Weekend Fun

While there may not be quite as many things to do in Sylacauga, Alabama as there was in Los Angeles, Stephen and I have still found plenty to keep up busy.  Last weekend we got to experience our first GrapeStomp at Morgan Creek Vineyards, which is just 25 minutes down the road.  

Neither one of us had been to a GrapeStomp before and Stephen kept asking what we would be doing, so I got online and did a little investigating.  This is what I saw:

  After reading a few details, I discovered that there would be a Lucille Ball look-alike contest, along with opportunities to stomp on grapes and tour the vineyards.  I know the Lucy look-alike contest got me hooked :-)  So Saturday we drove out into the country and found Morgan Creek Vineyards.  It's actually a very pretty vineyard and winery house.  I could definitely see people getting married on the front lawns.  But I think my favorite thing of all was actually getting to walk along the actual vineyard with grapevines heavy with grapes.  Technically they were muscadines, which Stephen says is different from a grape, but they looked pretty much like grapes to me...just a bigger version.  Heres a few pictures for you guys:

The Lucille Ball look-alike contest:

It was a fun experience...gotta take advantage of everything that's offered!  In a few weeks there's a pumpkin festival at the local pumpkin patch!  Hopefully I can talk Stephen into that one too. :-)

Daisy Festival

Last weekend my mom flew in from Kansas City and we drove to Atlanta to go to the Daisy Festival at Stone Mountain. We stayed with family and had a great time hanging out with them and my friend, Vicki. Here's some pictures from the weekend:
According to the bags they gave out at the entrance, the Daisy Festival is "The Nation's #1 Arts and Crafts Festival." It was definitely the largest one I have ever been to. We were there for 2 days and I really don't know if we even saw all of the booths.

Our group: Me, Mom, Aunt Yvonne, Cousin Taylor, and Karen.

Yummm...turkey leg!

We also did a little backyard fishing before dinner one night. This is on the dock in my uncle's backyard. The lake was newly stocked about 2 yrs ago and we caught a fish almost every time we threw in the line!

Cousin Taylor and her awesome fish that tried to attack right before we took this picture.

My proud catch. Look at the size of that thing! ;-)

Even as adults they still pick on each other...


A big highlight of the weekend was getting to hang out with Vicki!!! She's a good friend of mine from childhood. We grew up together in a culdesac in GA and have stayed friends over all these years. It was great seeing her and her family.

Hooray for a fun weekend! Stephen didn't come because he wasn't thrilled by the idea of walking around a hot and crowded craft fair all weekend, but he had plenty of fun on his own. Football watching, poker & movie boys night, etc. Even though he says he missed me, I know he had a fun weekend too. Now it's back to work...Hooray for a job with Servant Life!

Friends!

Last Saturday we got to hang out with Alison and JK!!!  They made the trek down to Sylacauga to eat dinner with us and play some Taboo.  We had a great time with them and loved getting to hear what's been going on since they got married 2 months ago.  Hopefully we can do it again soon!

Fun Moments

Stephen and I got a good laugh the other night. Our front door is kinda finiky and you have to turn the handle just right to get it to open. It hasn't been much of an issue yet, because we've always been able to get it to open after a few tries.

Well Monday night we decided to splurge a little and order a pizza for dinner. When the dominoes guy got to the house, Stephen went to the front door to let him in and he couldn't get the door to open! He tried for a few minutes, yelled for me to come help, and then had to yell through the door for the guy to meet him down at the garage cause it just wasn't opening. :-)

We were both cracking up by the time we got the pizza. I felt kinda bad for the dominoes guy though...it was raining outside and he had to walk up to our door, then down to the garage in the rain.

Good times.

Redemption

This video is such a testimony to the redeeming, saving work Christ does in our lives.  I cried.  Hope you like it.

There is A Plan

The last few months I have been frequently reminded of God's sovereignty. Over and over I am seeing how God is in control of our lives and that He has a specific plan for us, for His people, and for the world as a whole (His creation) that He is faithfully bringing about.

Stephen and I can see this so clearly when we look back at how God brought us together as husband and wife. It's sometimes funny trying to explain to people how we met because it takes quite a while to explain all the little events over the years that God orchestrated to bring together two kids from completely different lives who never even lived in the same state until they got married. I like to think it's a testament to God's soveriegnty and plan.

Lately we're seeing God provide for us in the job category. For me personally, I feel like I am almost sitting back and watching God bring about a plan that has been years and years in the making.  I'll post more about it soon, but as I've reflected on God's direction in my life, it's reminded me of this beautiful passage from Psalms:

1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.
5 You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139:1-16

There's so much more I could write, but I'll stop here for the moment...more to come!

Various Weekend Adventures

This weekend we spent a lot of time unpacking our things and putting our own personal touch on the house.  We had some great help from Janet and Cole and actually got most of it done in just one day.  We're so glad to finally have our things.  It was quite the ordeal getting it out here due to our really bad movers, but we're just thankful it made it.  I was beginning to wonder if we'd EVER get our stuff back.  And Stephen has clothes again!  He was more or less on a 5 outfit rotation for the last month, so the first box he found was the one with his clothes in it.  The first one(s) I found had our dishes and pots and pans!  You better believe I had those opened and unpacked the same day they got here!

In other news, Stephen has a job!  He is the new CLC Director for FBC Sylacauga!!!  The CLC is the Christian Life Center, which is basically the recreation/gym/lobby area of the church.   This is such a huge answer to prayer for us.  He has been looking for a job for quite a while now, and God just placed this one in his lap out of the blue.  We literally had no prospect in sight and were praying that God would provide a job for him on Wednesday night, and then Thursday while Stephen was up at the church Pastor Tim asked him if he'd like to take the position.  When Stephen called and told me the good news, all I could think was, "God is amazing and He has totally answered our prayers."  Now we just need to find a new job for me!

We also got to go down to Tuscaloosa this morning to see our dear friends and celebrate the birthday and ministry of Keith Pugh.  This family is so special to Stephen and me.  Kameron was Stephen's best man in our wedding, KJ married us, and Keith & Teresa read scripture during the wedding.  It was great to see all of them and their respective families and to join in the celebration of leadership and a life devoted to God and ministry.  It was a great encouragement to hear testimonies of how God has used the Pugh family, and specifically Keith, to impact others for the Kingdom.  In many ways Stephen and I pray our marriage and ministry will mirror the Pughs.  They have been a godly example to us and we are forever thankful for them.