December !

Wow... December came and went super fast ! The month started off with my dearest friend getting married on Dec. 5th . Amy and I met when I transfered to UNC in 1999 and we were instant friends ! She is a sister to me and has a beautiful soul .... we moved to Nashville together after graduation and started " grown up life" together. We lived in a great apartment and worked our first jobs, traveled lots, and were involved in young life leadership. But... when Sammy and I got married in 2003, she moved back to NC to help take care of her mom living with liver disease. She is a true servant and a treasured friend - we had so much FUN in Asheville - my parents stayed with us in a cottage for the wedding weekend to keep Georgia so we could play! Here are some weekend pics !

this is what happens when grandparents have breakfast duty ...

Georgia apparently hates to wear gloves!?

Getting to use my skills I learned while working with MAC to make Amy beautiful on her big day!

Jasmine ( another roomate) and her husband Mitch

Onto another part of December...
The following weekend was Dec. 12th and it was the annual Franklin Dickens Festival ! We headed down to the town square for a little cider, kettle corn , sugar plums and Mr Scrooge! The streets are filled with Dickens characters, food, horse drawn carriages and more! we had a blast!!






Then... the next week, on Dec. 14th .... Sammy and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary! We went to our favorite place ( a small quaint Italian restaurant in downtown Nashville - Sole Mio.) We sat at our usual requested table next to the fireplace and loved every second of talking , eating slow ( not having to entertain a toddler and barely get food in - ha ha!), sipping coffee and then headed to Opryland to see the Christmas lights. We made some great memories...

Mmm.... fireplace and dark roast coffee- best night!

and the last part of December ... was of course... CHRISTMAS! New post to follow!

Overflowing with THANKS

I am amazed that this year is coming to an end already ... and I absolutely LOVE Thanksgiving for so many reasons : Time with family with,great food, rest, reflection, and time for me to journal and remember the things the Lord has taught us this year and what we are looking forward to in 2010 !
2009 has been a challenging year ... Sammy is no longer traveling that much with music and has focused more on "in town" writing projects and starting his own business online. This ...coupled with me transitioning into "stay at home mom" and working only 2 days a week really had us TESTED for financial provision. We were faced with many tough months in the last year as we were believing God for his plan to unfold with our business etc.. and WE SAW JUST THAT! We have been blown away by God's faithfulness this year of OVERFLOW AND ABUNDANCE and have been able to pay things off , pay bills AND bless others! We know that being self employed in today's economy is a FAITH WALK monthly...but as we continue to trust the Lord and serve him first , we are seeing breakthrough and we are seeing God's heart for us. I have finally realized that in God's kingdom...there is NO BAD ECONOMY! :) He will make a way!
This thanksgiving we are SO thankful for the hard journeys that we embark on... because although it's hard to rejoice in trials... our TRUE character is revealed and God is GLORIFIED!

Thanksgiving in Ringgold, GA with the Ward family!

Chubbiest cheeks!!

"Papa Sam"

'Gammy"

let's EEAAATTTTTT!!!

Zoe and Oraya

picking out our Christmas tree !

It's FALL YA'LL !

We have had such a FUN FILLED weekend ! Our town of Franklin does a PUMPKIN FEST every year that goes all the way down Main Street- it's full of kids and adults in costume, pumpkin flavored goodies, games, pony rides, kettle corn and great fellowship with friends - We look forward to this EVERY year !! Georgia is very much in love with kitties so we let her dress up as a leopard kitty for Halloween ( the whiskers are slightly crooked because I had a hard time getting her to hold still! ) She LOVED her costume and kept saying "pretty kitty" ! ha ha! After the festival we took a break for the afternoon and then headed out to a friends church for TRUNK OR TREAT and to hear our friend Phil Joel play some sweet tunes! ( www.philjoel.com) I have always done the "trick or treat" thing as a child but I think we want something a little different for Georgia. We have studied up quite a bit on the origin of Halloween and realized that a lot of the ancient traditions are rooted in things that we don't believe in or want Georgia to believe in. SO, we love to dress up and have fun BUT thought we would go to TRUNK OR TREAT with friends where it is safe and we actually got to hear worship music and dance until dark!!!... it was really refreshing and FUN! We will for sure do this every year and hopefully bring some more friends along. Here are some fun pics from the day !!

COUSINS - Luke, Gracie and Ella

Georgia HATED the ponies!? sad !!

Sweet friends - Daniel and Leslie

Kenda and Aaron ( gangstas yo !)

Phil Joel Band

Gentry's Farm

I must say... even though I miss home and being near family, I absolutely LOVE Franklin, TN and this sweet town that we live in. It does not get much better than this- Gentry's Farm in the fall on a beautiful Tennessee afternoon !!! Franklin is just the cutest picture perfect town where you are close enough to the city and close to the beautiful hills and countryside of Tennessee!  (that is why it's the #1 small town in Tennessee !! - for real ! ) We had a PERFECT fall day on the famous old Gentry Farm with some dear friends and their sweet kids . Georgia loved all the pumpkins, the barns, the popcorn and especially seeing all of the animals on the hay ride! Here are a few favorites from the day! 

IT'S FOOTBALL TIME !

Yes ... It's that time of year again for FOOTBALL , cold cozy days , tailgating and hot dogs!! This past weekend we went with Sammy's parents to the UGA vs. Vandy game and it was SO MUCH FUN! * even though I would have rather been watching my Tennessee VOLS play... I was a sweet wife and cheered for the UGA Bulldogs ... ALL FOR THE LOVE of my husband !
Football is so fun and it brings back such great memories from the college years - I can't believe I was a freshman 13 years ago ! We had a great time .. here are a few shots from the day!