Need a laugh?

Then look at this picture:

We are in a mystery date night group with friends from church. Basically each month one couple plans a date night not to exceed a certain amount and the entire date is a mystery to everyone else. Usually on the week or day of, the couple will email out information of what to bring/wear and where to meet. For the May mystery date night we all went on a Segway tour of the queen city. I never could get quite comfortable on that thing!

It was a fun experience and certainly not something I would have chosen to do but I survived. Now I can add and cross that off my bucket list. We are fortunate to have such great community and I'm so thankful for such an adventuresome group of friends that get ol' granny like me to do cool stuff.

-Sara

Super Fast Week

We have had the busiest yet BEST week with one exception but I'll get to that later. It all started with our very first staff advance with Elevation. It was an incredibly powerful day full of teachings from Pastor Steven. I love that we are involved with a church that invests so much in their staff and volunteers. The second day we all met at a park which felt like one big family reunion full of food and games. I'm just in complete awe of the talent, energy and compassion that is composed of the staff. We will not take this for granted.

Right after staff advance, I packed up and headed east with my college roommates and friends to celebrate the upcoming wedding of our sweet Rachael. I haven't had a girls weekend like that in a long time. We had so much fun being chatty and of course dressing up for a night on the town.

Her wedding is next weekend and I couldn't be more thrilled for her! I feel like one chapter of our lives is closing (marriage) and a new one is just beginning. Courtney, Ash and Hien are all moms-to-be. I feel like we were just in college...time flies!

On Sunday, just before leaving the beach, mom called and told me Jamie was in early labor. Such a whirlwind of a week, let me tell ya! As soon as I got home, Todd and I got back in the car and headed to the hospital. Things were progressing very slow so Todd went home and I stayed along with my sister Ronna, making the decision to spend the night at Jamie and Chris' house since they were at the hospital. We were told that Ella would arrive in the middle of the night. Well, the night came and went and no Ella. The next morning we went back to the hospital and waited...and waited.....and waited.

Mom spent the night at the hospital so she was super tired by Monday morning!

Finally at 3:36 (and after much complications with Jamie), Ella arrived healthy and happy. I'm in love!

In the midst of all this was LOVE week, an outreach ministry event by Elevation church where over 10,000 volunteers love on our communities. I was more than thrilled to serve Tuesday-Saturday and learned about so many different organizations including one that I can't wait to get my students involved in called Promising Pages.

Do you feel like you are on a roller coaster yet with me? Well here is the ultimate low. Remember when I said there was a possibility the owner of our town home would want to move back? Yup, it's official. We have 45 days (less than that now) to vacate. Very bad timing with school starting right around the corner. We will most likely have to rent somewhere else again which is a bummer because we are house hunting. We don't want to rush the house hunting process but moving multiple times is never fun. I'll keep you posted...in the meantime throw some prayers up for us. It's stressful but I'm believing it will be an experience we can learn and grow from.

I think more has happened this past week than in our entire year. I think I will go relax now....

cheers,

Sara

Appalachian Satisfaction

I can't believe I'm just now getting around to typing this post. Since Monday was Labor Day and I didn't work or go to school my entire week feels out of the norm. I feel as if all I've done is played catchup with laundry, cleaning, organizing and school stuff. I'm finally getting everything back into routine and I couldn't wait any longer to tell you about our awesome long weekend.

The Greenway Getaway, as we are calling it, kicked off on Friday late afternoon and stretched all the way into Monday afternoon. I realized how much I've missed hanging with girls! Don't get me wrong, I love Todd and living with him is a wonderful thing but he doesn't exactly get excited over new makeup or hair products like my ladies do. We all spent the time truly listening to each other's hearts about life and jobs. It was also a great experience for our men. Although the majority of the guys were all friends during our college years (plus two are brothers), it was still nice to have them all together and create a bond living under the same roof....even if it was just for a weekend.

Enough of my blabber....here are some photo highlights

We bought the same pullover at Banana...

Can we go back...right now? Wish we all lived closer...

Dreamin',
Sara

Meet the Mcdonald's

Todd and Jon grew up together attending the same church, had the same friends and also contain a true love for frisbee. They were destine to be buds since they were born on the exact same day and in the exact same hospital. This past weekend we loaded up the car and headed to Siler City to see Jon get hitched. The weekend was so fun and like no other wedding I've ever been a part of. First of all, the festivities were on a goat farm! How cool is that? The farm has an historic house that serves as a Bed & Breakfast which is where all the family and wedding party stayed.

The rehearsal and dinner was so quaint and of course our appetizer was tomatoes and goat cheese. Delicious. Later that night we had a bonfire out in the field complete with smores. Since hurricane Irene was in the works we enjoyed a nice breeze. Saturday was such a chill day as the guys went on hikes and the ladies went into the town of Pittsboro to an old soda shop for lunch. I'm so thankful for both families in treating me so kind and including me in all the girl stuff since my husband was occupied. 

All the cakes were different types of chocolate and this one was the main cake. Look at those bride and groom goat toppers. So charming! And the Mason jars were etched with Bride and Groom. Melissa loves cake so as soon as the ceremony was over they cut the cake instead of eating dinner first. I love a bride who knows what she wants and sticks to it!

Todd's parents came which I now can say my mother and father-in-law and we finally got a picture together. For some reason we always forget so this is a rare thing folks. Soak it in.

All weekend we got to hang out with these cool kids. Allison is Jon's sister and Brittain is her boyfriend. They go to ASU with us and we love spending time with them. Allison was a bridesmaid and isn't she just stunning? 

Jon and Melissa met after college (UNC) through some mutual friends. They are quite the pair and we are very excited for them. Looking forward to watching them grow and grow and make lots of gorgeous children together. Congrats Jon & Melissa!

Ta-Ta!

-Sara

Baby Laney

Lots of exciting things have been happening this July! One of my best friends forever had a BABY GIRL on July 10, 2011! Wish I could have been there but once they get home and settled, I plan on taking a road trip to visit the proud parents and meet Laney Marie Keith.

Most of you have heard me talk about Magan before. She was my RA in college and we worked at camp together where her boyfriend/fiance now husband worked as well. We all got really close and I cherish their friendship. I just wished we lived closer like in a cul-de-sac with all our good friends. That would rock. I'll keep dreaming but in the meantime check out the little one courteous of facebook where I snatched it from Matt's dad, Jeff...

How sweeeeeeeet

Oh and for the record I just want to add that at approximately 8pm Saturday night I was talking to some college friends at the wedding reception who also lived with us on Magan's hall and was giving them an update on her. You know the whole, shes about to have a baby/we feel old talk when I said, "You know what, she could totally be going into labor right now..."

Well, I didn't have my phone on me at the reception but once I got in the car I had a text from Matt around 8 that said her water had broke. Whoa! I squealed. Must be that best friend intuition thing.

I'm very very happy for them! Looking forward to watching Laney grow....these are such fun years in our lives! We are all so blessed!

-S

The Williams

This is by far the fastest summer break I've ever had. Not trying to be a downer but in one month another school year starts. I've realized how quickly 4 weeks go by and I'm determined to make the most of these last 4 weeks like....going to the BEACH! Most of you know my grandparents have a beach house on OKI and I worked at a camp on the beach for 3 years so this is a rare and strange summer I'm experiencing since I haven't hit up the NC beaches yet. We are just super busy working several jobs and spending our weekends celebrating weddings. However I wouldn't trade seeing my best friends get married for anything!

Keara had her big day this past weekend and the events all started on Friday morning with a bridal luncheon at Jakes Good Eats in Charlotte. When we left there was a fire truck out front and well that just ended up being where we took a photo...

Afterwards we gals got our nails done...I treated myself to some gel nailpolish manicure (I'm hooked by the way!)

Later that night was rehearsal and then dinner at a nearby restaurant in Charlotte...

The three brides of the summer at dinner...Ashley is next!

Friday night all the girls and guys stayed in a hotel uptown. Six girls in one room was lots of fun and it was very special to spend so much time with Keara. I love slumber parties! Saturday arrived way too early and before we knew it she was about to walk down the aisle...isn't she gorgeous!!!?

FYI, all the bridesmaids had a different type of gray dress which was so cool. Wish I had taken a pic because they all went together so well and matched our personalities. The reception was at Byrons South End where we all ate some great food and danced the night away...

Todd and the Groom...

Congrats Keara & Jon! We love you very much and look forward to many vacations together in the future!

Oh and I failed to mention that I celebrated a birthday in between all the fun. I'm officially the big 24...woo to the hoo. I had a really low key birthday, in fact it got a little overlooked since we were traveling but Todd has rainchecked a hot date and shopping spree in my name! Looking forward to that!

Happy Monday! So much to talk about this week....be back soon!

4th of July

Whew! What a weekend! Five of us girls celebrated Keara Friday night in Charlotte with a small party and then a night on the town. We had a blast! I forgot how much fun hanging with a group of girls can be. I have officially decided that it is good for the soul and needs to happen at least once every few months. Her wedding is this Saturday so I'm anxiously awaiting the weekend so we can do even more celebrating. I love weddings!

I traveled back on Saturday  so I could spend the remainder of the holiday weekend with Todd. My favorite holiday is the 4th and while I'm used to being either at the beach or with camp friends, I'd say we had a great first "married" 4th in our town. The day started with a low key lunch fellowship with friends out in the country. Followed by some catch phrase and canvas painting/worship.

I really meant to pull a Petersik (only a few of you will understand that) and "house crash" by taking some photos of our friends awesome 100+ old farmhouse. My jaw was pretty much on the floor the entire time I was there. Just imagine original woodwork inside and antique refinished decor to match. Here I am sitting on the front porch holding their baby in a an old church pew that they painted and put cute pillows on. Genius! May just have to "pin" that idea.

Later in the evening we headed out to Bethel Blast. Apparently this is where everyone gathers in the county for free (that is what sold us on the idea) BBQ and fireworks. While we were there we bumped into lots of friends and spent the night enjoying the cool mountain air and people watching of course. 

Hope you too had a great weekend! Isn't summer so refreshing and fun? Somehow this weekend I was also able to squeeze in a little DIY craft that was inspired from Pinterest. Post soon to come...

-Sara

Rehearsal

I realized so far that all the wedding recaps have been from my (Sara) perspective. Todd has been really busy with two jobs but I'm sure he will post his view of things sometime on this here ol' blog. There are things about going through a wedding that everyone asks such as "did you get any sleep the night before?" Answer: yes! I was exhausted after the rehearsal and dinner. Friday was such a busy day that by the time I went to bed I passed out.

The rehearsal was one of my favorite memories of the whole weekend. It's a time that I can actually remember most of the details, even things like what people were wearing. Now ask me about that for Saturday and I'll laugh in your face because I don't remember everything. I'll spare you all the details of what people were wearing and give you more of the headliners. A big storm arrived just as the rehearsal was to start. Thankfully everyone arrived safely and we did a little practicing. I however kept getting tripped up on the vows which put me into a panic because I was nervous I would mess up on the day of the wedding. Since my dad was one of the ministers, I was able to read over the sermon the day of the wedding to visualize the words since my nerves were taking a toll on me. Ahhhh the perks of being the preachers kid. Thanks Dad!

The dinner was at the church as well. Todd's mother, Carol, and the Carmel Kitchen staff did an amazing job of recreating the room to give the feel of a restaurant. In case you are curious, I wanted a low key dinner that would house just my guests. The lights were dim, hydrangeas everywhere and soft music playing in the background. Todd and I sat at a table with our parents and I just loved sitting there watching all my favorite people laugh among one another and have a good time. Since we had 65 total, it was nice that we didn't have to all pile in cars and travel in the storm to attend dinner. Todd and I decided to make the evening personal and dedicate it to our friends & family. We ate dinner then had our guest watch a slideshow Todd made:



After the video we cut and ate the groom's cake...drums of course!

After cake we gave our wedding party their gifts. We each wrote and read aloud mimi speeches for each person that told how we met and what they meant to us. We love everyone so much and feel as if God has given us such incredible, talented and wise friends.

Only regret of the night is that I wish I had taken more pictures or had someone take my camera and do so. In the above photo my sisters and Magan are missing so I wish I had a picture of all the girls. Also we didn't get any of the guys and they looked so handsome! What a shame!

Overall the night was wonderful! The food was delicious and it was such an intimate time with our closet friends and family. We are so SO blessed! I look forward to sharing the wedding day with you soon!

-Sara