What's been going on?

Things are starting to slow down around here.....a tiny. little. bit!!  I thought I'd take a few quick moments to catch you up on what's been going on around here!!!!  The last time I stopped by it was April, I had needed a break and had some big things on the horizon....you can read about that here!!

So, May:

I decorated my first (and probably only) barn wedding!!  It was a blast!! It was scarey!!  It was a personal challenge, trusting in the abilities that God has given me and the encouragement that I got from friends and family.  There were many times that I wanted to quit and run away (which is my "panic button")  But....I didn't do that, I pushed through and it was amazing!!!!

photo courtesy of Satta Photography

 



I wish that I could share all of the pictures with you, because it was such a great wedding!!  All of the details matched the bride and groom perfectly and the photographer did an incredible job at capturing it all!!! I could probably do a post just on his photography, his shots were unbelievable and magical!!  Make sure you check out his website, one word of caution...he's based out of Thailand!!  But he does visit the states and I believe he's planning a trip back here in the fall!!  Check out his facebook page here!! {tell him I sent ya!!!}

After the wedding came Jessica's GED test...which she passed and is now a High School Graduate!!!  At age 16, I might add!!!  She's done her first year at community college and is well on her way to achieving the goals that she has set before herself!!  We are very proud of her, to say the least!! 

Two weeks after the wedding, I was on to our Youth Group Girls Retreat!!  It's another decorating opportunity for me, plus (and way more importantly) a chance to really pour some Jesus into these teens that our youth team work with!!  The theme was "Obsessed" and it was based off of a six week bible study book by Hayley Dimarco.  We tackled the things in life that we tend to be obsessed with and then wrapped it up by looking at what it looks like to be Obsessed with God.  It was an incredible weekend!!

 

"Are you ready to unpack your Obsessions?" This is where girls could come and write down things they were ready to let go of; things that were taking over the space where God is supposed to be.

We hid a large ping-pong table behind that burlap and bookcase :)

Just a few areas that I get to decorate!

 

Sunday morning we wrap up with a sunrise service on the beach!! We are up at 4:45 and out the door by 5:00.  It's an incredible way to spend a morning after digging deep all weekend.  To sit on the empty beach, anticpate the rising sun, and hear the crashing of the waves is a very humbling experience.  It's definitely the highlight of the weekend.

 

The Ladies Tea was next on the schedule and it was a blast!!!!  The ladies had shown me this picture at the last tea and said "THIS IS WHAT WE WANT YOU TO MAKE US!!!!"  Okay, maybe they weren't that demanding, but I wasn't about to let this group of ladies down!!

 

 

So this is what they got!!!!  

 

I went with the zebra print with hot pink, because, well, why the heck not!!??  They are such a sweet and fun group of women and this ministry is something that I'm so honored to be a part of!!!  Next tea.....The Mad Hatters Tea Party!!!!  Should be fun!!

 

I've had a few cookie orders mixed in between and a few more to come!!  I've done Thomas the Train, Princess, Birthday (hat, gift, cupcake) and I have a rehearsal dinner and a pirate party coming up!!  You can check out my facebook page here.  I don't know where this will go, but I'm enjoying it for where it is right now!!

 

We've officially wrapped up our homeschooling for the summer!  Joe is off on a mission trip this weekend, Jaysen heads to camp in July, Julia turns 9 and I will be at camp in August as the craft lady and a teacher, while Jessica takes care of the camp store and Joe camps that week!  We're hoping to have our pool cleared up soon and I'm looking forward to a lot of lazy days at the pool!!!

 

Life in between these events have been sweet with a little taste of this and that.....here a few pics!!  Okay, so I was going to give you a few more pics, but blogger isn't cooperating!  And maybe it's best anyway.....you might be sick of pictures, who knows?  Bill and I got away for a quick weekend escape!! We went to a B & B in Havre de Grace, MD and it was a much needed break and rest!!  The flowers have been blooming diligently and whenever we have a second, we are out there cutting them and making beautiful arrangements to enjoy!

 

I've had to fight looking at my summer as being over before it begins .  We always have one major event in each month and I tend to glaze over and miss the in between times.  The backward bucket lists have really been a help for me in that area and I'm sure I'll do another one throughout the summer.  If you want to check them out, you can do that  here and here!!

 

What have you been up to and what's on your bucket list??  Do you have a summer bucket list?

 

God Bless <3 Lorraine

My Backwards Bucket List - December

Hey friends, remember at the end of last summer I shared my backwards bucket list here and here??  Well I'd thought I'd share my December with you in that same format!!  Like I've said before, I would much rather look at what I have accomplished instead of list that's not been accomplished....this seems to work for me!!

 Ready?  Okay....here we go!!

1.  Rest....yep, among, perhaps the CRAZIEST time of the year, we found plenty of time to rest!!

We watched Christmas movies and enjoyed laid back dinners on the couch!!  We've even continued that into January!

2.  Family Night Out - Thanks to some generous, anonymous gifters, we were able to go the movies and have tickets for the six of us AND refreshments covered by Regal Cinema gift cards!!  We don't go out on the town very often at all, because, well, six people equals a costly evening!!  It was fun getting ready knowing that I was going out for a fun night!  We saw "The Hobbit", which was very good, even though I'm not a fan of the dark side of good vs. evil.  We also had our very first experience with YoGo!!!  It was yummy!!

3.  Putting my word of the year into action!! On December 31st I started a ridiculous project of literally simplifying my home!!  We took down Christmas decor' and I thought it appropriate to tackle the attic before putting Christmas items back up there!  It went on from there and we've tackled everything from cabinets to bedrooms and the detached garage attic!!!  We will be selling our stuff at a yard sale coming very soon....I cannot wait!!!

4.  My first real cookie order!!  My Pastor and his wife asked us to make sugar cookies for their oldest sons' engagement party!!  I was freaking out!! We make these for ourselves or holidays all of time and we've done them for fundraisers, but this time there was a little bit more pressure!!  I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out!

 

5.  Christmas & Programs-Our chidren's choir worked very hard on about 5 songs that they shared at three sunday services and at the Children's Christmas Eve Flashlight Service!  My hubbs and I also participated in the childrens Christmas Eve service; we played a spoof on Hollywood Squares.  My hubbs was a contestant and I was one of the nine squares!!  It was a blast!  Now that my oldest lives elsewhere, him "coming home" for Christmas is always a highlight <3

my girl all the way on the left 

 younget and oldest (8 & 21)

 My five heartbeats playing games together...a gift on so many levels <3

 

6.  Disney Movie Night- as per Jessica and her Senior Class Trip, they have been doing a montly disney movie night....December?  Santa Claus 1 & 2, Christmas cookie snacks and a fun photo shoot!! 

 

7.  Outreach-the month wouldn't have been complete without opportunities to get outside of ourselves!  We had new friends over for dinner, I was invited to have lunch with some sweet girlfriends that I haven't seen in way.too.long, I was asked to decorate for the Ladies Tea that our church staff puts on for some of the women in our congregation and we held our first big student leadership training & service weekend.  We hit the streets of two local cities with hot coffee, donuts and hats/scarves/gloves for those in need that we encountered.  All of these opportunities were a wonderful way to be the hands and feet of Jesus <3 

 

8. Chalkboard Art - I had moved things around enough to pull my chalkboard out of the garage and find a home for her!!  I've had alot fun with this and love the inspiration that I find on-line!

 

9. Christmas Shopping-thanks to friends!  Our wallet is very, very, very tight and we had come to terms with the fact that we just couldn't swing Christmas gifts at all this year!  I can hear some of you gasp!! lol  I know, the horror!!!  Thanks be to God that He moved some friends of ours to give a generous gift to us so that we could buy our children a few gifts.  It really made Christmas so much more special and meaningful and these were small tokens of our thanks and appreciation to these families <3

10. Seeking the Light -something that I always do!!  He is always present and where there is Light, there can't be darkness....that is my focus!!

11. Date Night-an unexpected opportunity to have a small night out with the hubbs <3

12. Face Mask Fun -we decided to try a recipe from Pinterest!!  Boy was that fun!!

13. Teaching Opportunities-teaching Senior High Sunday School has become a highlight!!

14. Family Walks-they started out as family walks but quickly ended up to be just the two of us!!

15. Don't/Did shave december-hubbs wen all through November and most of December before shaving...he had such a blast shaving it off, I'm sad that I can't share the pictures!!

16. The end of soccer season-Our boys had one make-up game that took us to the first weekend of December!!  They ended up in second place for their division!!  It was a great season and we are so proud of our boys and the team - they have grown tremendously in one season!!

17.  Hot Cocoa Station-it was so much fun to see all of the different cocoa stations out there in blog world!!  Each one is so unique to its creator...what a fun thing to have for the winter months!!

19. Advent-for years I have wanted an advent calendar, something to count up to the weeks of Jesus' birth and every year I go without!  This year I made my own unconventional advent candle"wreath" using a wooden box and candles.  I also had the opportunity to make a calendar or countdown, with empty match boxes.  I strung them up in an empty frame and each night that we were home for dinner we would have a reading from that days box and take part in the family activity included on the paper.  We did anything from performing a random act of kindness (leaving gingerbread men in our mailbox for our mail lady) to heading outdoors to play flashlight tag!!  It was a blast and a beautiful way to worship our Creator!!

20.  Baking-another aspect of the holiday season that we didn't plan on participating in was baking Christmas cookies, sad, but true.  We are learning to accept these things and God is blessing us for our willingness to say "yes, okay Lord, take it".  A dear, sweet, precious friend of mine, Denise, wouldn't hear of us having a Christmas without cookies, so she provided a way for us!  We went nuts baking!!  We were in the kitchen for three or four days straight!!  We were all so very thankful for Denise's kindness and gift!!

 

 

So there you have it!!  My backwards bucket list!!  It's amazing to see just how many things we can pack into 30/31 days!!!  God's goodness is everywhere - you just have to slow down enough to see it!!  What were some of the highlights of your December?  I'd love to hear about them!!

 

 

God Bless <3 Lorraine