GodLoveSex

One of my coworkers attends High Rock Community Church.  I went with her one Saturday evening to a service and loved it.  Since Alex and I are in the process of trying new churches, this one is definitely on our radar.  My coworker came to me a few weeks ago really excited about their new series: GodLoveSex.  I've been wanting to make it out to a service and thought today would be the perfect opportunity, only I'm coughing up a lung and figured I'd be a bit of a distraction.  So once I got up, ate breakfast, and fixed my coffee, I pulled up their website and listened to part 1 of the series online: Breaking Barriers.  It was so great, that I'm fixing to start part 2: Sex and Marriage.  Here's the link to the website that has part 1 and part 2.  Hopefully Part 3 will be up later this week!  Enjoy!  HRCC

Where have we been?

So I had every attention on setting some goals for the New Year and posting them on here.  Included in this list was blogging at least once a week, well you see how that turned out.  Things have been busy, since our new addition to the family, Delilah, who is growing like a weed.   I just wanted to let you know to check out my photography blog, G Squared Photography.  You'll probably see more updates up there then on here.  I will try and get better about blogging.  Hopefully I can post some pictures of the family and the circus, which we are going to today!!!

Merry Christmas!!

I can't believe another Christmas has come and gone.  This was Alex and I's first Christmas as husband and wife and I would venture to say it was far from a typical Christmas.  For our first married Christmas, Alex had to work.  Instead of sitting around at our house all day, we decided it would be best for me to go home for a couple of days to spend some time with my family.  I went home Tuesday morning and met my mom for lunch.  I was so excited to see my mom again.  After lunch with Mom, I was off to little Washington, to meet our new puppy, Delilah.  Now, most people that know me know that I have ALWAYS wanted a Great Dane and I finally have my baby girl.  She is absolutely beautiful (will post pictures later) with one blue eye and one black eye; one white leg and one blue leg.  She's so little right now and it's hard to believe she's going to be a gentle giant in about nine months.  I can't believe I finally have a Great Dane.  I don't think Macy is as happy.

Wednesday Mom and I had a spa day.  It was full of manicures, pedicures and massages.  It was a relaxing day.  It was great spending so much special time with her.  On Thursday, I met up with the girls (Anna, MB, Jenny, and Brook) and we went to try on bridesmaid dresses for Anna.  I'm so excited to be a part of her and Chris' special day, only a week before Alex and mine's one week anniversary.  Friday I spent time with my mom again.  We ran a few last minute errands.  I cooked dinner for the family, poppyseed chicken casserole, and we opened gifts and watched A Christmas Story, the McLawhorn family tradition.  It was nice to just spend time with my parents and my brother.

Christmas morning began with fried oyster's at the Mills followed by lunch at the McLawhorns.  It was a great day spent with wonderful family.  I had to leave around 2 to head home.  After 5 days away from the hubs, I was ready to get home and see him for our first Christmas.  We exchanged our gifts and then headed to the Greers for dinner.  All-in-all it was a wonderful Christmas filled with lots of love and family. 

I woke up this morning to an absolute mess from Deliliah a blanket of white in our yard.  It was absolutely beautiful.  I forget how beautiful North Carolina is when it is covered in snow.  Alex had to work (insert sad face) so Alan and Fran picked me up and I've been with them all day playing in the snow and relaxing in the house.  

Well Alex just walked in the door and I'm going to go sit in his lap and give him a kiss (aweeee).  I hope everyone had a joyous Christmas!!!!

Christmas Cards from Shutterfly

Since we were able to get 50 free Christmas Cards from Shutterfly, we decided to go with this design:

Retro Plaid Christmas Card

Create beautiful photo Christmas cards at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Free Christmas Cards

Shutterfly is offering 50 free Christmas cards.  You can check out the promotion here. 

If anyone knows anything about me, they know that I LOVE Shutterfly.  I love their promotions and amazing prices.  For our guestbook for our wedding, I ordered a Shutterfly photobook.  It was perfect.  It shared our story of how we met and our courtship through pictures.  The book included our first picture, pictures of dancing, my first deer, our engagement, our first home, and more.  It was so much more fun than the usual guestbooks you find at wedding.  Our friends and families left us encouraging notes throughout the pictures.  I loved the book so much, I opted to order a similar, but bigger, photobook that contains our wedding pictures.  For our wedding album, we ordered the big leather bound book.  It turned out beautiful and we get so many compliments on it's beauty.  

Since it's Alex and I's first Christmas as husband and wife, we knew we wanted to send out Christmas cards with pictures from the wedding.  I knew I wanted the flat picture Christmas cards.  Shutterfly offers a large variety of cards.  You can choose from flat cards and folded cards, with pictures and without pictures, and many more.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Don't just take my word for it, go check out all the amazingness that is Shutterfly.  You won't be disappointed! 

Thank-you cards:  http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/thank-you-cards

Calendars: http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars  

Photobooks: http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books

Enjoy looking around their website.  They have a TON of great stuff.  Please leave a comment on what you found!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I promise I'm going to try to not be a holiday blogger, ya kno, only post on holidays.  Things have been a bit crazy the last month.  My photography has really picked up and I've been averaging a shoot a week on top of all of my other work, but I'm loving every minute I'm able to capture someone's special moment.    Check out my work, here.

This year for Thanksgiving, Alex and I, took off Tuesday evening and headed east towards Chocowinity, NC, my parents new homeland.  We arrived at my parent's house around 11:30 at night, boy was that a long drive.  It was so nice to be able to sit with my parents again.  I hadn't seen them since the 23rd of October, and won't see them again until Christmas, but it was such a sweet time.  Wednesday, Alex and I did some shopping around Greenville.  We didn't get much, but we had fun looking.  I was also able to fix my Buffalo Wild Wings craving.  It was amazing.  That afternoon, I met at the Godley's house and did a shoot for their family.  So many of their images were filled with smiles and laughter.   We had dinner with my mom, dad, and brother Wednesday evening and watched television together.  It was nice to be able to sit on the couch with my family again.

Thursday morning I woke up and helped get everything ready for my mom's side of the family coming to the house.  It was absolutely wonderful seeing the familiar faces of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents, all whom I hadn't seen since the wedding.  Around noon, Alex and I loaded the car and headed to Grifton to see my dad's side of the family.  We ate lunch at my Grandma's and it was so nice to sit and reminisce.  It was great seeing Alex interact with my brother and cousins as if he had always been a part of the picture.

I am so thankful for an amazing family.  I love my parents dearly and it is always difficult leaving them.  Even after 4 years in college, I never thought it would be so heart wrenching to leave them after a few short days.  My brother and I have so much in common, it's always a treasure spending time with him.  Curtis and Alex truly interact as brothers, they have so much in common.  I am also blessed to be married to such a wonderful man.  You see, this was Alex's first Thanksgiving (that he can remember) not hunting with his dad and pawpaw.  It meant so much to me that Alex got to be apart of my family's crazy Thanksgiving traditions.

I am also thankful for the Ruffner's.  Matt and Bethany have become very dear friends of mine since moving to Lexington.  Alex and I love spending time with them.  Friday morning, Bethany and I headed off to the crazy world of Target for Black Friday shopping.  It was my first experience with Black Friday, and we both got some pretty good deals.  After naps, I cooked dinner and the four of us had dinner and played Apples to Apples, one of my favorite games.  I am so blessed to have great friends both here, at home, and in all parts of the world. :)

Mostly, I'm thankful for Christ.  It's so easy to breeze through the holiday season without remembering why we truly celebrate Christmas.  The birth of Christ.  This is the time we remember that Christ was born.  It's one of the few times we think of Christ as a child, but even as a child he knew what he was placed on earth for.  To die for our sins.  It sits heavy when you think of a child dying for you.  This holiday season, remember why we celebrate.  Think of Christ.

Monday, Alex and I are putting up our Christmas tree and I couldn't be more excited.  We are getting a real tree and starting our own traditions.  I wonder what those traditions will include.  What are some of your family holiday traditions!  Please leave a comment!   Merry Christmas!!

Happy Halloween

Sorry to anyone who actually reads this blog, although I seriously doubt there is anyone left.  Things have been quite hectic since school started.  I spend most of my time at school or at home working on school.  The first year of teaching is intense.  There is paperwork and lesson plan writing and parent contact and meetings and the list go on and on.  There are days that I go home miserable, wondering if there is anything that I said stuck with my kids.  Yes my kids.  As much as they drive me crazy, I love them.  I want the best for them.  I want them to be the best.  Most of my kids are really smart, they are just not quite sure how to apply themselves.  We just finished the first nine weeks.  I actually had a few students end up with A's in my classes.  To get myself ready for the second nine weeks, I watched The Freedom Writers and it was very refreshing.  After having my own group of kids, I was able to relate certain students in my class to students in the movie.

Aside from teaching, I've been working on my photography.  Check out my blog, G Squared Photography.  I'm really enjoying having something to do in my spare time, the little bit that I have.  It also gives me something to do when Alex is hunting.

Alex is still working at the jail in Davidson County.  He just went full time with benefits, praise the Lord.  The Lord really has blessed us and our marriage.  He is providing for us in ways we never thought possible.  We are so thankful to both have jobs, a home, and wonderful families.

I promise I'll try to update more often.  Please check out my photography blog and leave some words of encouragement, and if you know of anyone in the Triad area looking for a photographer, keep me in mind!

Happy Halloween!