Christmas

I am long overdue a post.  I have had a large post just waiting to present itself, but it never happened.  I'm sorry.  It just kept growing and growing with this and that.  Company and birthdays. Pictures and too many words.  By now it is dated (so to speak).  So according to most statistics this one should be deep, thought provoking, fun, long, or just fabulous. Sorry y'all. I might let you down. I have to admit I did enjoy the long break; however, I missed y'all.

Merry Christmas! It's here in just four more days.

Is your tree up with its beautiful ornaments? Our fluffy tree is holding out well with no water under the trunk. I believe it is the roundest tree we've had, especially with the pounds of ornaments.(In the picture we hadn't put the ornaments on yet.) Each year we get an ornament from Daddy and Mama that has something to do with what we have done that year. What is your tradition?

31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:31-33 ESV)

What are your plans for Christmas? Are you staying in or going away? We are staying here to enjoy the holiday with my family.

Merry Christmas! And enjoy the holiday cheer, but don't forget why we are celebrating.

Sticky Business

On an errand to retrieve some chips from our pantry, I discovered that we had a spill.  A big spill.  A honey leak.  The jug had managed to get a puncture in its side-slowly dripping onto the carpet and spreading all around itself.  It isn't a small container. It is a gallon of honey.  Thankfully it didn't all spill out, but just about a quart.  By stepping into the puddle I found out the hard way that there was gooey, sticky, deliciousness on the ground.  That stuff really does get everywhere!  I keep finding it with my feet again and again.

1 Samuel 14:25

Now when all the people came to the forest, behold, there was honey on the ground.

What is your interesting episode of the day?

7 and counting...

The things I am thankful and happy about:

Going to a baby shower

Fellowship with friends

Getting off school early

Having time to clean my disaster of a room (I have neglected it for too long!)

The fall weather

Wearing my boots

Pulling out our Christmas piano books

And many more...

How about for you?  I hope your day was just as happy.

Endeavor: Staff Friends

The staff group at Endeavor was absolutely fabulous!  Sweet girls to look up to and learn from.  They were such good examples for me to follow.

This was the last day....*frownie face*. Of course I had to get pictures with my staff friends as well. Love you all!

Room mate! Anna

Buddy- Paige

Small group leader-Sarah

Old friend-Valen

Photo credits Anna Heritage.

P.S. Sorry for all the Endeavor posts. I just had to put these pictures up.

Endeavor: My Friends and Me

When I arrived at camp on Friday afternoon I was ecstatic.  I was so happy about seeing my old friends again and making new ones.  "Florida" was my bedroom (beachy feel) and over the course of the week I made good friends with my roomies.  I am learning to stretch my extremely outgoing personality to reach out to others rather than make others reach out to me.  That sounds backwards.  Believe it or not, us extroverts deal with reaching out, too.  I just don't love making small talk. It seems hard, but yet I do get some satisfaction out of it.  On the other end of the spectrum, I am learning the lesson of not being too outgoing. In other words, the center of attention.  Oh! I have been (and am being) taught that every single day, ever since I got home from Endeavor.  I was slapping myself for not realizing how to be thoughtful of others all week.  Will I ever learn?!!

This post is a conglomeration of my friends and me.

Puff and me.

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Grace Ann and me

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Sierra and me

In this picture I am the honorary Holmes. :)

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Beth and me

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Lindsay and me

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Anna and me

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My friends and me

Photo credits Anna Heritage.

Endeavor: Shooting Range

This is the event that impressed my brothers.   I think that it really surprised them when I got home that I wanted to go shooting.  It was fun trying to pick the cans off the box that afternoon.

I will classify this as:


Adventurous 
          Beauty


My favorite part of the shooting range was the 22-rifles. I have shot all these guns before, but it was just so fun to hit the little targets!  We also shot shotguns and 22-pistols. Now, the cool part of the shotguns was the fact that they had 8 clay-pigeon throwing machines.  Each one shot from a different angle. Later in the day there was a tournament, throwing up about 35 targets in 40-60 seconds!  Slightly overwhelming, but fun.

22 pistol

Group photo at the range.

Photo credits Anna Heritage.

Endeavor: Tea

Endeavor's slogan is:

Courageous
          femininity
Adventurous 
          Beauty

So, the whole week was based on this theme.  You learn how to change from tea attire to sport clothes quickly.  It was always surprising to see a curly headed up-do turned into a ponytail.

It was so amazing to spend the week with Godly women and girls who are striving for the same goal in life-to live life for God's glory and to fulfill His purpose for women with joy and intentional actions.  We not only had fun activities, but interesting tidbits like: flower arranging, hair and makeup, and walking with poise, etc. Interesting ways to become a woman with grace and poise while carrying yourself for God. The week was just great!

Sunday there was a tea- a delicious tea!  I was hostess at my table which was a great learning experience for me.  The Moms converted the living room into a quaint little tea parlor and there were some beautiful tables on the porch as well.  Along with my three or four cups of tea we had lemon bars, shortbread, chocolate mouse cups, cucumber sandwiches, mini chicken salad croissants, sausage pinwheels, and lemon poppy seed scones. Mouth watering! I can't believe it was over a week ago! Time really does fly by.

{via}

Delicious food!

{Photo by: Kay Heritage}

Mom and me.  I don't know what I'm doing.  I hope I'm not biting my nails!

Me, Mommy, and Sissy.

Photo credits Anna Heritage.

Endeavor: Small Towns

Endeavor has come and gone. It was so fun and so fast!  I will put up lots of pictures and let me tell you now-we had photo-shoot after photo-shoot all week, therefore there are lots of posed pictures and not as many candid.  I hope you don't get tired of seeing me, me, and more me.


Day one: I rode up with Miss Kay, Anna, Puff, and Tinsley. Lovely car ride.  We stopped in a few quaint old towns and you can kinda get a feel for them in these few photos. When we arrived at our destination there were all my friends to greet me! I loved seeing them all again.

The quaintness in the town. I just love wall billboards!

Very delicious food! (I took this picture :))

In the restaurant where we ate lunch.

Photo credits Anna Heritage.

Two Happy Events

     Two days ago I called my sweet Daddy up and asked him to run by the DDS(Georgia Department of Driver Services) to pick me up one of those enthralling little driving booklets.  He graciously stopped by and brought home the homework.  Because, believe it or not, I will be fifteen next month and I want to get my drivers permit as soon as possible.  Unfortunately, my birthday is on a Sunday and the office isn't open on Sundays or Mondays, so I have to wait, what seems to be forever, to go and take the test. I have to wait a whole two days!  So, in the meantime I am reading, studying, preparing and planning to take the practice test as soon as possible.  You don't know how excited I am! I put the literature in a pink folder and I plan to put a cute sheet of paper in the front.  To my family's great surprise and astonishment, I actually enjoy reading all the traffic laws and sign information.  It is on my bedside stand. :)

On a different note: I am going out of town for a week!  I am going to Endeavor, another Teen Pact event that teaches biblical womanhood.  I hope to post about it when I get back. For now, I have to go enjoy the joys of packing!

Fall+Tea

Nothing could be more poetic than hot tea on a fall day...ahhh. However, there is one little detail that makes it not quite so "perfect". It doesn't feel like fall. It isn't cold. It might just be what you call "perfect".  I am quite sure it will be plenty cold for this southern girl very soon. I have been out enjoying this amazing 70 degree weather all week.  It is refreshing.

Like I said before. I poured myself a cup of black tea and enjoyed every drop. I am a drinker/guzzler/consumer of this heavenly plant. Boy! do I love it with more creamer and honey than is good for me!

Right now I am peeking in on the Auburn vs. Florida football game.  Last year I learned to love this fun, fun, fun sport.  Just arrived home from the most amazing fall hayride! Great time, great fellowship, great fun!

Is your fall just fabulous? Mine most definitely is.

How to make a hair flower.

They've been "in" awhile.  How much longer we have to wear these cute things is completely unknown to me.  However, they are being worn as we speak, therefore they aren't "out" yet.  So take advantage of wearing a fun, outfit maker.  At first I was skeptical as to whether or not I could pull one off, but I risked it.  LOVE 'em!  You can pull it off, too.  Don't be shy.  Fashion is all about taking chances and wearing what you love.

Instructions: Glue between each petal.  On the back glue down your clip and cover it with a piece of fabric to finish it off.

The secret, or tip, is that there is no rhyme or reason to making a hair flower. Nope.  Just random shapes and sizes.  Also, heavier weight fabrics are better for a sturdier flower. Glue it together into a form and look at your finished project. Yay! See. It is very simple.

How to re-cover your book.

I am sure you all agree with me on the fact that it is much more fun to read a pretty book. Am I right? The old paperback with stickers and slightly, well, ugly fronts, or let's just say slightly, hmmmmm, unnatural. I was inspired by a magazine article about covering pumpkins with pretty papers for fall. The idea was to cut out little strips of paper and therefore transform your pumpkin, but seeing it was a little premature for us to have a pumpkin in the house (as of September), I randomly decided to use a lot more hot glue and cover a book...or two.  Don't ask me how I quite made that jump.  When I get really crafty I get really excited, too, the type of "you can't get things done fast enough" kind of excitement.  So I was rummaging through papers and then brought them down to make a final decision.

From Bach's sheet music to ordinary scrap-booking papers, my choices ranged.

Paper selected! (it makes me feel like fall :))

Obviously this book needed some help.

Align and apply pressure.

Hot glue!

I used a stencil to write the title.

Ta-Da!

How to recover your book:

1.      Choose a book.

2.      Pick a paper. 

3.      Cut the paper to the book's measurements (length-height).

4.      Put a strip of hot glue along one of the verticle sides. Quickly press the edge of the book against it aligning properly. (this is the hardest part. Keep your edges straight or the rest of the cover will be crooked). 

5.      Continue making strips of glue/pressing down until it is completed!

6.      Cut out a piece of paper and write the book's title. (you can type, print, write, stamp, use a stencil, get creative!)

7.      Glue on.

Place Settings

I have a sweet brother. I really do. All of my brothers are sweet, but Clay basically just gave me an early birthday present in disguise! He bought (I have kinda been begging him for awhile...:))a 50mm camera lens! *jump* He bought it for himself, but he knows I will use it just as much as he will and that is why it is like a gift.

Here are some photos I took at night in an awfully lighted room; but this lens just smooths right over those issues. 

Isn't this lens fun?

Survival. And how I survived.

Oh.  No.  It can't be.  Yet another week has gone by leaving me with a whole lot of great memories...and bruises. And I guess add sadness to the list; something like depression. I just got back from a survival camp and believe it or not, I LOVED it! That was sarcasm. Of course I loved it!  With a personality like mine, lots of people just make me happy. They really do.  I thrive on being with people. I get my energy from people.  People make my day... Enough about people. I just wanted to get the point across that I love hangin' out. *grin* Sooo.... Like I was saying. Survival isn't exactly my girly-girl type of thing, but relationships are.  I went last year and, I confess reluctantly, that, yes, I did like it.  I really don't know why I had second thoughts (yet again) this year about going, but considering the fact that Clay was Program Director and Mama and Susan Liana were cooking and lots of my friends were going, I was kinda inclined to go. So glad I did!  It was an amazing week where I made lots of friends and had such a fun time with not only the students, but also the staff.

Spoiler: We got pushed/pulled over a 12 ft. wall. Went over beams.  Shot lots of really cool guns. Learned survival skills (but don't ask me to survive in the wild). Got to build a shelter as a team.  Had awesome worship time. Grew spiritually. And had fun working together with my team.

Team ball catch.

I LOVE this gun! AK47 all the way.

(yes. I got 2 or 3 of the targets :))

Our team with our shelter!

Audrey and I had soooo much fun staying up 'til 3:00 in the morning talking :).

Great friends/staff!

The Survival staff, parents, and student's group photo

I've said it before, but I'll say it again.  It was great.

P.S. I miss y'all.