Gabi | Senior Pictures

Last weekend, I had the chance to hang out with my brother's sweet girlfriend, Gabi.   I met up with Gabi and her mom on a cloudy Friday afternoon to snap those infamous senior portraits.  

Gabi has been in our family for over two years now.  She has a quiet demeanor.  She speaks no foul of anyone or anything and could honestly be a Greek goddess with her olive skin and dark brown hair.  Shes absolutely gorgeous from the inside out.  

Gabi's quietness has been something I've had to get used to.  I'm a talker.  I'm loud.  I'm honest.  So is my sister.  Between the two of us, there is no such thing as quiet.  So when my brother brought home this sweet, tender soul.. we didn't know how to handle it.   Honestly. 
 

 

However, what I have come to realize is that her gentle and quiet spirit is refreshing.  It encourages me to sit back, shut up and just listen.  It encourages me to get out of the spot light and let others tarry there.

I can't help but think of this scripture when I think of Gabi.

"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.  Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."  1 Peter 3:3-4

A gentle and quiet spirit is of great worth in my creator's eyes.  Therefore, it should be something we notice and adore about our sweet Gabi.  I'm not saying I am going to quit my life goal of making her a chatty Kathy like the rest of my family!  But it is her spirit, that quiet, tender, careful, delicate demeanor, in itself that makes Gabi the absolute beauty she is. 

Congrats, Gabi!  We are so thankful for you and are so excited to see you take Raleigh by storm!
 

Bunion Be Gone

In the past 10 days I have taken more pictures of my foot than I have in my entire life collectively.  I had a bunion surgically removed a little over a week ago.  Glamorous, I know!  I have really wide feet anyway, but the bunion on my right foot made it even more wide --  and let's be honest, it was pretty ugly.  It wasn't as bad as anything I saw on Google images.. but regardless ugly.  Even though it was ugly, that is not the reason I had it taken off.  It was physically restraining.  In any active activity, that baby would throb and cause a good amount of pain.  It started with high school basketball.  Before every game my coach would cut out two doughnut shaped pieces of styrofoam and tape them to both of my bunions (yes, one on each foot.. my left doesn't hurt near as much) before he would tape my ankles.  

Okay, wow.  I am telling you the history of my bunion agony!  Let's just skip to last week!  Bunion, gone.  Pain, ever so present.  I was waited on hand and foot by my husband and my mother pretty much all of last week.  It was incredible to have those two people love on me so well.   Colby was unbelievable.  He brought my coffee to bed, he would literally carry me to the bathroom in the middle of the night when walking on it was too painful, he would massage it at a moment's notice.  He was wonderful.  My mom worked from my dining room the next two days.  Bringing me anything I needed and cooked us supper (well breakfast & lunch too) every day and stocked my pantry, fridge (& freezer with homemade baked ziti and chicken casserole to fix the following week so I didn't have to go to the grocery store!)  World's Best Mama Award. 
















 

 

The day my mom couldn't be here, my precious mother-in-law came down to see me and relieve me of my cabin fever.  She got me out of the house and rolled the windows down.  It was fabulous.  My sisters-in-laws were also so incredible at loving me.  They brought me magazines, goodies, care packages and a beautiful spaghetti supper! 

 

 

 Ya'll this is like the most minor surgery EVER!  And I had all these people loving on me like it was something super serious.  Golly, I am so blessed.  I am officially full weight bearing and I get my bandages taken off and my post-op boot changed next week.  Recovery is going great and I am so thankful for the continued support!

HAPPY HEALING!

To you, Mr Scott

Sending a little love out for the husband today!

I am so incredibly proud of Colby.  He started his new job today.  He worked for this company back when I was in college, but quit to join the family business - just before we got married.  A couple months of getting into the swing of things back at home, his old boss gave him a call and wanted to know if he would like to come back.  

For my homebody husband, moving was a huge deal.  For my family man husband, leaving the family business was a huge deal.  But Colby felt the Lord moving in our situation.  So we decided to pack up as a family and move so he could pursue a different career path.  

I am so incredibly encouraged by his boldness and willingness to surrender his own plans.  We prayed this over Colby this morning, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do". (Ephesians 2:10)  And we rest in the fact that The Lord has planned and prepared us for this.

Oh happy day, Samuel Colby.  I am so proud of you.  A gorgeous steak supper awaits your arrival!

A Year in Review | 2013

Oh my my.  What a year 2013 was!  Is it hard to imagine that a single year could be this eventful.  How did we get here?  Oh, well let's just have a little review of our past year.

But first, go grab yourself a cup of coffee!

Remember, Colby & I started 2013 like this:

A recently engaged couple of wanted to get married in just a couple of months.

_________________________________________________________

2013 consisted of this... (in chronological order, I might add).

 - We bought a brand new car // March

- Colby quit his job in Raleigh to pursue the family business back at home // March

- Colby moved back in with his parents and started his new job // April

- I graduated from North Carolina State University // May

- I moved back in with my parents // May

- WE GOT MARRIED! // May

- Colby & I spent a week in the Dominican Republic // May

- Colby & I moved into our first home // June

- Colby & I moved into our 2nd home... the one we were gonna buy // August

 

- My sister got engaged! //August

- Colby decided to quit the family business to pursue a different career back in Raleigh // October

- I got in PA school!  Go DEACS! // October

- My sister-in-law got engaged! // October

 

- My other sister-in-law announced she had another human growing inside of her! //December

- We celebrated our first Christmas together // December

- We moved out of 2nd home into our third // December

Whew!  Don't that make ya'll wanna take a nap?!

It is truly amazing all that can happen in a single year.  We are so incredibly blessed to have life and life to the full through Jesus.  After all he is the one that is guiding us in the crazy life.  Life to the full for us, for this season of our lives, has consisted of late nights, early mornings, cardboard boxes, tissue paper, pots and pots of coffee, family, laughing, food and pure joy.  

Oh, 2014, you have incredibly big shoes to fill.

The Tale of Elevator 44

I got a quick, yet funny, story for ya.

 

My parents, siblings, husband and I all went to see my grandmother in the hospital one night.  When we were done visiting with her, all six of us got on the elevator.  My little (ahem, 6 foot 3 inch) brother told everyone to jump.  I had always thought that that was how to make your stomach drop.   So when the elevator almost came to a stop everyone but my mom jumped.

And we essentially broke the elevator.  We hit the alarm button on the elevator multiple times and we even called the hospital to let them know.  Oh my word, it was hilarious. 

About an hour and half went by before the security team and Forsyth County Fire Department started talking to us about getting us out.  They explained to us that we were between two floors, so they couldn't just open the elevator doors.  

Next thing we know, a fireman is coming through the roof of the elevator.  He brought a ladder the width of a pencil (well, it seemed like it) with him.  One by one, we crawled out and thanked all the men involved in our "rescue".

Gracious, I love my family.  I love all the mischief we get in and how we laughed for a solid hour and half that night.

Stuffing and Shoe Boxes

This past weekend we celebrated Thanksgiving with the Scott's.  It was such a different family gathering.  Colby's cousin, Sarah, is very active in the ministry, Operation Christmas Child.  She also served over in the Philippines this past summer.  Once she came back this summer she was ready to hit the ground running with packaging and delivering shoe boxes full of goodies for her beloved Philippine babies.  So this Thanksgiving Sarah & her mama suggested we could pack boxes for OCC.

Meet Sarah & Mama Penny:

So after the Scott family did some serious grubbing... we started sorting toys, school supplies and hygiene products for the 25 shoe boxes we were going to pack.  Gosh, ya'll.  It was so sweet.  You would go into the living room and all the men where folding boxes and then you came into the kitchen and all the women (& twins) were sorting boy versus girl stuff.

Before we starting packing the boxes the entire Scott family came into the kitchen to pray over the toys, school supplies and hygiene products.

 

Then we started packing our boxes and each of us wrote a note to go in our boxes.

Ya'll.  I can't even.  We live in the land of pure abundance.  I am so encouraged by Sarah's desire to take all this abundance and give it away.. all the while, telling people that Jesus is strong and good and that he loves them.

Amen?


Amen.