LK Erie-Grama, part 3

My Grama Stein (dad's mom) is a fantastic lady. She is 90 years old and though she is getting slow physically she is as sharp as a tack. :) She had the whole afternoon planned out while we were there! We had Chinese, did putt putt, saw her apt, met her friends, had drinks and dessert brought out from the kitchen and finally, she taught my family how to play bridge. What an amazing person! Plus she had thought through questions to ask each family member about what they were doing in their jobs or homes or special hobbies.
Thank you Grama for being you! I am SO glad we got to stop by and see you. Hugs and Kisses to you! Love, Katie, Justin and Gi
PS We did not plan on matching by wearing green! I guess Grama and the kids all thought alike!

LK Erie, Part two...Great Grama Gerrie

Dear Great Grama Gerrie,
I love you! I had a lot of fun tooling around at your apt complex. I espeecially liked playing with your phone and remote control! Thank you for caring so much about me! I liked lunch, putt putt, seeing the water fountain, talking to your friends and getting/giving hugs. You are a super G.grama! :) I am SO glad I got to see you on our trip. My mommy will be sending you photos very soon!
Love, Katie Grace

Lake Erie, OH...here we come! (part one)

Last week, Justin, Katie and I all headed to Lake Erie OH to vacation with my family! It is a 13 hour drive with a one year old and all told it was a good trip. :) We started off at 2 am on Wednesday morning, hopeing that Katie would go back to sleep once we hit the road...no so with our little peanut. She pretty much stayed away with a short snooze until 8:30 am! WE WERE AMAZED. We know that she is on the shorter side of the sleep schedule (compared to other little ones like her friend Catie Beth) but this was amazing! We stopped at Crackle Barrol in Charleston WVA on both sides of the trip. Katie loved all the toys and rocking chairs. She is a pro at rocking herself! I also took a variety of new toys from the Dollar store to keep her occupied. Though they didn't last long, it was a welcomed break from her constant talking loudly. :) The third photo is a view of OH. The bottom picture is her trying to blow up the new beach ball!

I am 30 now and need help!

There are times in my life when I wonder....is my brain functioning?

I can honestly say that I had a really OFF day.

1. We went to sell our 93 Camiry since Justin has bought us a new car and after driving for 20 minutes to get to the dealership... Justin asked me for the title of the Camiry and I realize with a sinking feeling that I left it on the kitchen island. BAD idea. One hour later we are done with that errand.

2. I went to return something at Walmart and got all the way into the store and had to go BACK out to the car to get the return, which since the parking lot was REALLY FULL it took forever to walk there and back.

3. I went to check on the neighbors house...loaded Katie in the wagon, walked down the drive and realized that I had grabbed the WRONG keys.

4. I made bread today and it turned out TERRIBLE. I didn't add enough flour and therefore it is very SOFT, edible, and looks like I just tried out a new recipe. I have been doing this for 5 years and it didn't show today that I had! I HATE to waste food!

So anyway I am glad for the LORD'S GRACE and I think I am going to bed in about 5 minutes.
Anybody else out there ever have a day like this? Does this automatically happen when one turns 30? Thoughts by anybody that reads this blog would be nice. :)

A Katie Grace (at 13 months), Photo Shoot

I decided to try a photo shoot of Katie...yah, it didn't last long...I think it lasted one whole minute! Nonetheless I love the photos that I got and they sure capture her personality! The third photo is her doing the tractor noise. :) She is at a stage that keeps her a busy bee!

The photo shoot continued.

The last photo...Katie is telling me she is tired of sitting still and would like me to put away the camera since I won't let her play with it! :)

The Past 29 years have been great!

I can't believe that I am putting to rest three decades of living!! What a ride it has been with the Lord. I have all sorts of experiences and each one of them has taught me much. Thank you to everybody that has ever left a footprint on my life. I can't wait for the next decades to come!!

Lord, may I enbrace what you have each season of my life and may I never forget your faithfulness, goodness, grace, mercy, sovereignty, biggness and love, as I live my life with friends and family, for an audience of one.

A Real Peachy Deal

I am all about trying to find the best healthy way to eat and use food. Recently I have come across a deal at the local grocery store, Harris Teeter. I really like this store-it always seems clean and has good customer service, but is slightly higher in price. :) Within the last few months they have started to repackage fruits and veggies that are somehow not as pretty-slightly bruised or wrinkled etc. They repackage them for $.49-$.59 per pound and are a fantastic deal.! How can you pass up fresh produce??!! I have gotten red peppers (3 for a dollar) apples that I have made into applesauce, oranges that I have made into orange juice, grapefruit that we have eaten-don't know what was wrong with it. Tomatoes that make delicious salsa and now peaches that are SO SO DELICIOUS! The photo shows only half of what I got. It was 5 lbs for $3.00. Katie, Justin and I have eaten most of them and NOTHING has been wrong! I also used this opportunity to freeze a few for later in the fall for smoothies!

Keep your eyes out for deals like this. Wash everything well and then eat away! Be a good steward of the food the Lord has put before us. Happy eatting! :)

What did Katie do today??!

I set a pitcher of water on the sofa table this morning to take out to water the plants...Katie decided to help me by trying to lift it off the table...you see the results...the WHOLE PITCHER of WATER landed on her and the carpet...I learned a lesson...Katie can now reach up on counter tops and tables to grab things...then she was wondering why I was taking a photo of her while she was soaking wet! Thanks Pippers for trying to help Mommy out. :)

This Girl Can GRILL!

One of my summer goals was to finally learn how to grill. I knew the basics of grilling, but Justin (or dad growing up) has always done it. Now that we live a bit farther out and Justin can't always get home in time to grill dinner before Katie goes down, I made it a goal to learn how! I have tried in the past to learn, but it has either gone awry (food falling through or completely burned :) or I have gotten hurt. The last time I tried to grill by myself I scorched my eyebrows almost completely off! It was a bad deal. Since then (almost 2 years ago) I have stayed away from the grill machine.

But not any more! I can happily say that I have successfully sauted all sorts of veggies, chicken and roasted red peppers. I even got to enjoy the view as I was grilling!

And yes, it did taste yummy! I used the rest of the veggies you see in the second photo for a delicious pizza tonight-topped with grilled chicken! (Next time I am going to try to grill the pizza too!) I am on my way and am grill happy! :)

What are your summer goals? Any other girls up for being grilling machines? :)

Happy 6 year anniversary!

So we have been married going on 6 years today! WHAT A WONDERFUL THING! We are both so excited to share life together and hope there is so many more years together! :)

Last night we went on a date for dinner and coffee. It was great! Emily babysat and we had a great time relating and being babyless for the night. Blue Fin's Bistro is a great date place (next to Harris Teeter in Heritage). Super atmosphere-very artsy and very delicious seafood. Justin had a shrimp tomato spinach pasta and I had a combo plate, of scallops, shrimp and crab, all in a white wine sauce. Then we went to have coffee at the Wake Forest Coffee Shop which is downtown WF-hence the creative name.... Neat and good coffee shop feel and yummy coffee. I highly recommend either place if you live around here for a dinner date!! (p.s. the top two photos are a bit on the silly side...do any of you ever feel wierd having people look at you while you are snapping a photo in a social setting? :)

And a small recap of what we have done since we have been married! OHHHH there are so many memories already!

We have lived in--Lawrence, KS--SEBTS seminary housing--WakeField apts--house on 8501 Hawksmoor Dr. Raleigh--and now we are at the Louisburg farm of 40 acres.

We still drive the same two cars, though we are in the market to trade them out since they are a 93' and 96'...

I have taught 4th, 5th grades-regular classrooms and 7th, 8th, 9th, grades-Home Ec. Justin has worked as an assistent to the pastor in Lawrence, tutored, maintence dept at Christ Baptist church, golf course/grounds superintendent, and now COO of the Barnanbas Way.

Justin has gotten his Masters at SEBTS.

We have one beautiful toddler at 13 months, Katherine Grace "Katie".

I am still doing small time photography and floral arrangements-two of my favorite hobbies.

We have read a bunch of books and I will post some favorites this week. (Never enough time to read all the books on our lists!)

I have coached CC and we have both run some road races. Which we would like to do some more of as a family some day.

We have traveled some around Raleigh and the South.

We have made some WONDERFUL friends.

We serve a BIG, FAITHFUL GOD.

I am sure there are more things, if I could only get my mind to work!!

I love you!

Happy 4th of July!

What a difference a year can make! Check it out, bald and dark hair to blond and curly! Yes, I have said it a million times, but they GROW so QUICKLY!

May we each remember our precious freedom as our brothers and sisters don't always have the freedoms that we enjoy. And above I am thankful for our true freedom in Jesus!