It has been such a busy time!

Oh my goodness, what is it about fall that makes us so busy? I think living in the deep south it is mainly because this is the time of year that it is finally cool enough to do something--anything--without sweating your pants off! With summertime temps over 100 degrees, and a heat index that often nears 120 degrees, it can be quite miserable! You get up, and thanks to the wonderful AC your home is cool, or at least trying to be cool, the AC is running anyway. You shower, dress, have breakfast, and head outside to start your day. You open your front door and WHAM! The hot, sticky humid air hits you like a big rig trucking down I-95. Your hair falls flat, your makeup runs off, you sweat like a man and you race for your car. You yank open the door after burning your fingers on the hot car body and and slide inside the virtual oven, all the while trying to breathe and jab your keys into the ignition to start the engine and get the blessed AC started. About the time you reach your destination, the car has reached a tolerable temperature. You pull into a parking space, climb out of the car, and the cycle begins again.

But oh, fall......

The air cools down.
The humidity leaves.
The plants look fresh and green again.
You can breathe.....

Slowly you begin to see your neighbors venturing outside. Everyone creeps out cautiously almost, as if to test the air and see if the weather channel really had it right. Ah yes...there is a crispness in the air. It is tolerable. Suddenly a bevy of excitement stirs as the rest of the community discovers this as well, as it is festival time, fair time, parties and hayrides and outdoor events. The Children's Book Fair, Halloween and the many activities it brings, Oktoberfest on the River, Jewish Food Festival, Picnic in The Park downtown, Cane Grinding and Sheep to Shawl at Oatland Island, many walks and marathons for charities, church festivals, yard sales, football practice, football games, cheerleading competitions, homecoming, and so much more make our schedule full of exciting dates scribbled on the calendar. (Let's not forget, after all, this is South Georgia, where football is more than a game, it is a religion)

So now, we have purchased our pumpkins and are planning for Trunk or Treat at church. The house is smelling like coffee and baked goodies and candles burning....and outside you can smell leaves burning and the occasional fireplace smoking at night.

I love fall, it is truly my favorite time of year.....

13 and counting

It's our anniversary!!!! I have been blessed to marry my best friend. Although the road has not always been easy, it is getting better and better every day. I praise God for healing our marriage from the troubles we were having 4 years ago. I am so thankful for the life we lead now and I look forward to many more years to come!
In honor of this special day, I thought maybe we could take a look back at the way we were.....this day.....1996.

Christians and Halloween

I have always been kind of up in the air about the whole Halloween thing, and apparently I am not alone. While I don't think a cute costume and some candy are in anyway contradictory to the Christian life, I have always wondered (read: worried) about the association with witches, goblins, zombies etc. I know that The Word tells us specifically to avoid witchcraft, sorcery, fortune telling and the like, so how does it all fit together?

I was really glad when bloggy buddy Heather over at Wanting What You Have did a ton of research and cleared it all up for me. PLEASE READ this blog post as well as the referenced article and decide for yourself. Read Heather's blog post here

(clipart courtesy of Christart.com)

Where have I been?

Well basically, I have been here. Just not up to much blogging lately, as we have been very busy doing tons of other things! We have painted the kitchen and put up a backsplash, done some work for my sister on her rental property, and tried to get into the new routine of after school activities which go something like this:

Monday: school, then interpretive dance practice for Riss
Tuesday: Bible study for me, school for Riss
Wednesday: school for Riss, church for us both at night
Thursday: school for Riss
Friday: school for Riss, then clarinet practice
Saturday: general laziness
Sunday church!

In between I have to squeeze in my mental health breakfasts with BFF Brenda and get the shopping and house cleaning and laundry done. This week I am packing to go to Jamie's aunt's house for the weekend to celebrate his grandma's 85th birthday. It will be a nice trip!

In between all of this, I have managed to get a few layouts done.....





I am still trying to figure out this scan and stitch thing in photoshop, and it is not working well for me at all. For now I am still taking photos of my layouts and posting them here. Sorry that the colors are not correct, they look dingy on here but look much better in person I promise! LOL! The "stumpjumper" one has a big blank space for Jamie to do the journaling, because this is his favorite truck and it has been retired, so I want him to record memories of going on fire calls in that truck, especially since he was one of the few that knew how to drive that particular model!