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!

Burgers, Zoo, Pegs & Jokes, and Kayaking

I have to say I had a blast this past weekend. Our good friends Anna and Chris came to spend the weekend. Anna and Chris were celebrating their five-year dating anniversary and Lexington was a good half-way point for them to meet up and spend some time together since Anna has been volunteering this summer. Anyway, they both got here Friday night along with some of our friends from Lexington. We finally got to grill out on the grill Erica (Alex's sister) gave us as a wedding gift. We hung out and had a great time with awesome friends. We had hot dogs, hamburgers, chips & dip, and baked beans. I used my mom's recipe for baked beans and I have to say they pretty amazing.

Saturday morning, after waking up and getting ready, we took off for the zoo. Alex is a zoo pro, meaning his family had season passes when he was a kid and he went regularly and Anna had been before. On the other hand, Chris and I were newbies, but we were all excited. We arrived at the zoo around 10:15 and we left around 5.

After our day at the zoo, we decided to take Anna and Chris to Don Juan's. They are huge Mexican friends, so we knew we had to let them try out some "Lex Mex" (hehe). I'll be honest, Juan's was a hit because we went back Sunday night!

After dinner, Erica and Stephen came over and brought Pegs & Jokers, a game that we play all the time. We taught Chris and Anna and they both enjoyed it. The night was full of fun and laughter. We were able to just joke around and have a good time. Alex & I really enjoy having friends and family over to hang out.

Sunday morning we once again got ready and loaded up the truck with the kayaks and headed to the river. We had a 12' kayak, a 14' tandem kayak, and an 8' ocean kayak. Let's be honest, I was a bit skeptical. We all know I usually don't get to excited over something that requires a lot of energy and muscles (typically because I have neither), but I was going to enjoy the day. We put in the river around 10:15 and started on our ~7 mile trip. We really just enjoyed the scenery. Anna and I were in the tandem kayak and really got to talk about the past month. I got to learn about where she was volunteering and she got to learn about married life. We stopped on a bank for a brief lunch. The complete trip took us about 4 hours. Right after we loaded the kayaks back up, it started to rain. Sounds like we had great timing right? Not exactly. See we had dropped Alex's truck off where we would be ending our trip. Alex's truck only has 2 seats. Anna and I (plus Macy) hopped in the back of the truck and crouched under the kayaks in the rain. Then the bottom fell. The rain felt like knives poking us. It was an adventure.

It was a great weekend. We really enjoyed hanging out with all of our friends, going to the zoo, and kayaking. Alex and I have already started looking for me a kayak so we can go together more often.

This is a busy week for me. Teacher workdays start Thursday and until then I am busy getting my classroom set up and writing lesson plans. I finally found out what I will be teaching this fall (3 Algebra's, 2 of which are year long courses). I am so excited about this year. Even though I'm new, I feel fully equipped and well prepared to take on my own classroom. I know it's going to be a challenge, but I know I have the Lord to guide me. Please be praying for me as I am impacting my student's lives daily. My hope is to show them the Love of the Lord above all else. Pray that I can be a witness to not only the students, but to my coworkers as well. I can't wait to update you on the first week of school!!

Wedding Pictures are up!!

A Big Thank You goes out to Eric Jones Photography!! Eric did a fabulous job on capturing our special day. I highly recommend Eric if you are looking for a photographer. Check out some of our wedding pics here. More to come soon!

Alex and Georgina Greer

Today marks our 3-week anniversary. We are still trying to get settled into our house. There are boxes everywhere and it's driving me crazy, but we haven't had much time to sort through boxes. Since we've gotten home a lot has been going on and every day we are realizing how blessed we are. After returning from the honeymoon, I had an interview and was hired with Lexington City Schools. I will be teaching Honors Geometry and Algebra I in the freshman academy at Lexington High School.

Getting a job with the state, like any other job, requires a ton of paperwork and the last thing I wanted to do was to have to fill out the paperwork with my maiden name, only to change in two weeks later, so I was a little pushed to go ahead and get my name legally changed. Monday morning I went to the social security office in Salisbury and applied to get my name changed. Surprisingly I had my new card by Wednesday afternoon. With my social security card in hand, we headed to the DMV to get my new Driver's License. Now I am OFFICIALLY, Georgina McLawhorn Greer and I love it!!! With my new (temporary) driver's license in hand, we were off to State Employee's Credit Union to open a new bank account. These are just a few of the things involved in becoming one.

Things have been going really well for us. I'm still having to get used to Alex's swing shift schedule. I think it will be easier once I am working full time as well. I think next week will give us an idea of what our schedules will be like. I will be spending Monday at the school getting my classroom ready. Tuesday through Thursday is my Beginner Teacher Training with the school. We will have to be diligent about how we spend our time together, especially once Alex starts working the night shift.

Once again, I really hope to put up pictures of our house and it's progress soon. I'm in the process of putting pictures on my new computer and once that process is complete, I promise I will put up pictures of the house and of course, Macy!!

Until later,

GG :D

It's Official

We're Hitched!!! We had a wonderful time on our honeymoon in Tennessee and are kinda sad to be back home. Our house is a mess, but we are slowly getting it put back together. Here's a bit about our wedding:

I'd love to say the wedding went off without a problem, but that wouldn't be the case. The day started out well. I woke up and went to get my make up done. Afterward, I grabbed a bite to eat and headed to the house to get ready for the wedding. After setting up a few things, Beverly started on my hair. Then, I get a text from Erica asking if it was raining where we were. I looked out and the skies were dark towards town. The wedding wasn't for a few hours so I didn't get too worried.

Eric arrived around 3:30 and it was raining. Him and Jeff started snapping pictures right away. The girls were upstairs getting ready in what used to be my brother and mine's bedrooms. The guys were getting ready in what used to be my dad's office. There is a pool table up there now and the guys were hanging out and playing pool. Between the rain he snuck the guys off to take some pictures at the packhouse. Eric showed some to me and they were awesome. Eric came in and asked if we were ready, so we took off across the street on the golf carts. 6 girls on 1 golf cart was a sight to see. I know Eric took some great shots and I can't wait to see them. About 45 minutes before the ceremony, Eric set Alex up outside and allowed me to walk up behind him for a first see picture shot and I am SO thankful we did this. I will never forget the look in Alex's eyes when he saw me for the first time.

On to the ceremony, we decided to start early to try to fight off the rain, but the sight and feeling of rain drops had everyone running for cover: under tents, under the awning, and in the garage. So we held off the ceremony. About 30 minutes later, we decided to get things going. It was still raining, but that wasn't going to ruin my day. They moved all the guests under one tent and the family got under another and I grabbed my daddy's arm and we headed out of the house.

The next twenty minutes were a blur. Alex remembers more about the ceremony than I do. I remember the look in his eyes and that's about it. The things I do remember are: my dad laughing from me looking at him when the pastor asked if anyone had any reason why we shouldn't marry, laughing about not being able to get Alex's ring on because his finger was swollen, the sound of my best friend playing the guitar and singing "Lover Never Fails" (it almost brought tears to my eyes), and my uncle, the pastor, making us redo the kiss because Alex only gave me a peck. (By the way, our pastor said, "You may now kiss your wife", which I had never heard before and we decided to use wife instead of bride. I loved it!)

Shortly after the ceremony, the rain stopped (of course) and it was time to just enjoy the rest of the evening. Friends and family sat around and talked. The food was absolutely amazing. My uncle and aunt provided and cooked the pig, which was deliciously. We took some more pictures with family and bridal party and then had the first dance. Alex and I decided to use Neil McCoy's "No Doubt About It" as our song. My father and I danced to Heartland's "I Loved Her First" and Alex and Fran danced to Steven Curtis Chapman's "A Parent's Prayer".

Overall, I didn't get everything I wanted out of my dream wedding, but the day was perfect. No matter how we got there, the end result was the same: we're married. I am Mrs. Alex Greer. I am now laying beside my husband as he naps from working a twelve hour shift last night.

I know this is two weeks late, but I just got my new computer today. I couldn't be more excited with the purchase. I hope to post pictures from the house soon. I know many are wanting to see our progress. Until we meet again!

Georgina Greer :D