A celebration of a life well lived

A phone call from my Dad two Friday mornings ago completely re-routed our week last week.
My Grandfather (my Dad's Father), unexpectedly passed away.  When I say unexpected, I just mean that he wasn't sick and in the hospital.
On January 11th he collapsed - his heart gave out, and he was gone.  We have all said that his death was merciful. There were no weeks of agony in a hospital, and it wasn't a slow, painful death.  Praise be to God.  Opa (that's what all of us grandchildren called him) was looking forward to going home to heaven. And rightfully so. He was 89 years old and those 89 years were well lived. 
Last Saturday, I packed a bag to head to Cleveland, MS and the next morning my parents and I headed off for Pennsylvannia.  
I've told people that I don't think I will forget spending my 25th birthday in the car on the way to Pennslyvannia for my grandfather's funeral.  That just sticks out in one's mind.  Also, I will always remember the date of his funeral (January 16th) because that was Casey's 25th birthday.  My extended family surprised me with chocolate cupcakes and two days later we sang Happy Birthday to Casey over the phone.  We both had good days, regardless of the circumstances. 
The funeral day was truly a celebration of his life.  The pastor did a wonderful job sorting out all of the memories the family had shared and presenting them during the service. 
My Opa left behind legacies revolving around faith, family, and community.  It was evident by all of the people who came to the visitation and or funeral. 
My Oma (his wife) is sad as is to be expected.  I was sharing with one of my friends about how difficult it is to see her alone.  She shared with me a paraphrased a quote she read in a book called The Disciplines of a Godly Woman.  Basically, it said, "When your husband dies your title changes.  You are known as a widow and not a wife, and that is a big identity change. However, we will never lose our titles of being daughers of Christ in life or death." That is true and I found it encouraging.  My friend is going to write down the exact quote, and when the time is right, I'll probably share it with my Oma in a letter.

Opa and Oma at our wedding on June 5th, 2010.

friends

Last week my long time/childhood/dear friend Stephanie came to visit all the way from Augusta, GA.  A summary of our time together:

long talks
cooking
Cotten Blues
Sleeping in (all the way to 8:30!)
flea markets
Say Yes to the Dress
morning coffee while watching the rain fall
surprising another childhood friend at work, resulting in lunch
it was a good visit.

oh, and she got Casey and I and hooked on Friday Night Lights.

*New subject

We also recently attended a PA white coat ceremony for our friend Nathan. 

He and Casey are alike in that they both have 3 younger sisters.

Casey loaded down with everyone's purses and such. 

Nate, we are sure are proud of you - looking forward to graduation!

Summer Time

Real summer time arrived for me this month.  I finished my summer semester last Monday and don't go back to class until the 22nd - woo hoo!  I made great plans for August, and so far they've come to fruition. 

- watch the Olympics --> check! And they're not over yet.
- read for fun --> check and still reading of course.
- go out to eat with friends --> check
- leisurely window shop around town with Case --> check.  we enjoy getting ideas for our new home.
- sunday afternoon naps --> check.
- deep clean the house --> in progress.  taking it one room at a time.
- schedule a visit with my childhood friend Steph --> check. she's coming next week!
- host friends for dinner --> plans in the works.
- finish my pillow sewing project --> working on it.
- last but not least, go to Mobile to visit my college Roomie - check (almost!), going this weekend to help host a wedding shower.

Don't you love lists you can tackle over a month's time?  I sure do, especially the one typed out above.

New Life

On Friday, July 20, 2012 at 2:51pm, Casey and I became Uncle Casey and Aunt Rachel. 

Such a precious gift to this world.  The very first time they brought him to my sister-in-law, we shed many tears of joy.  Why don't they have tissue boxes in every room of the hospital?? 

Welcome to the world little Bradley, we are so happy you are here!

Thank You Lord...

 for the colors you created in this world,

for giving us the chance to move,

for ready made pizzas - because those are easy to serve when you haven't been cooking,

for providing us with friends who had an extra washer on their hands,

for a welcoming front door,

for my family's willingness to come and help us move AND for this beautiful house warming gift,

for some of the kindest neighbors on the street,

for unpacked boxes,

for a mantle,

for the ability to exercise,

for clean water,

for Casey's music room,

for a dryer bought and given to us by Casey's co-workers,

for a window at the kitchen sink,

for our very first little Roma tomato,

and believe it or not, thank you for mundane house chores - because they keep me grounded in the daily grind.

We so are blessed - Praise God from whom ALL blessing flow!  None of what we do or what we have been given would be possible without Him. 

"My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver." Proverbs 8:19 

New, New, New

Hello blog friends, happy June! 

Do you ever mark a date well in advance on your calender, stare at it again and again, and suddenly you are living the very date you've circled and anticipated?  I had one of those experiences THIS week.  At the end of March I found out that I was accepted into graduate school at Southern Miss in order to pursue my Master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology.  I was so pumped!  My letter informed me that I was to report for advisement on May 25th, 2012 and classes would start the following week.  So, I marked those dates on my calender with my faithful pink flair pen, and now here I am, done with my first week of school.  I started class Wednesday.  It was a pretty long day - 9 hours of class total, whew!  Welcome to summer school.  Yesterday, I was assigned my first client, and I will do my very first therapy session with them next week.  

Needless to say, this is something new going on in our lives.  I am a student again, toting around text books and mechanical pencils.

Another 'something new' occuring in our lives is.........

We will be HOMEOWNERS!

That's right, at the end of June we will close on a house that I thought was the uglist house in the world.  Everytime I drove by it, I thought, "Yuck, they need to tear that place down."  Thankfully, someone saw the beauty in it, bought it, flipped it, and put it up for sale again.  We are beyond grateful. We are grateful for their vision, for a house with a fresh start, and for the backyard - a big, blank canvas for us to work in.  It will bring us much joy (and sweat) in the coming years to work side-by-side in that yard. 

We are looking forward to turning that house into OUR HOME. 

"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."  Joshua 24:15

(I know that verse isn't talking about the physical house itself serving the Lord, but it just popped into my head while writing.)

Have a great weekend!

Spring, Spring, Spring

Spring is flying by and all I know to do is hold on tight and enjoy the ride.

Casey coached a rec soccer team for the past couple of months.  They just had their end of the year swim party this past Saturday.  He thoroughly enjoyed coaching practices and the games.

Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce you to the "Chick Magnets."  They were sponsored by Sanderson Farms (Chickens), hence their name.  Coach Casey loved warming up with the guys. 

We've been enjoying fresh flowers...

lighter meals...

Casey has been playing at a couple of local restaurants...

Daniel the percussionist. 

We saw Lion King on broadway in New Orleans...

that made for a really fun day-long-date.

Friday we attended a couples wedding shower and I recycled some of our wedding gift wrappings.

On Saturday I helped host a bridal shower and I made a double batch of Pioneer Woman's Mocha Brownies.  They are to-die-for.

Something to note: PW says to chill the brownies after icing so that the icing really has a chance to firm up.  That tip is very important - I didn't chill them long enough and the icing wanted to come right off the brownie when we were trying to cut them.  We ended up putting them in the little muffin cups to contain them.  Therefore, even though they still tasted delicious, the presentation was not as pretty.  They do cut well when they have been chilled properly. 

The bride-to-be.

Later that day, we headed downtown the annual Artwalk.  We love our friends.

That's the re-cap, for now.  Enjoy the rest of your week!