 10 or more friends who might enjoy doing this as well as the person you got this from.

1. If someone says "is this ok?" you say
-Wounded (Shane & Shane)

2. WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
- Cold, Cold Heart (Norah Jones) hilarious

3. WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
-And Can It Be (Covenant Life Church)

4. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
-Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Kenny G)

5. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
-I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (David Cook) hilarious

6. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
-If I Ain't Got You (Alicia Keyes)

7. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
-12 Days of Christmas (Bing Crosby) :)

8. WHAT IS 2+2?
-What Manner of Love (Watermark)

9. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
-You (Waterdeep)

10. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
-Baby, I Love Your Way (Bob Marley) funny.

11. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
-Blessed Assurance (Shane & Shane) this is true.

12. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
-In Repair (John Mayer) I hope not.

13. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
-On Our Side (Chris Tomlin)

14. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
-Baby I'm Amazed By You (Lonestar) this is possibly true

15. WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
-The Glories of Calvary (Sovereign Grace) ain't that the truth

16. WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
-Gold Digger (Kanye) that is really funny to me

17. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
-I Want It All (Shane & Shane) man, oh man

18. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
-Oh Lord Your Love (Caedmon's Call) shouldn't be

19. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
-Praise To the Lord, The Almighty (Christy Nockels)

20. WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
-The Little Girl of Mine (Ray Charles)

21. HOW WILL YOU DIE?
-Halloween (Dave Matthews) that's freaky

22. WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
-When I Think About The Lord (Shane & Shane)

23. WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
-Be Thou My Vision (Covenant Life)

24. WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
-Wonderful Maker (Chris Tomlin) true

25. WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
-Beat It (Michael Jackson) nooooooooo!!

26. WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
-Hearts of Servants (Shane & Shane)

27. DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
-Warehouse (Dave Matthews)

28. IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
-Rich Young Ruler (Derek Webb)

29. WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
-Belief (John Mayer)

30. WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
-Walking in Memphis (Billy Joel)

hilarious

2008-11-17T11:00:00.000-05:00

this made me laugh a lot at work. thanks rauschers.

This wasn't how I pictured it...

2008-11-07T09:45:00.015-05:00

Last Christmas, when I found out that Casey, one of my best friends, was pregnant, I was so excited! I got a phone call later in the evening on Christmas from Dan and he shared about one of the gifts Casey had gotten him and then he said something about "when I have a child...which might be sooner, rather than later." I sort of paused because sometimes when you hear words like that, you instantly go to "Are y'all pregnant?!," however, I didn't want to jump to conclusions since I knew that they weren't really "trying" at the time. Finally, after a few more moments of neither of us talking, I said it... "Dan, are y'all pregnant?" Yes. They were. It wasn't how I pictured it.

He shared the story of how Casey told him about their coming little one.
I cried and I heard the sounds of my other friends who were there with them while I was in the mountains, back home, with my family. I am thankful for my family, of course, but I was sad I couldn't be there for the occasion. I thought I would be there with them when they would tell us they were going to have their first baby. It just wasn't how I pictured it.

As the months went by, Casey had some physical sickness, but mainly, fears and restlessness as she pursued the thoughts and changes in becoming a mother. I think we all think we're going to be good at it when we get our chance. Its tempting to believe that since I'm older than most who are having kids these days, that when my turn comes, I'll have it figured out and I'll get to have this smooth, question-free pregnancy... Casey is the oldest of 9 children and has so much knowledge... but she still had fears, worries, concerns. It just wasn't how I pictured it.

The spring came and it was finally time for them to find out the gender of this precious gift being knit together in her womb. Because of scheduling, Kristin and I were able to figure a way to go with them to the appointment to find out. What a gift! The doctor said some funny, but awkward things (that we all still laugh about to this day) and finally, it was time. That sound came... and I cried. However, the little baby just wouldn't position itself so we could see the gender. The doctor tried and tried and finally, he just suggested they wait it out a few more weeks and come to try again. It just wasn't how I pictured it.

Dan and Casey did some research and found out about a place, Prenatal Peek, and again, we waited and hoped to find out more... but instead, left feeling discouraged because the baby wouldn't cooperate, and the nurse was probably saying more than she should have. She mentioned the spine to us, but then basically left us in our own stewing thoughts by dropping comments like "well, I can't see the whole spine, so that might be spina bifida." You can't just drop comments like that if you don't know or aren't ready to share more information. It was very upsetting. It definitely wasn't how I pictured it.

The summer came and God made a way for Dan and Casey to move downtown... to the house right beside us! We were so happy! It felt like we weren't going to have to miss any of the fun details now! In early June, they got a call from their doctor who said the nurse at Prenatal Peek had called with some concerns she had during their second try there to find the gender. The doctor's office decided it was time to run some tests and get some higher level ultrasounds done.
The results were silencing. It wasn't how I pictured it.

The rest of the summer was spent in a flurry of doctor's appointments, decisions, and emotions. We prayed and prayed for understanding and clarity. Dan and Casey fought for joy and normalcy and waited. There was genetic counseling, doctor changes, hospital changes, the works. It wasn't how I pictured it.

Casey used this time to really reach out and blog often about all the appointments and be a good source of knowledge for those of us trying to follow the details of this soon coming one. My niece or nephew. She wrote a letter to the baby that still makes me cry. I write letters sometimes to my future husband or children, but they are always attached to the assumption that they will exist. That God has no other plan than to give them to me. This was very eye-opening to me. It wasn't how I pictured it.

Finally, we got to see a few more photos of Sweet Baby.

Even still, as the picture shows, the identity was kept from us.
At this point, it was much safer to choose the option of having the amniocentesis done. Previously, because of the risks involved with the womb, they had decided against having it (even though that meant they wouldn't have to wait anymore on the gender) because they wanted to protect the baby's life as long as possible. The womb was safe and they wanted to keep it that way.

The Sunday before the amnio, we had a baby shower for Casey. Because there were so many unknowns, we wanted to devote much of the time to prayer and singing. We also had a money tree available for gifts. What a blessing to be a part of a church who pours out on one another in times of need. It was really special.
Here's the quilt several of us made for Casey.

So, Casey had the amnio. They were told that full results wouldn't be known for about 2 weeks. This could clear up most unknowns about the Trisomy possibilities as well as the definite gender of the baby. However, God saw fit to answer one big question the very next day.
Asher Daniel Chappell. They were having a boy.

Our hearts rejoice and we cried and worshiped. What a gift! This was Tuesday, August 5th.

On Saturday morning, August 9th, several us met for breakfast at Big Ed's in downtown Raleigh. I had never been, but Alicia's dad was visiting for the weekend from Florida, and he really loves that place. Alicia had it planned and after the gym, Heather and I met the rest of the group over there. It was fun, and we just ate and laughed and talked about this funny little boy named Asher.

I left the restaurant and went on to my part-time job at church.

With just about 1 hour or so left of work to do, I get a phone call.
It's Dan.

"Casey's water broke. We're going to the hospital."

I gasped. I couldn't believe it! She was just about 3 weeks early at this point.
As I was getting of the phone with Dan, Kristin called. "Casey's water broke." I told her that Dan had just called me and I was on my way home. When I drove up, Casey was putting her bag in the trunk. We both looked at each other with amazed surprise. It was exciting and scary at the same time. The time was here - but early. It wasn't what I pictured.

Kristin and I followed (for all of about 2 miles) behind Dan) then had to stop for gas. I'm convinced we couldn't have caught him anyway. I understand.
We got ahold of Heather (to have her call the community group) and Alicia (who was at the gym with her dad) and kept on our way. We talked on the phone to people the rest of the way to UNC-Chapel Hill Hospital - everyone needed directions and information. :) Thankfully, God kept us both patient with folks.

We arrived and checked in. We gathered in the waiting room with Dan's parents and watched as God brought more and more friends in to take part. We cried, we prayed, we laughed, we ate... a lot. Dan and I still laugh about his tray in the hospital cafeteria. What a random mix (and plethera!) of food. Ha Ha. Nervousness.

Casey was just beautiful. She was waiting in triage for a while because had snacked on some M&M's in the afternoon after telling Kristin she just wasn't feeling that great. (This was before her water broke.) I went back to see her and we just listened to Asher's heartbeat and chatted about how amazed we were and how grownup this felt. It was really special.

I tried to keep up their blog for the hundreds (I'm sure!) people who were watching and waiting for the news. Finally, they scheduled her C-Section for 8:00. At 8:30, Dan called and said they were finally getting things ready and he was about to go back.

We fell to our knees. From 8:30-9:00 we prayed to the Creator of Life. We pleaded for Asher's life. We pleaded for Casey's life. We begged God for comfort for Dan and steady hands for the hospital staff.

Shortly after the birth, Dan walked into the room.
He was so calm and looked as if he had just watched a miracle. He had. His son had been born.

At 9:08 on 8/09/08, Asher Daniel Chappell born at 5 pounds 5 ounces, 17 inches long.

He only lived for about a minute.
This definitely wasn't how I pictured it.

We wept together and looked at photos Dan had taken from the operating room. The first Chappell family photos. He was so little and just so beautiful.

We spent some time waiting together and crying. We updated friends and family and waited to be able to go back to see Casey and Asher. Finally it was time.

When I pictured the first time I would hold this precious one, I never thought it would be like this. I always imagined tears, but I wanted to see victory in life. I wanted to hold him and proclaim God's victory over sickness in his life. This wasn't how I pictured holding him for the first time.

God chose something different. He chose to glorify His name in a whole different way.

The days that followed were painful and tiring. We visited Casey everyday and tried our hardest to serve them and pray for them. We slept little and cried often. Our bodies were weak and we were very weary. The day after the birth, I went to church and participated in one of the sweetest moments our church has experienced. You see, we are one baby-making church. Asher was to be one of 14 new babies to come to TCC in the year.
Now there are even more. Not less, more! God is glorious.
Our Pastor, Sean Cordell, who labored with us at the hospital for hours as well, stood before his congregation to declare the good works of the Lord. That week, God had given TCC three babies.

~Josiah James was born to Jeremy and Amanda Massey on Sunday, August 3rd.
~Asher Luke was born to Adam and Stephanie Saxon on Thursday, August 7th.
~Asher Daniel was born to Dan and Casey Chappell on Saturday, August 9th... but was returned to Jesus moments later.

Some folks gasped, most just burst into tears like me.
Pastor Sean immediately reminded the church that we still rejoice because God is perfect. He did not make a mistake in this life.
He had us gather in groups and pray for Dan and Casey. While this was going on, Dan and Casey were saying goodbye to their sweet one for the last time. They were able to keep him overnight and woke up for family devotions before having him carried away. I'm quite certain that this was not how they had pictured it.

We prepared for the memorial service and burial. Family was coming from out of town and many many hand were working tirelessly on the details of the week.

The service was amazing. About 500 people were there to worship the Creator and thank him for this gift of life. Dan shared from the podium about his life as a father - and how Casey had never been more beautiful to him than those last 37 weeks. It was very special and the music and preaching were water for our souls.

There were so many people there who some of us hadn't seen in a long time. God is faithful.

Now, it's been three months.
Dan and Casey are still fighting for joy in all things and are living their lives in pursuit of a great God who has not left them nor forsaken them. Some days are really hard and most days, I just don't know what to say to them.

Kristin shared beautifully about the ideas she had in watching this little one grow. I had some of the same visions... thinking on how fun it would be to have them so close and be able to grab him up and tickle him, play with him, shower him with gifts and toys... I feel like I had so many things to tell him.

And now, when I want to see him, I have these...

I don't get to watch him outgrow his baby clothes, learn to potty, play with Blue the dog, catch a ball, have his first birthday... This isn't how I pictured it.

But I am sure of one thing. God did not make a mistake.
He has not left Dan and Casey.
He has not forgotten them.
Their grief is not wasted.

And we will see Asher again.
He is safe.

That didn't last long

2008-10-20T20:07:00.001-04:00

You had to be FAST if you wanted to see that pinky layout before.
I'm MUCH happier with this one.

thoughts?

I'm considering sticking with this for a bit... convince me otherwise?

a little too pink?

2008-10-20T14:30:00.001-04:00

thoughts?

i don't know if i can do this much pink...

(p.s. - for those who've asked... i will put my bloglist back up once i pick a theme for the blog - it doesn't transfer, so it's just too much work to do everytime i change the background).

comments?

I got tagged...

2008-10-13T16:07:00.002-04:00

I was tagged by Kelly at Fruit of the Womb ... a friend of mine from several years back...

THE RULES:
* Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
*Share 7 little known facts about yourself on your blog.
* Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
* Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I am newly addicted to Tetris on Facebook.

2. I am constantly considering the kinds of things/decor/colors I would like to have in a house if I ever get to buy my own.

3. I am very, very afraid of thunderstorms - especially the really loud ones at night. It's sad for me because my roommates really like watching them, windows open, etc... the works. I could crawl up and cry!

4. I super-love office supplies!

5. I sell Avon.

6. I love to travel! Anywhere!

7. And for those of you who don't know or who aren't around here... I've lost 43 pounds so far. ;)

I tag:
Dawn and Jarrod (the duo)
Sheley and Chris (the duo)
Betsy and Britt (the duo)
Kathleen and Jason (the duo)
Cary and Jason (the duo)
Samantha and Jeremy (the duo)
Joy and Zane (the duo)

as in... both of you have to do it!

Enjoy! :)

Change Number Two

2008-10-07T16:44:00.002-04:00

Not sure this is really where I was headed in my thoughts, but I don't hate this.

What are your thoughts on this layout instead?

ch...ch...ch...chaaaangesss...

2008-10-03T13:45:00.001-04:00

I'm working on trying a few new layouts for my blog and trying some different things - don't be alarmed. I know that the 3 of you who actually read my blog probably won't mind, but I just wanted to make a note that something crazy isn't happening, it's just me trying some things.

:)

Happy weekend!

p.s. - feel free to comment here and there when you see something you like, don't like, etc!

I wondered what a better computer might do for me...

2008-09-29T11:28:00.002-04:00

I also think I need to slow down... and not try to finish the test at record speed.

but i'm glad i'm not as color-dumb as the test revealed last night...

does anyone else get cross-eyed doing this test?

I know you haven't heard from me in a while...

2008-09-28T18:29:00.003-04:00

And I have a lot to share about the last 2 months (almost) since I blogged... the day Casey had Asher.

For now, let's reaquaint you with me with a little fun.

I heard about this color test from Molly's friend Danielle, and I was shocked!

I don't think I did very well... but you know, I also don't really understand the results...

Casey and Asher

2008-08-09T15:40:00.003-04:00

Casey's water broke around 2 this afternoon. Several of us are here at UNC-Chapel Hill Hospital waiting. She's doing okay and not having any contractions right now. They are checking her and Dan is in and out of triage talking to us. I'll update when I can.

Pray!

don't call PETA...

2008-08-08T15:17:00.002-04:00

i'm pretty certain this is a fake dog. Things aren't what they seem... except that you're getting to see Part Two of what happened while we were at the beach. Remember Part One?

I really love funny blogs

2008-08-05T15:49:00.002-04:00

Back in November, I posted this.

Apparently, it spurred on another blogger to create a site... Cake Wrecks. I don't know who Jen is, but she seriously makes me laugh a lot at these cakes.

oh man. so funny.

Yes, we are all in our 20's...

2008-08-04T23:16:00.005-04:00

a couple of us are almost 30, in fact.

believe it or not.

This past week, the three of us girls went away with some friends for a couple of days to relax. Alicia, of course, needed help watching Poucha. We came home to some very interesting things... but tonight, more was revealed to us.

Funny Graphs

2008-07-30T13:58:00.004-04:00

If you like graphs... and things that are funny... you should check this site out.

I heard about it from The Responsible Puppet. He generally makes me laugh a lot. And think.

Anyway, just as he shared - be prepared when you go to the site... some of them can be offensive. Otherwise, you can laugh like me at ones like this:

more graph humor and song chart memes

I'm gonna miss this girl...

2008-07-21T11:49:00.002-04:00

I really love 1 Peter...

2008-06-23T15:38:00.000-04:00

So that you can join us in prayer...

2008-06-12T12:56:00.000-04:00

Please pray.

These are my dear, dear friends.

Read the blog - and stay up to date. Care for them with your comments!

When you live where I live...

2008-06-10T21:04:00.002-04:00

you DON'T want to be alone in the morning trying to make breakfast and hear what caused this...

It was so loud! I scream at scary things anyway... but this made me laugh at myself.

Hilarious

2008-06-05T11:03:00.005-04:00

Sometimes I find out about things you can do on the web. Fun things like signatures (from Molly), or meme's from Ronnica. Today... this one is from Dawn.

Face Transformer. Hilarious!

Don't be alarmed at these photos... and I pray no one is offended... but I think they are so funny!

Here's the original photo I used... it's the only one I had on this computer...

Baby Nicole: i'm not sure what's most frightening about this picture... the tiny eyebrows, the fact that i'm wearing make up, or all those teeth?

Child Nicole: i don't know what makes this a child-like picture. eek.

Teenage Nicole: ditto for this one. what's teenagish about this?

Old Nicole: old. i see it. whoa! wrinkles! but apparently i just let my grey roots grow and grow and just don't ever get those dark ends cut off...

These are a little more odd:

African-Caribbean Nicole: i'm not sure what's going on with my gums - but i'm pretty sure that this is fake tan, instead. look at my eyebrows.

East Asian Nicole: no comment, i suppose.

West Asian Nicole: lesser of a fake tan.

Man-Nicole: oh. my. gosh. but apparently, if i were a man, i could swing a role in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

and now... some artsy ones:

this one is my favorite artsy one. don't you want this above your mantle? a giant print of it?

anyway - i hope you enjoy... and laugh.

Amazing!

2008-05-28T15:48:00.001-04:00

Wow... what skills!

They don't want you to embed on your site, so you have to just go to the YouTube site to see it.

that's just cool...

Sweet, Sweet Baby Girl...

2008-05-13T14:11:00.000-04:00

I just can't wait until she comes to visit!

(who knows if we'll make it that long... I may just have to go there and get her!)

Find Your Spot

2008-05-08T09:26:00.002-04:00

So Ronnica really made me want to find my spot. You can too!

Here's the top 24 places suggested for me to live... very interesting - (my comments are in red after each one):

Norfolk, Virginia - Heart of the Hampton Roads. This spot was the only American city completely destroyed and rebuilt in the Revolutionary War; a British cannonball in St. Paul's Church wall is a reminder…
I've never visited this city, but I think I know several people from there!

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - Big City on the Plains. Located in the heart of America, visitors to this town can use water taxis to visit restaurants and shops in the famous Bricktown district…
I wonder if Ronnica likes this one for me.

Nashville, Tennessee - Music City, U.S.A. - Though best known for its music, this spot also boasts the Hermitage, home to Andrew Jackson, Americas first president from the wild "West"…
I could join Alicia's other friend Nicole.

Cincinnati, Ohio - The Queen City - This big Ohio city with the small-town feel is home to baseball's first professional team: the Reds started in 1869…
My aunt and uncle used to live outside this city. I visited there... but don't remember loving it.

Toledo, Ohio - Glass City of the Great Lakes - Michigan and Ohio were ready to go to war over possession of this town in 1835; President Jackson awarded it to Ohio…
That sounds like a place where people on tv live.

El Paso, Texas - Where the Sun Always Shines - This ultimate "Old Southwest" city actually has a minor-league ice hockey team, the Buzzards…
down in the west Texas town of El Paso... i can hear my grandpa on the guitar in my head right now

Carlisle, Pennsylvania - The Waterfront Capital - The Rockville Bridge near this Pennsylvania town was built in 1901 and is still the longest stone arch bridge in the world…
the bridge sounds cool... not really

Minneapolis-St Paul, Minnesota - Wealth of the Twin Cities - Enjoy Broadway productions or local gems in this city which features more theater seats per capita than any other city outside New York…
i've been there - and know people there... so that could be fun

Charlotte, North Carolina - The Queen CityHome to First Union and Bank of America, this spot is renowned as a financial center…
it's like home, sort of. (i live in Raleigh, but i'm from western north carolina and have spent lots and lots of time in Charlotte)

St. Louis, Missouri - Wonder of the Modern World - The Sporting News recently named this the best sports city in North America…
well, okay. that's a cool arch they've got...

Seattle, Washington - The Emerald City
The game "Pictionary" was developed by a waiter in this town in 1986…
sleepless?

Cleveland, Ohio - The New American City - This city is the home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum…
again. for tv people.

Columbus, Ohio - A Capital City - The bold Neighborhood Pride initiative in this Ohio city is building community while making the city safer and cleaner...
what is up with all these ohio cities?!

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - City of Three RiversThe world's first all-motion picture theater, the "Nickelodeon," opened in this steel city in 1905…
that could be cool

Kansas City, Missouri - City of Fountains - Residents of this city have access to all the lip-smackin', finger-lickin' barbecue they can get at more than 90 local barbecue joints…
no way. no how. they have a horrible airport... right julie?

New York City, New York - The City That Never SleepsThis great city was once known as New Amsterdam, until the British seized it from Dutch settlers in 1664...
NOW we're talking!!!

Chesapeake-Virginia Beach, Virginia - The Southern Tidewater RegionThis Virginia beach town's annual Neptune Festival features sports competitions, an arts and crafts show, and a Grand Ball…
see my notes for Norfolk

Detroit, Michigan - The Motor City - The first State Fair in the nation was held in this Michigan city in 1849…
nah... that place is just an air hub for me. although i did visit a very special family in Ann Arbor once at UofM Children's Hospital

Bergen-Passaic, New Jersey - Better than the Big Apple - Just west of the Hudson River, this area offers high-quality family-friendly communities within easy reach of The Big Apple…
better than the big apple? i wonder if the folks in ny know that's their logo

Long Island, New York - The Great Island - This largest island on America's East Coast offers an incredible variety of cultures and landscapes…
yay again!

Augusta, Georgia - Georgia’s Garden City - The Masters golf tournament is held in this Georgia town each year…
i'm not into golf... but i do love my friends from augusta!

Where's your spot?! :)

Sometimes at night...

2008-04-12T17:02:00.003-04:00

I get distracted.
It could be any number of things that stop me from going to sleep.

Like these things:

A spinning ceiling fan
the television...

You get the picture, right?

Well, the time comes to go to bed last night... and I walk in my room. I'm obviously looking around the room because something looks odd. Can you see it?

Up there.

On the wall. Above the window! That's right. A bug. A HUGE ROACH. AHHHHHH. It's not moving...
I stand there for a few moments trying to figure out what to do. I consider my options. There are none, really. That thing must die before I go to sleep. Die all the way dead.

So, Alicia is gone and Kristin has already gone to bed... but we share a wall, so I figured that if I started throwing things at the other wall, she's going to hear it and get up anyway...

So, I consider my weapon of choice... thank you Old Navy.

I decide that it's best if I go ahead and get the flops ready and go tell Kristin that sounds will be coming...they may be loud and there is probably going to be squealing. Ew.

She is so kind. She doesn't even hesitate... she says, "I'm coming to help you." She comes straight to my room and develops a plan to stand on my furniture and crush the monster with a cardboard box top that was in my floor. WOW! How thankful! She was so calm and just got right up there and did it.

She moved the box top and of course... the bug is gone. What?

I was watching her and the box and the wall the WHOLE time! What's the deal? She stays up there a little bit and finally, she sees it. It did fall, only half dead on the nightstand below. That's right. Half dead. Remember what I said before, though? The only option is for it to be dead dead before I go to sleep.

So, she gets down and tells me not to look. She handled everything like a champ and I went to sleep just fine!

Finally!

2008-03-01T20:45:00.001-05:00

Although they aren't technically gone yet, I posted about my "Getting Rid #8" and "Getting Rid #9"

Check it out at http://iamalmostthirty.blogspot.com/

:)

Hey! That's cool...

2008-02-20T09:21:00.001-05:00

An author I follow just posted on a book I just finished reading.

:o) that's cool.
and yes, the book is fantastic!

it's settled

2008-02-18T15:23:00.002-05:00

i must marry someone british so that my children can sound like this.

60 Things

2008-02-18T11:02:00.002-05:00

This is super long, so I'm pacing myself...
But Dawn over at Mom 2 My 6 Pack (which is one of the most hilarious blogs I read) did this... and I laughed so much at her answers (some of which I kept for myself), that it made me want to make you laugh in the same way... so enjoy.

No pressure to actually get this done, but I'm tagging Donna, Ronnica, Mischia, Amber, and Stacie - because SOME of you need to update your blog! :)

60 Things You Possibly Didn't Know About Me

1. What is in the back seat of your car right now? a bunch of supplies for the birthday club at work, my folding camp chair, and trash, i'm sure

2. When was the last time you threw up? yesterday, actually

3. What's your favorite curse word? i don't have a "favorite"

4. Name 3 people who made you smile today? Kristin, the singers on my Pandora, any random person I walked past at work already

5. What were you doing at 8 am this morning? getting in my car to be at work at 8.

6. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? reading blogs

7. What will you be doing 3 hours from now? sitting right where I am, I'm sure... working on my work projects. there are so many of them. i'm taking a bread.

8. Have you ever been to a strip club? nope

9. What is the last thing you said aloud? "oh, okay."

10. What is the best ice cream flavor? yes.

11. What was the last thing you had to drink? a can of Mt. Dew. But I'm opening a bottle of water RIGHT NOW... I promise!

12. What are you wearing right now? khakis, turtleneck, and my cutie new(est) shoes from Target

13. What was the last thing you ate? eek. Girl Scout Cookies.

14. Have you bought any new clothing items this week? not this week. yet.

15. When was the last time you ran? age 7

16. What's the last sporting event you watched? if you mean live, i watched about a minute of the Super Bowl... otherwise, clip of the UNC/Duke came the other week

17. What's the last thing you attended that required a ticket? i guess the movies...

18. Who is the last person you emailed? Tracey/Olga/Stephanie about my week's schedule

19. Ever go camping? i have. bleh.

20. Do you have a tan? um. no.

21. What do you prefer: Natural Sun or the Tanning Bed? The Sun - it means I'm laying down somewhere resting (or playing in the water which i LOVE!)

22. What's the best way to tan? - like i said, Sun - but specifically, playing in the water because then you don't get too hot!

23. What's your favorite drink? soda in general - specifically, Dr. Pepper.

24. Do you drink your soda from a straw? only if its provided with the cup

25. What did your last IM say? probably "bye" or "i love you" or something like that... :)

26. Are you someone's best friend? I sure hope so! :)

27. What are you doing tomorrow? working a lot - both jobs on Tuesday

28. Where is your mom right now? hmm. funny you should ask. she's probably somewhere around PA right now. she was headed there from the Knoxville, TN area. (she's a truck driver)

29. Look to your left, what do you see? immediately, my cell phone.. followed closely by a tiny pencil and documents for the statistical report i'm working on.

30. What color is your watch? brown, i guess. otherwise known as my cell phone.

31. What do you think of when you think of Australia? kangaroos and the guy on American Idol this year, Michael Johns. yay.

32. Would you consider plastic surgery? yes!

33. What is your birthstone? depends on what list you use. i prefer the pearl.

34. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive thru? drive-thru.

35.How many kids do you want? at least two. hopefully more.

36. Do you have a dog? a dog lives in my house.

37. Last person you talked to on the phone? Tracey, I think.

38. Have you met anyone famous? the weather guy from ABC news in Ashville when I was little. I don't remember if I've met anyone else... but I've seen several in person... most recently Ellen Degeneres, Barbara Walters, Serena Williams, dj Jonny (from the Ellen show last year), Scott someone - I forgot, the top 10 from last year's American Idol tour, etc etc. :)

39. Any plans today? just work and then home. we'll see what else

40. How many states have you lived in? just NC.

41. Ever go to college? a few of them, actually

42. Where are you right now? at work

43. Biggest annoyance in your life right now? my lack of discipline

44. Last song listened to? The Roses (Caedmon's Call) is playing right now on Pandora

45. Is that your favorite band/singer? one of them, yes, actually

46. Are you allergic to anything? cats, dust, mold

47. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time? reef flip flops. they are super worn out, though

48. Are you jealous of anyone? sometimes. :(

50. Is anyone jealous of you? um. i doubt it.

51. What time is it? 11:35 right now

52. Do any of your friends have children? sure!

53. Do you eat healthy? sometimes.. in addition to the unhealthy things i eat. :(

54. What do you usually do during the day? work. email. facebook. talk on the phone. etc.

55. Do you hate anyone right now? nah

56. Do you use the word 'hello' daily? mmhmm

57. When? when i answer my cell phone.

58. How old will you be turning on your next birthday? 29

59. Have you ever been to Six Flags? once when i was super young. like a toddler, i mean.

60. How did you get one of your scars? i fell out of a high chair. under my eye.

Happy Birthday Alicia!

2008-02-10T18:56:00.001-05:00

(you can click on the photo below for more pictures from the suprise bowling party!)

I LOVE YOU!

My stressful week...

2008-02-08T20:53:00.001-05:00

So at the end of 2007, I was tasked with some additional duties at my job.

I am not the support/contact person for the NC Child Care Commission.

You can check out more about what they do... but basically, they meet quarterly and I am one of the folks in charge of organizing the meeting, planning for discussion, assisting the commissioners with whatever they need as well as the DCD staff who serve as additional support and expert help!

here's a little picture of the room set up.

in the bottom left corner is my little station - laptop for minute taking, tissues (just in case!), files and folders of all the papers that will be referenced during the meeting - etc.

In the room, you'll see each spot laid out - with each commissioner having a specific seat at the table based on what term they are serving on the commission.

The podium is for those who will address the members - our Division Director, afternoon presentation participants, etc. In the middle, there's a laptop and projector set up for those presenters and on the bottom of that cart is a really fancy recording system that we use to record the meeting. There are tiny black microphones positioned just right all over the table - with one on the podium.

I checked and checked and checked the system after the meeting was over and it appeared to record just fine. That will help me tremendously when I go to do the minutes more efficiently.

Anyway - just wanted to share a little!

Happy Birthday Kristin

2008-02-03T18:44:00.001-05:00

I love you!

(you can click on the picture for some more shots from the birthday dinner)

hahahaha

2008-01-25T19:59:00.000-05:00

is it just me?

2008-01-24T17:12:00.000-05:00

imagine blonde wavy hair instead.

Southeast Asia

2008-01-11T15:19:00.000-05:00

if this post sounds odd, i apologize... i am simply posting the support letter that was written for my aunt, her friend and myself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Family and Friends,
We pray that your holidays were fun and filled with lots of love and sugar cookies! We had nice visits with family and enjoyed a couple of days off from work.

We look forward to the New Year, celebrating with friends and family on New Year’s Eve, and seeing what God has in store for our life. We want to take a moment of your time and share about an opportunity that we have to serve and ask that you might pray about how you can be involved!

As the winter approached, we, Nicole and Lora, began seriously discussing the possibility of visiting Lora’s daughter (Nicole’s cousin, Roslyn). Both of us desire to encourage Roslyn while she’s working in Southeast Asia and thought that it might be a grand adventure to try it out. Neither of us has either traveled like that without a group, so we talked about all of our options. After hearing about some of the opportunities that we might be given while going to visit her, adding a third friend, Shelly, an RN, to the team seemed perfect!

Our plan is to fly out on March 13th and return Easter Sunday, March 23rd. While we’re there, we have a main focus goal of loving Roslyn well and seeking to encourage her by spending time with her, praying for her, pampering her and seeing what life is like each day so that when she returns to the States, she’ll always have a sounding board who can somewhat understand.

Also while we’re there… we plan to reach out to some other groups and do what we can… There is a national couple in Roslyn’s town that does a lot of ministry work. They have a center for slum children (they help to take care of them, make sure they’re in school, etc.)… They aren’t orphans, their parents are just having a hard time. They also have a sewing center for the moms. With that said, we hope to be able to visit the children and love on them, visit the slum where their parents live and take advantage of some ministry opportunities with the moms.

There is a need for training and teaching with these women (about 100-150) about things like hygiene, malnutrition and eating properly. We will also be able to share with the women about how they should value and care for their children. We may even be able to visit another orphanage, and have a parents' night out for some of the other friends living there. It will definitely be an eye-opening experience in many ways.

Of course, this kind of trip has costs attached to it as well as other needs like collecting items for the women and children. We are gathering a list of these things, so if you feel that this is a way you can help, please let us know. If you are able to help financially with the expenses of this journey, it is most appreciated! It will cost each of us around $2000 for flight and other travel expenses. If you can help, you can mail a donation to any of the three of us. Please make your check payable to Bat Cave Baptist Church. In the memo line, write “Southeast Asia Trip.”
~~~~~~~~~~~
For obvious internet reasons, I'm not actually posting my address (or theirs) on here... but would be happy to send it to you if you are able and interested in helping us.

Thanks!

a few reasons why i do what i do on Sunday mornings...

2008-01-06T18:05:00.000-05:00

Thankfully, God provided an opportunity for me to teach this year (and hopefully for a long time to come) in the Older Infant/Young Toddler classroom at our church.

Don't you want to squish them? So fun!

My first Martini

2008-01-04T14:03:00.000-05:00

i know it's silly. and i don't have much to write about it... but just thought i'd share that i had my first martini. what you see is pretty much how i left it, too. ha.

pretty, huh?

Well, since I'm almost 30...

2008-01-04T14:02:00.000-05:00

... I decided to make a new blog.
I'm not getting rid of this one - but you're welcome to follow some changes in my life/home, etc by going here:

I Am Almost Thirty...

enjoy!

I wish I had posted this a week ago...

2007-12-26T19:22:00.000-05:00

love it. so sad i missed it this year.
:o(

it's back.

2007-12-14T11:55:00.000-05:00

i can't believe it.

she's back. and all her files are there.

i can't believe it.

i feel a little bit of redemption.
wow!
** update - sorry if this wasn't clear... my Millie (the black mac) isn't back... but a lady at work and her husband were able to recover all my files from Della and put them on a new hard drive. So for now, I'm using Della... but I'm super happy! :o)**

Just so you can go back and read...

2007-12-04T15:14:00.001-05:00

I've been updating...

http://livingmercy.blogspot.com/2007/07/28-years-later.html

the memories are starting to get more detail! ;o)

~nicole

I keep getting tagged...

2007-11-28T15:07:00.000-05:00

First it was Ronnica.
Then it was Adrienne.
Next, the Raffertys.

The tag? A "7 Random/Weird things" meme. (here's the definition of that word, by the way... A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another... so basically, i blog about it and ask you to blog about it - and so on)

Rules:
1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share seven random or weird things about yourself.
3. Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

My Oddities:
~1~ I don't really mind if my food isn't hot. I mean, I want everything to be cooked, but as long as the "chill is knocked off of it" I'm good... even with soup.

~2~ I always always always catch people around me driving who are picking their noses. It's strange (I guess that's the point of telling you)... but seriously, almost a day doesn't go by without me seeing someone going for it.

~3~ I remember really random things from the past... i.e. - once when I was really young (like 7-8) we were playing Trivial Pursuit (my family, by the way, has always loved to play Trivial Pursuit) and there was some question about a type of paper that someone developed... and no one could think of a good answer. I said "let's just say toilet paper." I was right. I also remember what I wore my first day of 2nd grade. It was a bright hot pink tank top. We had to draw pictures of ourselves and I remember searching the room for the perfect color crayon to color the tank. It had to match perfectly.

~4~ I love real mail. I love to get it. I love to send it. There's something about getting an envelope in the mailbox with handwritten addresses... it means someone took a moment for you. I always have... I had penpals really early on in life... some I still talk to (or have in the recent past).

~5~ I really love novelty snacks. i.e. - Capri Sun (the juice isn't THAT great, but the pouch is!), Snack Crackers (with the little cup of cheese and red spreading stick), Big League Chew, etc.

~6~ I could watch things like this every day:

~7~ I love my birthday. I don't know why. I always have. And I get super jealous if the focus isn't on me. I guess this one is more of a confession because it really can be a problem! :o( Don't feed it, please... just be patient as I get over it the morning after each year.

I'm not sure that these were the oddest things about me, but they were what came to mind at the time. If you know me, feel free to point out any of my other idiosyncracies in a comment, as long as it is with love! You can also go read here about some other oddities... I was tagged back in January, too!

I'll be tagging:
The Shef's (all three please) - :o)
Molly and her family
Roslyn
Casey
Mischia
Tyler
Zack and Stephanie

Can't wait to read!

reasons to pray...

2007-11-26T09:38:00.000-05:00

my roommate is right. we need to be praying for our neighborhood on a more consisten and regular basis. its only because of Christ that we are different from the people we live around.

it's been an eventful month for me and i'm asking you to pray for wisdom. not just for me, but for my roommates as we seek to serve those around us, wisdom for the police in dealing with crime and injustices, etc etc... there's much to pray for.

November events (so far... i mean, we still have this week to get thru, right?)
My friend Donna moved.
Kristin and I got to share some overseas experiences with a church out in Burlington
My Della died. (the dell laptop)
I bought a MacBook.
Someone rear-ended me when I had to stop at a green light for some college students who were playing around in the road.
My friend Jenn got married!
My pawpaw turned 96 years old.
Our house got robbed. (and yes, they took the Mac - as well as a few of Kristin's things (one of her cameras, some cash, her bike,) and a few of my other things (radio, ipod))
Thanksgiving with family
Happy Thanksgiving Saturday - which was a booming success!

Alright. That's all for now. Just pray.

back that thang up...

2007-11-11T17:11:00.000-05:00

hi all.

it's time for an update... just about me. not that i don't enjoy the random posts, funny videos or political commentary, but for now... just a story about my week.

Tuesday afternoon, I came home from work as normal and began working on a project I've been working on FOR MONTHS for my church ... our pictoral directory.

I've been doing it in Publisher and have had some trouble over the last few weeks with some editing, finalizing, cost shopping, etc... all those things... but finally, we were getting to the end, hoping to get it printed and ready to pass out at our member's meeting this coming Sunday.

Anyway, so I'm in the middle of working and suddenly, the screen is filled with blue... that annoying "error blue." There were tons of words on the page ... and I did read it, but all I remember is seeing "If you've never seen this screen before, restart your computer."

I was a little freaked, and maybe should have been a little patient, but I restarted.

nothing.

it turned on, but it wouldn't boot. hmm. let me try again.

nothing.

so, i confess, i spanked her. Della. that's my laptop's name.

yes, it was out of anger, but still... she was disobedient!

nothing.

I call Martin Graham. I am still calm at this point. We talk and decide that I will come on over. Martin looks at it, does some fancy things, runs a diagnostics and says, "Hmm. Nicole, how big is your hard drive?"

"I think it's about 70 or 80," I say.

his face doesn't make me happy.

i was on the phone with Kristin C. at the time and I tell her that Martin looks like he has some news for me. he does.

"Nicole, there's no partition."

I have no idea what that means... so he explains a little and then tells me that basically, he says that the diagnostics says that the computer has about 75 GB of free space.

Yeah.

I know.

So, we talk a quick minute and I leave. I was basically in shock and went on in to work at TCC. I talked to Julie W. about it and got a little quiver in my voice... then Travis W. comes in the room and I tell him what happened. At this point, I'm seriously holding back tears.

Then Casey calls me... and I lost it!

You see, three days prior, she and I were discussing what I should do about my hard drive... because it was within a GB or 2 of being full... and none of my pictures or files were anywhere else.

I decided that I would take Della to the Geek Squad at Best Buy. I paid 60 bucks, and almost 4 full days later, they tell me everything that Martin did... and that it appears nothing is on the hard drive anymore.

Including Windows.

humph!

Then, 15 minutes later, I get an automated call that I need to come pick up my equipment because it's taking up space and it's a worthless piece of junk.

well, they didn't say that exactly, but still. i felt like i was late picking up my kid from daycare, so i got ready and left.

I decided that for now, its not best for me to reload the hard drive with programs and special files of mine when we still don't know why it happened. If it happened again, I just don't know what I would do! Besides, what if the information is still in there somewhere?

They told me that the next thing I could do was ship it off to Data Recovery and pay anywhere from $200-$1000 (with no guarantee) for them to try and get the info.

humph.

no way.

meet Millie. Millie the black mac.

I mean... WOW

2007-11-06T08:54:00.001-05:00

seriously?

look at this.

don't get it?

read here.

now THAT is funny!

laughing is so fun

2007-11-01T15:56:00.000-04:00

ahahahahaha

hilarious.

it is only the favor of God...

2007-10-29T09:30:00.000-04:00

... that allows me to read things like this...

i'm looking forward to the series.

comments are welcomed!

who doesn't love a little pigskin?

2007-10-28T22:42:00.000-04:00

i'm not a fan of either of these teams, but i had to share:

If You Need Some Help...

2007-10-22T10:48:00.001-04:00

on beginning your research on the 2008 Presidental Race...

Here's a good place to start.

I am so thankful...

2007-09-28T08:41:00.000-04:00

for this.
Following the trail... From Joe Thorn's Blog where he points to Puritan Richard Mayo's sermon on The Prevention and Cure of Spiritual Pride to Justin Taylor's Blog to Carolyn McCulley's Blog to mine...

Mayo says: “It is a big-bellied sin; most of the sins that are in the world are the offspring and issue of pride.”

Joe Thorn summarizes some of the sins that pride gives birth to, and this should help anyone in their fight over pride (and laziness!):

Covetousness - because you believe you deserve something more than others.

Ungodly ambition - because you believe that you are most qualified, and the idea of someone else being preferred over you is an insult to your perceived worth.

Boasting - because everyone should know who you are and what you have accomplished.

Contention - because in picking fights you feel a sense of superiority over those who may (or may not) be in error.

Unthankfulness - because you deserve everything you get!

Selfishness - because others do not!

Self-deceit - because it’s easier to believe you are something, when in fact you are nothing.

A judgmental attitude - because you believe the errors of others are much more serious than your own.

Gossip - because you look so much better when telling others how awful someone else is. Mayo said that the proud “endeavor to build their own praise upon the ruins of others’ reputation.”

Complaining - because God should have consulted you before orchestrating the events of your day/life.

Hypocrisy - because you must hide the truth, your own failures, in order to avoid shame and accumulate praise.

i'm on a hunt...

2007-09-26T09:09:00.000-04:00

...for more blogs to read!

Some of the ones I keep up with don't post very often, and a girl needs things to check, you know?!

So ... comment back - on some of your fav's.

They can be friends' blogs.
They can be scholarly blogs.
They can be professional blogs.
... be creative and fill me in!

thanks!

There's a reason people dread this...

2007-09-17T14:38:00.000-04:00

My 10 Year High School Reunion is less than three weeks away.

I am excited to see old friends, find out where they've been... who they married... what their kids look like, etc... But, there is a reason why people hate going to these things.

For one... most of us don't look the same.

Here's a prime example: this is me at Junior Prom with David Connor. I don't know that I've spoken to him once since we graduated... If so, it's been brief

Well, Well, Well...

2007-08-25T11:41:00.000-04:00

look who made it to the cover of a magazine...

funny little tidbit of news in my family...

if you don't ever make it to next next page or two, here's all it says:

Adam Wilson ’07, director of the Lenoir-Rhyne President’s Society, holds his daughter, Reagan, after receiving his bachelor’s degree in sports management and corporate communications.
Adam’s wife, Karen Skipper Wilson ’05, is employed at HBF.

So... what do you think will happen?

2007-08-07T20:42:00.000-04:00

I'm intrigued about this fall's new show...

check it out

28 years later...

2007-07-16T14:02:00.000-04:00

... here I am. I don't know why... but I'm wondering if I can remember something fun about each of my years of life...

*** note - I will be adding pictures soon to this ***

BE WARNED. I AM QUEEN OF RANDOM FACTS AND REMEMBERING THE SUPER-EST DUMB THINGS EVER! You should probably be aware that as I remember things, I'll go back and add them in to the different years. I am fully aware that most people won't make it thru this whole thing, but its fun for me to remember...
SO FAR - I'm up to the end of 8th Grade.

:o)

June 13, 1979 - around 2:45 p.m. - yay! I'm here! I have a big sister named Stephanie. My mom is Inez and my dad is Bruce. He's super tall! John Wayne died today. He had cancer. :o(

June 14, 1979 - June 13th, 1980 - hmm. well, i'm a thumbsucker. actually, i'm not sure if i started that early or not - but probably. i'm also not sure if i was younger than one before i started walking. i do know that we moved a lot when i was little. so maybe i moved this year.

June 14th, 1980 - June 13th, 1981 - I have a new aunt. Yes, she's younger than me - Born Dec. 8th, 1980. I'm sure we hung out A LOT after she was born. I bet we moved again, too.

June 14th, 1981 - June 13th, 1982 - Well, I've just stopped being two years old. I think I was in the water a lot during this point in my life. Learning to play and swim and not be scared of it. I'm thankful for that! I still love to be in the water...

June 14th, 1982 - June 13th, 1983 - I don't know when, but we moved (or are getting ready to) move into our new house. It's my mom and dad's first one! It's brick and has a pool! YESSS!

I'm in daycare. So is Kristin Schatz. Maybe we'll still be friends when we're 28. Yep. I've been kissing boys. A man my mom worked with, Hawk, had two boys there - Carlos and OJ. I kissed them both.

June 14th, 1983 - June 13th, 1984 - Well, my mom is pregnant. There's a baby coming in January. I hope its a puppy. :o) I KNOW we're in our new house now. We live in Bostic, NC. We go to Glenwood Baptist Church. My daddy is still really tall. My mom's sisters are pregnant, too. Lora and June are both due in November.

June 14th, 1984 - June 13th, 1985 (Kindergarten)- It wasn't a puppy. It was a boy. He came early... about a month early - but still over 8 pounds. My momma was happy. He got to have Christmas with us. My two cousins were born in the couple of weeks before Adam. Roslyn and Dustin.

I dressed up funny for Christmas this year. Oh, and I love the Smurfs. AND - I started school. Bostic Elementary. The bobcats. I got a red plastic trashcan. I also got paddled this year - because I was giggling during circle/carpet time. We were supposed to be telling our memorized addresses and phone numbers - but I kept giggling because I knew we were about to have a suprise party for my teacher. She got mad (maybe she was feeling old that day) and went to get the paddle (and the 1st grade teachers (she said "look how bad she is" to her) to watch) - when we walked back in the class - they yelled "SUPRISE" and she felt bad.

I have NO idea why my teacher's assistant didn't stop her. :''-( i cried. I also remember going to the fall festival and riding a horse around the playground. I also remember kissing a boy named Matt.

June 14th, 1985 - June 13th, 1986 (First Grade) - Well, I was in first grade this year. I remember us going on a field trip - we had to bring a dollar for an ice cream from McDonalds - I forgot my money and the teacher made me feel guilty because she paid for it. I got strawberry on mine. Also, The HuggaBunch came on tv. My friends and I tried to go thru the mirror. I remember there was tempra paint powder bottles in our class bathroom. I love that smell. Also, this boy James used to sing EVERY TIME he went to the bathroom. We used to laugh at him so much. I am good at spelling.

June 14th, 1986 - June 13th, 1987 (Second Grade) - I started 2nd grade at Bostic Elementary - then we moved around Labor Day to Rutherfordton. It's in the same county - but it feels very far away. We have a bigger house... but no pool. Our house is long and white.

My dad really embarrased me when he took me to my new class. He told my teacher in front of everyone that I talk to much. They burst out laughing. :o( My teacher was super mean and got in a lot of trouble for hurting kids that year. She used to stick her fingernails in our shoulders... and she pushed my friend/cousin Kim J. up against the chalkboard.

I also got a boyfriend this year. Michael. And I pulled Kim's pants down on the playground. I don't know why. Shanikka C. was my friend. Tyeanne, too. We are going to find a new church because Glenwood is too far away. :o( We have a much bigger house, though - four bedrooms! Great for parents who have three kids... my sister and I share our own bathroom and that's really cool. Everything in our house is green... the carpets, the stove/oven, the lenolium - everything! Apparently, its because we bought the house from the Greenways.

June 14th, 1987 - June 13th, 1988 (Third Grade) - Before I started school this year, we went to a new church that many of my family who've passed on before me in my family are buried. It's a really special church to my family, I guess. It's called Pleasant Hill Baptist. I'm in the GA's - and I got to go to camp. Camp is awesome. I hope I go every summer! It's called South Mountain Baptist Camp and I am absolutely in love with every boy that works there. And I met Kasey. (we're still friends, too!)

Then, I went to 3rd grace. 3rd grade was fun. Mrs. Bryan was my teacher. Her daughter, Allison, is my sister's friend. Her classroom always smells like black pepper. I've also started going to AG class part of the week. I really like it.

My parents bought a video camera. They took a lot of videos. I think I'm a superstar. Now all our Christmas's will be on video, too. Also, my aunt and uncle had another baby - her name is Emily. She came in February. My mom got to be at the hospital and she took a lot of video of that day.

June 14th, 1988 - June 13th, 1989 (Fourth Grade) - A new decade came! Cool. I got to go to camp again this summer!! 4th grade was cool... except that I was sick all the time and had to get my tonsils out during Spring Break. Mrs. Roach was my teacher and she lives near me, too. She brought me a night gown - which I LOVED - for my recovery. For some reason, I also remember that Jessica Prevatt's big sister, Nikki, won Homecoming Queen at Central that year. AG was fun again this year, too.
We watched Man from Snowy River and made fun of Jessica Prevatt and Tommy Smith. We told them they were the girl and boy from that movie and that they should kiss.

June 14th, 1989 - June 13th, 1990 (Fifth Grade) - So, I just finished 5th grade. I'm totally going to middle school next year. Awesome. Now my boyfriend was Tommy Smith. (I wonder what he's doing these days. Ha.) I remember his birthday is the same as Sarah's. She's my best friend. We're also semi-related. Her dad married my cousin. Tyeanne is also still my best friend. And Kelly Riley and I went back and forth over Tommy. I think eventually we decided he wasn't worth it and were fun friends. lol. New Kids on the Block are my favorite singers. A bunch of my friends went to see them in concert. Not me. Also, I think this was the year that Mandy King got a limo for her birthday. I was so super jealous that I didn't get picked to go with them!

Oh well. Mrs. Meador is my teacher and we have a combo class - i.e. - there are 4th graders in class with me. This year in AG, we made inventions and kids from Spindale Elementary competed with us. I remember Nikki Gowan. Apparently others were there that I became friends with later, but I only remember Nikki. I remember that Josh Gilbert gave Laura Greenway a ring. I think it was for Valentine's Day. Tommy gave me a felt picture that you color with markers, a fake rose and a copied tape of New Kids. I think this is when I decided he wasn't worth it... lol. j/k
This year, the Gideons came to my school and gave us all little red bibles. The man that came to my class scared me super badly because he said I would go to hell if I didn't get saved. (which is true, of course, but he was really mean). Also, he was loud. My church was having revival that week, so I went down front. No way I wanna go to hell, you know?

p.s. - i'm still going to camp every summer around the time of my birthday each year. I'm starting to meet some girls that I'll be penpals with.

June 14th, 1990 - June 13th, 1991 (Sixth Grade)- So, I just finished my 6th grade year. Lots of new boys - from some other elementary schools... so cute! I REALLY like Ammon Lesher though. He's super cool and stylin'. (I remember saying that in 6th grade a LOT). Not to be weird or embarrasing about this, but my body is changing. A lot. AND I got glasses. DJ Reid always wants to wear them, so I let him. He's cute. So I let him. ha! In Science/Math class, we did a lot of measuring. We had an ice cream party and I learned what an ounce of choclate syrup looks like in a little cup. Also, I got in a fight. Like... a fist fight. With a boy. Brian Gordon. I do NOT like him! Also, we are at war with Iraq. A guy I know from my church who has only been married a little while has to go. And another guy, too, but he isn't married yet.

My sister is in 8th grade. We fight a lot. She plays sports and all I care about is boys.

June 14th, 1991 - June 13th, 1992 (Seventh Grade) - I changed a lot this year... personality, looks, etc... I had a few boyfriends and started hanging out with some older people some. We dissected frogs in science. All the girls wanted boy partners because we assumed we'd be grossed out. It was the boys who were grossed out. My partner was Josh Gilbert. Also, Mitch started a sketching hobby... he would "graffitti" peoples names. Everyone wanted one.

Also, he flicked spit at a substitute and it hit her in the back of the head. She felt it but didn't know where it came from.

I remember Channel One in homeroom, too.

I also ran for Student Council for the next school year. Jessica Prevatt beat me.

Jennifer Edwards and Blakeley Jones were my campaign managers.

The new high school is almost complete. Mark West was killed in a car accident. (I know his younger brother)

I was score keeper for the basketball team. That was cool.

Two days before school was out, I twisted my ankle in a hole and broke it! It was Laura Greenway's fault. She, Jessica Hames and I were testing markers for Mrs. Hogan so we could toss her dried up ones away during clean-up week and Laura kept tossing marker lids into the grass... I told her we'd get in trouble, so I was "fetching them." Then it happened.

It looked awful! I waited in the office for my dad and we spent the next several hours at the hospital. The next day, thinking it was just a bad sprain, I was on crutches at school and basically stopped using them by mid-day. I just hopped and limped everywhere.

Then my mom showed up at school to get me because the doctor had spotted a break in the x-rays. So she took me to Spartanburg and I got a purple cast put on. Just in time for the last day of school. I went around and let people sign in.

I turned 13 on this birthday... 1992. I had a dance party at the Spindale House.

Brad Edwards was my dj. He brought his stereo over.

NOT fun with a broken leg.

June 14th, 1992 - June 13th, 1993

My family went to Florida (Panama City Beach) for vacation. NOT fun in a cast!

But I started 8th grade. Its also the first year of the new high school. When the first day was over, three football players were killed in a car accident as they were turning out onto the highway from the parking lot.

I have a boyfriend, but my parents don't know. Basically, its because he's a different race, so I'm afraid to tell them. Lots of rumors are going around (even in my own family) but they aren't true! He's just my boyfriend at school. We write notes and talk on the phone. Nothing else! Well, we kiss sometimes, but that's it. The rumors aren't true! I'm 13 for goodness sake!

Anyway, I'm in 8th grade and I love it. We rule the school. HA!

Now it's December... Christmas break. Revival at my church again... and I know I'm not a Christian. So along with 13 other people from my church (including the pianist and a deacon), I accepted Christ on Dec. 27th. WOW!~

So, it's time to evaluate this boyfriend situation. I know it should end. I'm lying and being deceptive. So, for the next 6 months of school, we are back and forth. Awful!

A boy in the 7th grade shot himself. I found out I was distantly related... but everyone in the school made fun of him all the time. So sad.

Our Junior Beta club went to the state convention - we won several prizes... like 1st Place Scrapbook in the state! I was Editor. We were in the paper.

Also, I won 3rd place photography. But I didn't take the picture. My big sister did. Lying again!

In the spring, my MawMaw got really sick really fast and passed away the day of my school's field day. May 19th. I am really sad and crying a LOT. My brother was very sick that day as well and had to be admitted to the hospital around the time of her death. Some kind of virus that the majority of my family ended up having. (I still can't drink fruit punch to this day without thinking of that sickness.)

Also, we are the last class to graduated from New Hope Middle School. Next year, all the middle schools are combining to R-S Middle School because the new high school is built and they used the old high school (with renovations) to combine the schools. I will be the only person in my family to never attend class in that building.

Oh... and camp is soon!

HIGH SCHOOL....

check back soon for updates!

So, that's all I've got for now... I thought I'd let people get a head start on reading
:o)

Whew.

2007-06-30T21:57:00.000-04:00

hmm.

~nw

WOWZA!

2007-06-22T12:41:00.000-04:00

birthday, resource tables, christmas, personal library...

WOWZA

anyway. just thought i'd share.

fun

2007-06-11T14:43:00.000-04:00

i just found a new blog.

God, only you can do this in my heart...

2007-06-07T13:16:00.000-04:00

As a single woman, what do you think is most important for single women to understand about biblical womanhood?

"Regardless of our marital status, we were made to glorify God and to reflect Him to our world.
God has made women to be bearers and nurturers of life—we can do that whether or not He chooses to give us husbands and physical children.
If a woman has a contented, grateful heart, she will experience joy, regardless of her circumstances (or marital status). If she does not have a contented, grateful heart, there is no circumstance (or marital status) that can make her happy."

For more on this interview with Nancy Leigh DeMoss, click the picture above or here...

it's not that i'm staring at your blog all day...

2007-06-01T11:34:00.001-04:00

i call this...

the circle of trust...

it's not that i'm staring at your blog all day...

... it's that i have THIS great thing! (Thanks to my friend Casey)

so don't freak out if i'm always the first one to comment on your blog - even if it's moments after you post...

i get alerted! and i love it!

More reasons to love TCC...

2007-05-29T09:43:00.000-04:00

(l to r: Ryan S., Ben M., Ben R., Matt T., Joy H.)

... my community group!

I always love our fellowships - the church wide ones, I mean. You get to hang out, talk, laugh, learn more about those you're laboring with... but I really love it when our community group does this.

On Sunday, we went to Lake Johnson after church. We took our bag lunches, walked over the foot bridge to the picnic area to dine. I must confess, being out there, doing things like that, isn't generally my favorite thing to do... I just don't like getting hot, etc.

But, I knew I'd like hanging out with everyone...

So anyway, there are hiking trails, runners, bikers, the lake - obviously -, etc... You can rent canoes (which several people did), kyacks, even little dingy fishing boats. The boaters were troopers because I just couldn't make myself do it...

Kristin and Hannah

Paul and friend, Joe

The rest of us just stayed in the tree-shaded picnic area and chatted... watched the ducks, etc.

Here are some more pictures for you. :o)

Ben and Becca M

Ryan S.

Cathi T.

the ducks (and Kristin and Hannah off to the right)

Julie W.

Paul G. (so happy after flipping Ben and Matt's boat)

interactive blog. i need input!

2007-05-25T16:14:00.000-04:00

for those of you twisting your eyebrows around ... yeah, so it doesn't mean anything to me either. not just yet, anyway.

Great news! I just started Violin Lessons with my friend Grace.
Right now, I have to practice holding the violin and the bow, as well as scales and begin memorizing the FACE and Every Good Boy Does Fine. (if you read music, you probably know what I'm talking about)

Anyway, I am super excited.
But I need help! If I get frustrated about it when you're around - remind me that its going to take time. If I look at you with disdain, just pray for me. I know what your intentions are, but even last night, I could tell that some days are going to be hard for me than others.

I promise that as soon as my scales sound good, I'll post them on youtube so you can all hear!

Now - since I'm sure you're all on the edge of your seats wondering about the title of this blog - I need your help. In the form of comments, please post some of the following:

a) some of your favorite hymn or song titles that the violin is played in
b) some of your favorite hymns or songs that the violin should be played in
c) any encouragement about your violin lessons - even if they were 20 years ago.

that's all for now. it helps me to hear in my head what songs i may one day be able to play. the one that keeps playing in my head is "Fairest Lord Jesus," for example. can you hear it? ah!

anyway - pray! (for me and my roomates - they'll have to listen)

p.s. - for fun, the next time you scan thru your ipod or are in your car, try and listen for the violin. you wouldn't believe how much i hear it now since it's on my mind!

pictures soon.

sometimes you have to just be silly

2007-05-23T12:05:00.000-04:00

i get a lot of forwards. at work, at home, etc...
this came today - just now - and i really laughed a lot.

so, in the hopes that you can read and smile... here you go

------------------------------------------------------
Thoughts on Love and Marriage

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHO TO MARRY?
You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming.
-- Alan, age 10

No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you're stuck with.
-- Kristen, age 10

WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED?
Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by then.
-- Camille, age 10

HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED?
You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids.
-- Derrick, age 8

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON?
Both don't want any more kids.
-- Lori, age 8

WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE?
Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough.
-- Lynnette, age 8 (isn't she a treasure)

On the first date, they just tell each other lies and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date.
-- Martin, age 10

WHAT WOULD YOU DO ON A FIRST DATE THAT WAS TURNING SOUR?
I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns.
-- Craig, age 9

WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE?
When they're rich.
-- Pam, age 7

The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that.
-- Curt, age 7

The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them. It's the right thing to do.
-- Howard, age 8

IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED?
It's better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone to clean up after them.
-- Anita, age 9 (bless you child)

HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF PEOPLE DIDN'T GET MARRIED?
There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there?
-- Kelvin, age 8

And The #1 Response... (note from Nicole - i think i have to agree. #1. hilarious)

HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK?
Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a dump truck.
-- Ricky, age 10

I told you I can't really share good things...

2007-05-17T10:26:00.000-04:00

... so I resort to posting other people's blogs!
:o)

This is a new fav of mine - http://solofemininity.blogs.com/
Carolyn McCulley is becoming a dear friend...

I'm posting this because this has come up in several conversations I've had over the last few weeks - with various people, mind you. I've had a pretty firm opinion about it, but this helps me. I finally have something good (i.e. - Biblical) to say when I talk to people... instead of "I just don't like it," or "I don't think its best."

So, enjoy!... and believe me, don't think I haven't thought about it!

Ten Points to Ponder About Online Dating

Ah, yes. The first frost, the bare trees, and the retail stores all decorated for Christmas. We're in the season the Solitaire Triple Crown – with Thanksgiving just past (where the turkey is the only single male around, and look what happened to him!), Christmas (you know you’re lonely when you’re trying to catch the eye of the mall Santa), and New Year’s Eve (Blockbuster, here I come).

Then one day your eyes are drawn to an advertisement for online dating. "Hmmm, maybe this is my ticket to a date for the holidays." Perhaps. But before you fire up that computer, you might want to ask yourself some questions first. Here are ten points to ponder about online dating before investing your cash or your time.

Is it wrong to use the Internet? No. The Internet is just a tool. People use it for good and for evil. Inherently it has no moral value. Thus Christians have to consider their motives for using this tool. I've been asked if those who are using online dating services are not trusting God. My answer is, "I don't know. I can't possibly know the motives of millions of people."

There's a lot to be said about motives, but before we get there, let's just consider the cold hard facts. Online dating is one of the most profitable activities on the Internet, according to numerous industry articles published online. Successful businesses are built on repeat clientele. So you have to be savvy about what the numbers really mean. According to a recent syndicated news report, one leading company claims approximately 12,000 couples have gotten married through its service. That's since its inception five years ago, presumably, but if you compared those 12,000 couples/24,000 individuals against the six-million user benchmark that this same company recently announced, that's less than a one percent return on investment. So if you are considering such a service such, you have to remember that first and foremost it's a business. A very profitable business.

Speaking of that low return on investment, let's consider another factor in the equation: how we steward our finances as Christians. The Bible has a lot to say about money and how we are to handle what we receive from God. (I don't have time to develop this thought now, but I'll refer you to an excellent book on the topic – Randy Alcorn's "Money, Possessions, & Eternity.") So I would ask those considering such a service if they have prayed about it and if they believe before God that this would be a good use of their money. I'm not saying that the answer is automatically no. I'm not God. I'm simply recommending that we talk to our heavenly Father before we presume to make such an investment. We will have to give an account one day about what we did with what He gave us.

Money is not the only thing to be invested in online dating – much time is required, as well, which is another gift from God. Given your other responsibilities, is this the best use of your time in light of eternity? Have you prayed about it?

Have you considered how you'll be accountable for your interactions with others online? Just as there is safety in being observed and accountable in your "carbon-based" relationships, there is the same, if not greater, need in cyberspace. Would you be willing to share your user IDs and passwords with others so that your correspondence could be observed?

Now, back to those heart motives. Here are some questions to consider. Are you feeling panicked or anxious that you have to "do something" about your singleness? (Please note the emphasis here on anxiety. I'm not saying that it's bad to be proactive about getting married.) Are you believing the best about God's plan and timing for your life, or are you thinking this is your last available option? Are you sinning in your thoughts against the opposite sex, judging them for not responding to you? Have others submitted observations to you about your previous relationships that you have ignored or left unresolved? Are you anxious about your impending birthday? Are you trying to get a date for a future event or holiday celebration because you dread being alone in those situations? And finally, have you considered the strong possibility (given the data I presented above) that you might end up paying to be rejected? That sounds harsh, but obviously that's a common experience in such a clinical environment as online dating. Have you thought about the effect that this might have on your soul? Have you counted that emotional and spiritual cost?

Have you sought counsel from others about this idea? By others, I don't mean just your other single friends. What is your pastor's advice to you? What would your small-group leaders say? What is your parents' perspective? What about your accountability partners? Would they be willing to "shepherd" you through this process?

Have you thought about the narcissism factor? Let's be completely honest here. You won't be receiving all the normal visual and sociological clues about someone you meet online. So any giddiness you might experience while corresponding online has nothing to do with the other person. It has everything to do with the rush of thinking someone else finds you attractive. But you won't know that for sure until you meet. How are you planning to guard your heart in such a scenario?

We all know that there can be quite a gap between what a person will tell you about himself and what he actually does. When you go online, you initially forfeit a very useful research tool, which is the ability to observe a man's or a woman’s interactions with others. You also typically forfeit the recommendations of others. You only have an individual’s own recommendations to weigh. How are you planning to compensate for this?

About that Big Meet, you are aware that the collective testimony of online daters is that no one ever looks like their photo ... right?

In presenting these questions, I’m not taking a position for or against online dating. I realize that, yes, a small percentage of people have married someone they met online. I also know many more people who have not met anyone suitable online. This, like many aspects of modern life, has no clear chapter-and-verse directive in the Bible. It is a wisdom issue. So I am praying that these ten points will help many singles wisely discern their motives, seek counsel, and consider this activity against what Christians are clearly commanded by Scripture to do and seek.Even in the age of the Internet, God’s promises for our provision still stand. “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:31-33).

CDG - blog 1

2007-05-13T16:24:00.000-04:00

I need to go thru my notes again. I should probably write them out, type them up - something.
At the end of April, my good friend Julie and I were given the privilege of attending the 2007 Children Desiring God conference in Minneapolis. It was great to spend this quality time with Julie, and I am so thankful for the soaked feeling I had upon my departure. I was literally dripping with the teachings of some of the most humble men and women! Everyone just wept over the thankfulness they felt had over the cross.

I'm sure I'm not articulating this well, so for now, you'll just get a photo walk thru of the trip.

More later and I continue to process...

the plane ride. one of four. :o)

i can't remember where this is ... but i'm pretty sure it's on the approach to Chicago.

our tiny rental car

:o)

the theme of the conference

and two cute boys.

(just kidding - I just noticed they were in this pic)

Bethlehem Baptist Church

Pastor: John Piper

also the home church of Desiring God Ministries

the entry way to the sanctuary at Bethlehem

Julie standing in front of their International Worker board. Look how many they have serving overseas! One day, Lord!

Hope Academy. One day, Lord.

Wayne Grudem. He taught 10 chapters from Systematic Theology in three hours. Talking about having a week of class with this man... WOW! Eat your heart out seminary boys.
CJ Mahaney. Eat your heart out Reformed Charismatics.

I loved worshipping next to this man. What joy he has in singing the name of Jesus!

by far the funnest picture - and the last picture - we took.

This little boy was rollin' in his Caddy to the convience store for some Bug Juice! His dad was walking behind him the whole way. SO FUNNY!

So, as unspiritual as it may be - I thought this would at least get me going in sharing with you about my time in Minnesota. (pronounced miny-SOOO-da)

i love TCC

2007-05-10T14:54:00.000-04:00

i just really do.
i love our monthly fellowships.
i love how much we are growing.
anyway, last night was our May Fellowship. here are some of my favorite photos of the night.
if you have facebook, there's a whole 55 picture album on there... so go see!

Eric: Oh, Man! I just struck out in WHIFFLE ball!

Travis: It's okay! It was God's plan. I'm your Pastor!

Noggin: BAHHHHHH

Me and Amanda

:o)

sweet Anna W

Kristin and our neighbor, Brendi

sorry, barlett

2007-04-24T13:52:00.000-04:00

so as most of you know, my roommate, Alicia, just finished up her 9-10 month stint with Bartlett Tree Experts. no, she wasn't an aborist, but she worked there - thus supplying somewhat of an allegiance for me to them. (i also cleaned their office once a week for a few months).

well, she doesn't work there anymore - nor do i... so i guess i'm okay with seeing this new company around. (granted, they aren't new - but new in my life, apparently).

i drove up to my house (as close as i could get) at lunch to pickup my laptop for work tonight... and this is what i saw.

blocking my driveway, walk-way, and entire front yard. there were orange cones (and one of them was between our house and the boys house with a clipboard tied to it- with a work order).

i had to leave before they did anything. (actually, the men in the trucks were asleep when i got there around 12:15 and were still asleep around 12:35 when I left... so, I hope those weren't billable hours for someone)...

((shout out to alicia - my camera was dead, so i used yours for this project.))

anyone want to guess what the house and yard might look like when we get home tonight???

the walk...

2007-04-23T09:06:00.000-04:00

Well, the walk was Saturday.

And I finished.

I wasn't so sure about it around time we passed the WF Post Office. That was the 1 mile mark. They provided a map of the course - and then gave you some options. There were turn around points for folks who only wanted to do 1 mile, 2 miles or the whole thing. Don't think that I didn't consider each of these options. Especially when I consider my normal workout routine doesn't put me even to the two-mile mark. I'm just slow!

But, alas... I did it. I'm still hurting a little. Mostly my legs, of course - below the knee... However, while my roommates were gone yesterday afternoon enjoying a canoe ride at Lake Johnson, I had THE WORST CRAMP of my entire life... in the back of my left thigh. I literally scream and fell off the couch... I think Poucha ran away... maybe she couldn't handle watching the pain... I don't know. Anyway, I'm just realizing I forgot to tell my roommates about that. Thankfully, I was still able to walk afterward (though it felt like knives had been inserted into my leg permanently) and even take a short nap...

Anyway, I'm thankful I did it. I am growing more thankful each day, of course... as the pain wears off. :o) We still went to the gym this morning, but I chose to do arms... not the treadmill. lol.

Kate took some pictures, so hopefully I will be able to update this post with some of them later.

Good job Kate, Ben, Candace and Kristin! We raise around $1000 as a team. YAY!

Praise God that the Pregancy Support Services of Wake Forest raised over $43,000! I heard that was around 20 times the amount from last year... wow! I hope to hear more about the walk later this week. I'm sure they will post something on their site.

Something else to praise God for... 73% of women who see their sonogram Choose Life! WOW!

i'm making an attempt...

2007-04-13T10:24:00.000-04:00

I will be participating in my first 5K on Saturday, April 21st.

It is to raise support for the Pregnancy Support Services of Wake Forest.

The purpose of the Walk for Life is to raise awareness of the services provided by PSSWF to the community in and around Wake Forest. The main emphasis of the Walk is to increase funding to enable PSSWF to continue to impact women, men and children, and to save lives!

So, I'm writing to you - the blog world - asking you to considering making a donation to the PSSWF. No gift is too small! We encourage gifts of any amount for this Fund Raiser.

All gifts will be collected by April 20th, 2007.

If I can get 10 of you to donate 5$, I'll reach the goal the PSS has asked each walker to provide.

so... lemme know!

~nicole

p.s. - yes, all donations are tax deductible!

May I have your attention please...

2007-04-05T08:27:00.000-04:00

I've spoken with some of you about this blog. It's super fun...

Chris Sligh's blog - www.frommymindtoyoureyes.blogspot.com

check it out.

(p.s. - he also has one called Theological Digressions)... see, I told you you'd learn more by clicking the links to "Other Fun Bloggers" than by reading mine!

~nw

No wonder I don't feel so good...

2007-02-26T22:00:00.000-05:00

The winter months often bring sickness to many households and families around me. Children get the sniffles; moms fight off the flu in order to keep thier homes running smoothly. But I was thinking about how sometimes I just don't feel good. Blah is the best way to describe it. Isn't that funny? Well, it's not, actually... its disturbing to me.

Let me explain. Often, when I feel "blah," I can look back and see a pattern of sin; a time of struggle over bad habits; a season of being away from the word. We all know we need nourishment and a healthy lifestyle to live up the schedules that we create for ourselves.

What a gift that God calls us to himself. He gives us the desire for him. Amazing.

A couple of weeks ago, I had been thinking about all of these things, and at church, we sang a song that helped me see...

Satisfied - Author Unknown
All my life long I have panted for a drink from some cool spring
That I hoped would quench the burning of the thirst I felt within
Hallelujah! He has found me, the one my soul so long has craved,
Jesus satisfies all my longings, through His blood I now am saved.

Feeding on the filth around me til my strength was almost gone,
Longed my soul for something better, only still to hunger on.
Hallelujah! He has found me, the one my soul so long has craved,
Jesus satisfies all my longings, through His blood I now am saved.

Poor I was and sought for riches, something that would satisfy,
But the dust I gathered 'round me, only mocked my soul's sad cry.
Hallelujah! He has found me, the one my soul so long has craved,
Jesus satisfies all my longings, through His blood I now am saved.

Well of water ever springing, bread of life so rich and free,
Untold wealth that never faileth, my Redeemer is to me.
Hallelujah! He has found me, the one my soul so long has craved,
Jesus satisfies all my longings, through His blood I now am saved.

Father, help me to see my cravings for satisfaction and joy as your design to draw me - let me never feast on the filth around me - its satisfaction is so quickly fleeting... Father, you are enough!

Can I ever be a runner?...

2007-02-21T11:29:00.000-05:00

in my recent days (as in, a week or so now) of going to the gym regularly, i'm back on my kick of eventually becoming a runner. honestly, i think it looks cool. i won't lie. plus, you can do it anywhere! :-) (unless you're at the mall - that's really more for walkers. you don't want store owners chasing you do you??) so, with training comes education. so, i've been researching. then i came across this. ha! i hope it encourages you to keep moving! (i'm trying to...)

Reasons Not To Run: (by Jesslyn Cummings)...
Every runner or jogger has their special excuse not to run; in fact, most people who don't run at all have their excuses too. Presented here are some of my favorite excuses why people don't run. Whether it is a runner's excuse to skip a day or a nonrunner's excuse to not start running, here are ten of them and why they don't hold water.
1) I'm too out-of-shape.
This excuse is usually used by those who aren't runners, but I've heard it from runners who got injured or sick and had to take time off of running. It's really quite sad actually because running is a great way to get into shape. If you ask me, noone is too out-of-shape to get in shape. You may have to start walking and then work up to very slow running, but you can do it. Just talk to your doctor first.
2) Running causes injuries.
Yes, running does cause injuries sometimes, but not any more than most other sports. You're a lot less likely to get hurt running (if you take it slow and easy while you're adjusting to running) than if you were a gymnast. You don't have to get hurt if you are a runner. Just go slow, listen to your body, and warm-up properly before each run.
3) It’ll ruin my knees (joints or body).
Just like "running causes injuries," this excuse only applies to people who are pushing themselves too fast or not properly letting their muscles/body become accustomed to running. Being overweight can make running harder on your knees, but, if you take your time and work up to running, your knees, body, and joints won't get hurt.
4) I don’t have enough time.
This is just an excuse, nothing more. Life is going by so fast, but nothing should be as important as your health. Take even 15 minutes a day to yourself and go for a walk or run. It's all about priorities.
5) I’ve never been good at running.
This is one of my personal favorite excuses because it used to apply to me. I wasn't good at running, but, like many other things, we get good at running by practicing it. It's that simple; if you run and take it slow, eventually you'll get better at it.
6) The Shoes Cost Too Much.
Sure, running shoes can be expensive, but it's not like you have to pay for a canoe or a bike. A good pair of shoes can make running easier and help prevent injuries, but that doesn't mean that you'll get hurt without an expensive pair of running shoes. Start out with what you have, take it easy, and save up for the good sneakers.
7) I’m tired.
This is another of my own personal excuses. After a long day at work, running can seem like a chore that you just don't have energy for. Believe me when I say, I understand. But exercise releases endorphins (making you feel happy) and it can help wake you up. When I'm tired or even starting to feel sick, I have found that going for a run is a much better cure than sitting around watching TV or trying to get anything done around my house. So, don't let this be your excuse because that's exactly what it is: an excuse.
8) Running is hard work.
Sometimes running can be hard work, but sometimes it can be pure ecstasy, like you're floating on a cloud. It's worth putting in the hard work to get the payoff. Maybe you haven't felt the payoff yet, but even so your body is receiving so much benefit. Next time you're thinking running isn't worth the effort, check out all these benefits.
9) It's too hot (or too cold).
In the summer, the heat is too much; in the winter, the cold is more than I can handle. I've heard it all (and probably said it myself one too many times). You can run through a lot of weather conditions, just be smart. In the heat, take extra water and try to run in the coolest times of day. In the cold, layer your clothing properly and try to run in the hottest times of day. In any weather, if you have access to a treadmill or indoor track, count yourself lucky and use it.
10) Your ovaries will fall out.
My personal favorite, above all others: "Your ovaries will fall out." This one just makes me laugh and you may be thinking I made this up, but I've heard it again and again. It's typically what mothers and grandmothers tell 25-35 year old women who have just started running. It's completely a myth; don't believe it. Lots of very serious competitors in running have had children and apparently their ovaries are just fine.

Ok. Again. I'm not a runner. It will take time. But this made me laugh. - especially number 10!

:o)

look at these beauties!

2007-02-12T11:40:00.000-05:00

I'm so thankful for my friends! :-) Here are a few of them...

Allison

Alicia

Kristin

Casey - on the far right (and also the photographer) - her husband, Dan, took this one, actually!

learning to be a crown

2007-02-06T10:21:00.000-05:00

I know that sounds like a funny heading... but it sums up a little of the ladies' retreat I went on over the weekend with the girls from my Community Group at TCC. We headed off on Friday up to Spruce Pine, NC. It was really pretty - cold and a little snowy on the drive up - but pretty.

The couple we stayed with have a house nestled in the mountain that rivals any cottage or ski lodge I've ever stayed in! There is even a cool loft that you get to by ladder - with a walkway/bridge that goes above the living room to another ladder - and it goes to an observatory, of sorts. Wow! It was all just so beautiful. They were so gracious to share their home with the 10 of us who were able to go from our group. We really missed Wendy, Iris and Yuna! We realized how much we loved getting away with one another, so hopefully we'll plan more than one a year! The picture to the right is Becca M. - she went up the ladder to see the fun loft (and to talk on her cell phone in the rocking chair up there) :o)

Friday night served as a time to hang out a little and chat about our week prior. Of course it was nice to just be still a little, too, since Kristin and I had just retured from LA on Wednesday of the same week. Julie had some yummy cookies there which served as a nice treat! She was also using this down time while we were all preparing for bed to study and read - getting ready to lead us in Bible Study sessions on becoming Proverbs 31 women. I am thankful for the time that we spent in the word learning about the fear of the Lord, but I am thankful just the same for the way that God allowed me to learn so much from the women I went along with. Each of them has been giften in so many ways - and I am always happy to see how God is using them in their husband's/finance's/roommate's lives! This picture is Kristin, Joanna and Becca looking thru our treat bags. Inside was our favorite candies and a set of yarn and knitting needles, as Becca would be teaching us on Saturday how to knit! :-)

Saturday morning was so beautiful and we were able to have some time to ourselves to read and eat breakfast then be ready to start the sessions.

Julie did a great job leading us. We sang together and prayed. What a great task is ahead of me... to learn to be a wife and mother. I know that the challenge will come in time, and there is much to learn before it gets here. I am especially thankful to learn about fearing a Holy God who will equip me for these good works in my family to come. After our session, we started working together to make a quilt for Grace. She and Josh have a baby boy, Josiah, coming in early March. What a fun project to do together. We spent a little time that morning just beginning to iron and cut the fabrics so that we could start sewing the strips into patterns. Everyone had their hand in it, so it was so special! Even mommy Grace took part... what a fun story to share with your child later! We were only able to work about an hour before we needed to leave.

Julie had asked a few of the women in the area if we could spend some time with them - just getting to hear how God has used them in the lives of their families and church thru the years. Two of the women were widows (one for 1o years and one for only 6 months), so their stories were especially sweet as they shared about what it's like to miss someone after spending 30, 40, 50 years together. What a sweet time of prayer we had with these women as we sat and listened.

They also provided a super yummy lunch for us, which was so kind - as we wanted to serve them! I really loved hearing about ways they still feel they can serve when the temptation would probably be to fully "retire."

The rest of the afternoon, we worked on the quilt more and some folks rested and took walks in the beautiful woods around the home. There were lots of Christmas tree farms and even snow on the ground in places.

Mary Alice worked on making some fabulous chicken quesadillas for dinner and we finished quickly so we could get to celebrate with Kristin for her birthday!!! Those of you who know me, know that I love birthdays (mine and others!). Julie made Kristin one of her favorite cakes. I am so thankful for Kristin's life... and every day I see new ways that God is teaching her. She is very considerate of others and she loves to serve. Happy Birthday, K-dog. :-) I love you so much!

After dinner, we finished the quilt except for a few last things, so that was really fun. At that point, I think our total time spent on it was 5-6 hours. Around 8 or so, we all moved to the living room for Becca to start teaching us about knitting.

She was such a gracious and patient teacher and moved from one person to another showing them exactly what to do. It took me a minute or so to understand about the twists and turns, but I'm starting to see a pattern form. Since we've been home, I've done a few more rows, so now it's getting harder to hold in place. I have much to learn, but hopefully I can at least make it long enough to be a scarf for someone. I already have a friend in mind, which helps so much! :o) I'll be sure to post pictures about that as time goes on...

After a few minutes of working on the knitting, I decided to get up and go finish the last of the quilt. Dana was helpful and she, Holly, Hannah and Julie and I got it rolled out. What a fun trick. Here's the finished product...

I took it home, actually, to get the edge closed up by hand and check the seams. There are still some small details to take care of, which Casey will have to help me with... but I am pretty pleased with how it turned out. Grace is having a boy, so we tried to think about that along with tying in the antique toy colors they plan to use in the nursery.

Sunday we had our last session and prayed that God would help us in our journey to be women of the Word who fear God and desire to be women that our husbands are known for... their crown.

We drove back together and stopped in Hickory for lunch at Cracker Barrel, like good southern women. YUM! Thankfully, Holly noticed some trouble in the back of her car. Coming down the curvy mountain, her entire large bottle of coffee creamer spilled! EEK!

We cleaned out the back of her car and tried to get everything as cleaned up as we could... thankfully, Allison's dad came along to say hi to her and helped finish the job. Whew! We had such a mess in the parking lot!

Big shout out to the girls who went. I really enjoyed spending time with each of you and look forward to the future times that God will give us to get to know one another and how to better serve each other. Love you!

day two's journey...

2007-02-01T13:33:00.000-05:00

Well, our first day in LA was really full and fun... but it didn't have ANYTHING on day two!!! Tuesday was our Ellen day! :-)

Here's how it went...

First, Alicia was the responsible party that the Ellen show had listed - so we took her to the line, which we thought would already be pretty competitive, around 4:30 a.m. We were all pretty pumped about the start of this day... and knowing that our bodies really thought it was 7:30 a.m. did make it a little easier. :0) Thanks Alicia!!!

She waited in line - and I'm sure you can check her blog at some point for how that journey went.

Here's us dropping her off...

Afterward, Kristin and I drove around for a little bit waiting to see if we were going to hear from Alicia that we should go wait with her, or that she might need something, etc... we saw a couple other studios up the street and had our eyes peeled for a 24-hour Starbucks. We didn't find one, so we just went back to the hotel to figure out what to do next. To help with the time issue of when Alicia would return/we'd need to get ready to eat lunch and do some time-passing things in Burbank, Kristin and I decided that we'd just go on and get ready for the day. Afterward, we walked to the hotel next to ours to grab a quick bite to eat. Yummy veggie omlets...

Back at the hotel, we kept checking back in with Alicia, via cell, and she was doing fine... the line was growing tremendously... so we're thankful that she did end up being 5th in line! When we got the call to pick her up - we were so excited!!! So was she... to finally be out of the cold! :-)

WE WERE NUMBERS 8, 9, and 10!!! WOOO!!

Basically, what this meant was that after we get checked in at the show and wait to be formed into the line that leads you into the actual set of the show, we were going to be 8-10 in the line. So, we were sat 8th, 9th, 10th... get it? :-) They kept us all three together, thankfully.... AND, we were 2nd row! If you are familiar with the show, think of how Ellen see the audience. We were over to her far left - 2nd row up from where they usually seat guests in wheelchairs. This also meant that when she comes dancing thru the audience, she would COME RIGHT TO US!!!! I'm going to work on a little video of our appearance on the show... yes, we showed up. Several times, actually... So when I get that ready, I'll post it! (I'm sorry that some of you missed it... we were so happy to get back to Raleigh and hear from friends and family that they had seen us!!) FUN!

So, we got Alicia back to the hotel so she could warm up and get ready for the rest of the day. Next, we went to In & Out Burger, a California favorite.

It was starting to rain then, so we decided to take our chances and try to find a parking spot by the studio and wait the extra 30 minutes or so that we had instead of leaving the car at the hotel and walking (like we had originally planned to do). Thankfully, there is a hospital right across the street from NBC, so we were able to park in the lane that connects the two buildings. It's right beside Bob Hope Park. I got my x-ray glasses on (not really) and used my 21x zoom on my camera... because we saw someone in the park filming something on the bridge... see what you think. hehe. The man on the left is the one on camera. The guy on the far right is the one with the camera. I think he was just messing with something on the camera at this moment. The rest of the time we saw them, he had it up on his shoulder. Ah, the mysteries of actors and film...

Anyway, so - you can't take your camera into the show, so we ran over to the fence, took some shots, then took our cameras back to the car to wait for a little while longer.

Next was the show.

It was really super fun - probably rivals most any fun thing I've ever done! They are really well organized and always kept you informed of what was happening, etc. It helps control freaks like me fight anxiousness! The studio is a lot smaller than you'd expect, but still very exciting. We were so happy to sit where we did and had cameras near us much of the time.

The guests on the show were Barbara Walters, Serena Williams and The Gym Class Heroes (yeah, I hadn't heard of them either). It was fun and I'd really like to go again another season. (you can only go once per season). The audience also got to play "Oscar Charades" with Ellen (she was the guesser). So, she gave us all Lord of The Rings: Return of the King and a box of popcorn. We also all got the Gym Class Heroes.

Afterward we decided to go on back to the hotel and freshen up to drive down to Santa Monica to go to the pier. I would love to go back during the day and when it's warmer. It was gorgeous, and you can tell there's so much to do!!! You could almost go here for a long weekend and not have a car, even! http://www.santamonicapier.org/Check it out.

While we were there, walking around - we figured out that all these people and their equipment meant that something was being filmed! So, we asked a guy if he could tell us what it was... He said it was a Sony picture coming out next year with Paris Hilton called Hottie and the Nottie. We stayed on the set a little and watched them film one TINY scene about 15 times. Poor guy. When you see the part in the movie when a guy runs up the stairs - looks left and right (as if he's looking for someone) and then runs right - you'll know we were there then. HA! What a cheesy plot: A girl refuses to marry her longtime boyfriend until he can find the perfect match for her ugly best friend...

We stuck around and decide to eat at Bubba Gump's - there are several across the nation, but I've never eaten there. Our waiter was an "aspiring" as we called them... sometimes music, sometimes acting. He was fun and really nice to us. He even lit a gas heater for my cold companions. :-)

I didn't write that on the table, by the way...

Next time, we'd like to get there before sunset and take a ride down the Pacific Coast Highway... that would be amazing!

We went on back to Burbank to try to get in bed early. It was around 10, I think - we were out of our room by 4:30 and headed on the journey home.

And now...

I'd like to thank Jared for getting up super early and taking us to the airport. Also, to Dan and Casey for coming to pick us up. We couldn't have done it without you three. To my family and friends who texted me and wished us good hope in meeting superstars: "You're the Best!"

Finally, to the people. You are the reason we do this... stay tuned!

~Nicole

You Can't Handle The Truth

2007-01-30T09:13:00.000-05:00

More on all of this later, but just a quick photo update of our trip to LA... We are waiting for Alicia - she is so graciously and patiently waiting in line at the NBC Studio to get tickets to the show...

Here's quick photo synopsis of the trip so far... :-)

This is during our layover in Atlanta. It was really quick, but the perfect amount of time... This is the plane we were getting ready to board...

Next, in LA, we were making our way on the bus to pick up our fun rental car... it's a red Toyota SUV! :-) With a sunroof...

We had such a good time just looking around while we rode to the car place. The weather is really clear and cool. Kristin is freezing, of course, but I've barely worn my jacket. :-)

We are snapping pictures like crazy and fit right in with the rest of the tourists... :-)

We went to pick up her friend, Erin, who showed us around yesterday. We had lunch at The Farmer's Market - which was really cool and eclectic... then, we were driving around and saw Scott Wolfe!!! We freaked out, and when I turned to take his picture from the front (we were driving by), I missed him and got the car behind him! UGH!

Then, as we continued around, we ventured to Hollywood Blvd and saw more "stars" ...

Next, we played around in the Kodak Theatre (where they film American Idol and the Oscars are!!! FUN!) and around more on Hollywood Blvd before going to eat dinner at Mel's Diner - from American Graffiti.

Here is the Roosevelt Hotel. It is said that it's haunted by the ghost of Marilyn Monroe. Funny.

We learned lots of fun trivia and are excited to go out and do more today! :-)

Don't forget to watch The Ellen Show! We still aren't sure which show we'll be on (Wednesday or Thursday) but as soon as we tape today, we'll let everyone know! :-)

Love,

The Hollywood Stars - Nicole, Kristin and Alicia

I guess I've been tagged...

2007-01-25T13:12:00.000-05:00

“People who get tagged need to write a blog post of 6 weird things about them as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog.”

I've been tagged by Alicia Christie. I am tagging Donna Bennett, Amy Hamm, Dana Cordell, Allison Stokes, Dennis Omondi, and Stacie Joh...

It'll be difficult for me to narrow down my quirks to just 6 concise answers, but I'll try my best:

I am super freakish about grammer and spelling mistakes when I read people's things. It's no one's fault... and I don't take style into consideration - for example, "i don't correct people if they choose to write in all lowercase letters." It's things like "to boldly go" - well, that's wrong. It should be "to go boldly." The mistake - split infinitive.
I have a good memory. I don't know why. It's also selective. Like the fact that I can remember Eugenia Wright's birthday (a girl I have not seen in 10 years and wasn't even a close friend then) but not remember things like Colossians 1. Super weird.
I know a lot of random facts. This sort of goes along with number 2. For instance - Elvis' birthday? Yeah, it's Jan. 8th. Driving into a tree going about 35 miles an hour? Yeah, it's the equivalent of driving off a 4-story building. Don't ask me why I know these things. Oh! And lettuce? Yeah, if you ate enough of it at once - it can kill you.
Sometimes I think God gives me moments of ESP. Two examples: - Yesterday, for about 20 minutes... I had the taste of fresh pineapple in my mouth. So weird (and a bit gross) - but I did. I haven't had pineapple in weeks. Regardless - I go to check my email - and Kristin has posted a comment on my Facebook wall... her message. "PINEAPPLE." Also, several weeks ago, sitting in church, I kept thinking about a friend of mine being pregnant. She and her husband have been trying, and it's something that we've prayed about a lot - but I was sitting at church thinking about it. What happens next? One of the pastors in our church begins a loud-speaker cell phone call with this couple (they are overseas) and she tells the church that she's pregnant. I almost fell out of my chair. (for both examples)
I don't think this is weird. Necessarily. I hate feet. I think they are gross. They often smell bad. Folks don't take care of them. Get them away. I mean away. No where near. If they even move near me, I flinch. Unless you are under 5. Then I don't care. I won't RUN for them, but if you touch them to me or I touch them, I'm okay.
I sleep with my ceiling fan on. This happens every day - all year long. It doesn't matter how cold the room already is. I need the sound, and I do NOT want to wake up hot - at anytime during the night. I hope my husband won't mind.

Introducing...

2007-01-24T16:10:00.000-05:00

Well, I guess I'll use this super fun event to formally introduce my blog.

So - WELCOME!

I think it's safer than myspace.
no scary or scandelous adds!

Read on down for some of my other postings...
they're random.
they don't happen on any certain day.
sorry.

The super fun event?
We're going to LA next week! WOOO!
Alicia, Kristin and I got tickets to the Ellen show.
We are really excited!!
Here's how funny the show can be:

Go See Gladys

So - we're going to the 3:30 taping on Tuesday, the 30th. It should air Wednesday or Thursday. But don't worry. We'll let y'all know if we show up on there! :-)

comments welcome

There Is A Fountain

2007-01-11T11:07:00.000-05:00

This is one of my favorite hymns. I found this page a while back, but "re-found" it while helping to gather some resources for a friend of mine who is working on researching suffering... (that's the easy way to put it)

This is one of the first hymns Cowper wrote after his first attack of temporary madness. Cowper had been promised a post as Clerk of the Journal to the House of Lords, but was dismayed upon learning he would have to undergo a public examination in the House before beginning his duties. The following article from the North American Review, January, 1834, describes his dilemma, and how God prevented him from destroying himself:

As the time drew nigh, his agony became more and more intense; he hoped and believed that madness would come to relieve him; he attempted also to make up his mind to commit suicide, though his conscience bore stern testimony against it; he could not by any argument persuade himself that it was right, but this desperation prevailed, and he procured from an apothecary the means of self-destruction. On the day before his public appearance was to be made, he happened to notice a letter in the newspaper, which to his disordered mind seemed like a malignant libel on himself. He immediately threw down the paper and rushed into the fields, determined to die in a ditch, but the thought struck him that he might escape from the country. With the same violence he proceeded to make hasty preparations for his flight; but while he was engaged in packing his portmanteau his mind changed, and he threw himself into a coach, ordering the man to drive to the Tower wharf, intending to throw himself into the river, and not reflecting that it would be impossible to accomplish his purpose in that public spot. On approaching the water, he found a porter seated upon some goods: he then returned to the coach and was conveyed to his lodgings at the Temple. On the way he attempted to drink the laudanum, but as often as he raised it, a convulsive agitation of his frame prevented it from reaching his lips; and thus, regretting the loss of the opportunity, but unable to avail himself of it, he arrived, half dead with anguish, at his apartment. He then shut the doors and threw himself upon the bed with the laudanum near him, trying to lash himself up to the deed; but a voice within seemed constantly to forbid it, and as often as he extended his hand to the poison, his fingers were contracted and held back by spasms.

At this time one of the inmates of the place came in, but he concealed his agitation, and as soon as he was left alone, a change came over him, and so detestable did the deed appear, that he threw away the laudanum and dashed the vial to pieces. The rest of the day was spent in heavy insensibility, and at night he slept as usual; but on waking at three in the morning, he took his penknife and lay with his weight upon it, the point toward his heart. It was broken and would not penetrate. At day break he arose, and passing a strong garter around his neck, fastened it to the frame of his bed: this gave way with his weight, but on securing it to the door, he was more successful, and remained suspended till he had lost all consciousness of existence. After a time the garter broke and he fell to the floor, so that his life was saved.; but the conflict had been greater than his reason could endure. He felt for himself a contempt not to be expressed or imagined; whenever he went into the street, it seemed as if every eye flashed upon him with indignation and scorn; he felt as if he had offended God so deeply that his guilt could never be forgiven, and his whole heart was filled with tumultuous pangs of despair. Madness was not far off, or rather madness was already come.

After recovering, Cowper came to realize how God can erase the stain of any sin.

There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
Lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day;
And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.
Washed all my sins away, washed all my sins away;
And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.

Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.B
e saved, to sin no more, be saved, to sin no more;
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.

E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.
And shall be till I die, and shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.

Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I’ll sing Thy power to save,
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.
Lies silent in the grave, lies silent in the grave;
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.

Lord, I believe Thou hast prepared, unworthy though I be,
For me a blood bought free reward, a golden harp for me!
’Tis strung and tuned for endless years, and formed by power divine,
To sound in God the Father’s ears no other name but Thine.

I'm just so thankful...

2007-01-08T20:54:00.000-05:00

This weekend God really allowed my roommates and I to see how much He loves us by answering our prayers... from lost keys to stolen cars! Amazing! I'm so thankful for the body who desired to rally around friends and help! I really loved it when everyone prayed together... and when everyone worked together to solve problems!

What a joy!

Fun!

I think it's safe to say...

2007-01-02T16:48:00.000-05:00

...blogging is probably safer than myspace. Sure, folks can read what you write - but you know that before you write... and you can even choose what to allow people to see - etc. I'm wondering if this is going to be my new thing. We'll see. Besides, I probably won't be embarrassed to show someone something on my blog like I am when it comes to myspace. The ads are ridiculous!

later friends.

some photos from the American Idol Concert...

2006-08-07T14:16:00.000-04:00

:-) My roommate Alicia and I went to see the American Idol Concert in Greensboro at the end of July... Here are some photos...