Fall in the Mountains

Happy Anniversary to Jason's parents!
They have been married for 53 years today!

In order to celebrate, they wanted to go to Pigeon Forge, TN and invited Jason and I to go with them. We, of course, said yes! It's an absolutely beautiful time of year to be in the mountains.

We took the Blue Ridge Parkway through the Smoky Mountains. The leaves have definitely changed and everything was beautiful. We stopped at Waterrock Knob Overlook to take a few pictures.

After lunch in Gatlinburg, we went to Ober Gatlinburg to ride the sky tram. The sky tram takes you from downtown Gatlinburg up the mountain to the ski resort area. From there you can take a ski lift up to the very top of the mountain. It was so much fun. The scenery was breathtaking. We even saw a deer feeding on the side of the mountain under us.

View from the top!

Jason's Parents at the top

Us at the top

From the very top of the ski lift

On the Ski Lift

View from the sky tram

After checking into our rooms in Pigeon Forge, we decided to go to a dinner show at the Smith Family Dinner Theater. It was a singing/comedy show. When we got there an employee gave me an index card and told me I was chosen for a door prize. He was a little sketch about it, so I figured it would be more complicated than someone just handing me a gift. I was right. I was called up to the stage along with 3 other women and 4 men. Then we had a hula hoop contest! Boys against girls. I still can't believe I hula hooped in front of all those people! They did end up giving each of us a CD and some coupons as a prize though. Jason got it all on video. I'm surprised he hasn't posted in on Facebook!

That's me, middle left.

The following day we had breakfast at Applewood Farmhouse and stocked up on our absolute favorite apple butter from The Apple Barn.

Then we were off to Dollywood.

At Dollywood we:

Rode all the roller coasters, checked out the 25 pound apple pie, watched the making of sorghum syrup, rode the train, caught a show, went to the Grist Mill for some fresh cinnamon bread, and fed the ducks and fish.

We had a great time!

On our way back home, we drove through Cade's Cove. It was a great drive. We were able to see more beautiful scenery and see some wildlife. We saw several black bears, deer, and turkeys.

One of the does.

One of the churches

We had a wonderful time! A big thank you to Jason's mom and dad for inviting us!

Pumpkin Carving

Jason and I bought our pumpkin a couple of weeks ago 
and decided that it was about time to carve it!

Our pumpkin before

First, we had to pick up a pumpkin carving kit! 
We picked out our favorite pattern and got started.

It was my job to scoop all the goo and seeds out of the inside.

Jason is the artistic one, so he traced the pattern onto the face of the pumpkin.

Tracing the pattern on

Then, he used the little tools to carve it out. 
He did an awesome job, and it looks fabulous!

Cutting out the pattern

Now we have some festive fall decor!

Finished product! 

Weekend Update

This weekend was filled with family and friends. 

Jason went to Florida with his dad and brother-in-law on a fishing trip.

They left on Friday and went out on Saturday morning.

Jason and his dad

They caught several trout and a few bull sharks.

Trout

While Jason was gone, I went shopping with my mom, went to a birthday dinner with friends, and had a Saturday to just chill.

Jason got back late on Saturday night. 

Sunday morning we watched church online, then had lunch with Jason's parents.

After lunch we went to the park for a first birthday party!

The birthday girl with some of her gifts.

Because the party was at the park, we took Daisy with us. Miss Lexi loves dogs!

Playing with Daisy's ball

They even took a short ride in the new wagon!

The party was a lot of fun, and Daisy got completely worn out chasing a ball.

These are the outfits Mom and I picked out for Lexi. Super Cute, right?

On the way home from the party, we stopped and picked up our pumpkin. With the weather today and the pumpkin it's starting to really feel like fall.

It's time to start pulling out the chili and chicken and dumplins recipes.

It was a wonderful weekend.

I'll leave y'all with a picture of Daisy in her Halloween costume.

She's a bumble bee!

What do you think?

Butterflies

Two years ago today my sweet Nana went to be with Jesus. 

It's hard to believe that much time has passed already. 

I miss her and think about her often.

Anyone who knew Nana knew that she loved butterflies. They were her favorite. Just a couple of days ago a beautiful butterfly landed just a few feet from me and just sat there on the stones fluttering its wings.

Each time I see a butterfly I can think of my Nana and smile.

Smile remembering all the wonderful times we had together and the memories made.

Smile knowing that I will see her again one day.

Destin 2012

Jason and I spent the last week in Destin, Florida with my parents. 

It was an absolutely fabulous vacation.

I love the beach.

I love seafood.

And the weather last week was perfect. 

Sunny, mid-80's, and a nice breeze.

As soon as we arrived in Destin and got checked in to our condo, we went to eat at our favorite restaurant- The Crab Trap. We fit it in for dinner a few more times during the week. We made sure to have seafood for dinner each night and even had breakfast out a few mornings. Let's just say we ate a lot during our vacation!

The Back Porch, The Crab Trap, and The Donut Hole

Our first day in Destin was spent shopping, but each day after was spent at the beach and pool. The water was gorgeous. It was the most clear I have ever seen it and had that beautiful blue/green caribbean color. It was the perfect temperature too. Whenever Jason and I got hot from the sun, we headed into the water to cool off. Even at waist deep we could see our feet at the bottom and were able to see some fish swimming around us. We saw several different types, but I'm not sure what their formal names are. By the middle of the week, Jason bought a snorkel mask from Wal-Mart in order to get a closer look at things. With the snorkel, we were able to find a big crab, a baby nurse shark, and a flounder! 

A Beach Photo Collage

A few more animals from our trip- birds at the beach, alligators at Fudpucker's, and fish in the pond where we played putt-putt.

In the evenings after dinner we watched movies, played putt-putt, stopped for yogurt, walked on the beach, and watched the sunset. The first day of vacation I read Psalm 19:1 in my quiet time.

"The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship."

Psalm 19:1 (NLT)

The sunsets last week were definitely an amazing display of the Lord's craftsmanship.

my favorite sunset photos from the week.

We had to take a couple of pictures in front of the water.

Mom and Dad

Jason and I

Here are a couple of more pictures from our trip.

Views from our condo.

The Harbor

I am so thankful that we were able to take this vacation. Time away and with family is priceless.

iServe

Last year, as Jason and I stepped away from youth ministry, we felt God calling to minister in the community. Our good friends, Jeff and Sherry, also felt God calling them into ministry. In talking with them, we decided to start a non-profit to serve the community. Instead of being associated with one church, the goal is to be connected with multiple churches. Association with multiple churches would allow us to help connect people in the community to a church near them.

We decided to call our ministry iServe Ministries. An immediate need we knew of was food. There are many children using a free/reduced lunch program at their schools. For many this means they eat both breakfast and lunch at school for free or at a reduced rate. We knew of a group in a nearby county that was providing some students on the free/reduced lunch program food for the weekends. We thought that might be something we could do in our base county.

Our goal was to provide a backpack each Friday with enough food inside to feed that child and its family for the weekend.

We started trying to get connected at some of the elementary schools last school year. In the beginning we felt a lot of opposition. Satan was not interested in our plan being successful at all. But finally things started falling in to place. At the end of the school year last year we had already begun delivering backpacks on Fridays.

This school year the ministry has gotten even bigger. Currently, we are delivering backpacks to three elementary schools and one high school. We are in the process of adding another elementary school and high school. Each backpack holds 24 meals and some snacks. We are including non perishable food items like jars of peanut butter, cans of stew, cracker packs, pancake mix, etc. Getting the food and backpacks has been made possible through donations by friends, family, neighbors, and churches. It has been so awesome to see what God has done and is doing. 

We are excited to continue serving the community and to see what all God has in store for this ministry!

Galations 6:10 "Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone- especially to those in the family of faith." (NLT)

It's A Lifestyle

I would like to brag on my husband for a minute. A month ago Jason decided he was going to get serious about losing some weight. And when he got serious, he got real serious. He basically cut out bread, sweets, and most dairy and starting eating a lot more fruits and vegetables along with proteins. He showed a lot of self control- especially in Maryland when Aunt Pat had four different desserts for us! Don't worry, he may not have eaten any but I ate enough for the both of us. It's been a month and he has lost 22 pounds! I'm so very proud of him for sticking with his plan and accomplishing his goal.

Jason's determination has helped me to start eating healthier too. We are more careful about what we order at restaurants and I have been cooking more veggies at home. We even tried some new things like Kale chips and peas. We have substituted fruits for dessert or had a frozen yogurt. I even started working out again. I think it has made both of us feel a lot better.

While Jason's month of his super strict diet is over, we know that this is not about a diet. It's about a lifestyle change. We will continue to make good choices but still allow a little splurge sometimes! Everything in moderation, right? :)