In this Southern life

Yard Sales and Turnip Greens

2011-10-08T16:28:00.002-05:00

I woke up bright and early this morning {despite a pretty rude sinus headache} to hit up a couple yardsales with my mom. This is the first time all year that I've gone and I'm pretty excited about what all I scored for $20. I forgot to take pictures of everything before I put everything away, but I'll try for photos next time!

Brett is a happy hubby tonight because I'm breaking out some old recipes of my grandmother's for supper. Ham steaks, cornbread, and turnip greens are on the menu followed by chocolate cake for dessert. The house smells SO good right now. :)

November 29, 2006

2010-11-29T09:55:00.004-06:00

Today is our 4th wedding anniversary. :) I've been in a nostalgic mood all weekend so I decided to take y'all on a little trip down memory lane with me this morning!

Brett and I were living in Niceville, Florida (right across the bay from Destin for those of you who only know Florida by its beautiful beaches!) and considering a move to Montgomery, Alabama. I know it doesn't make much sense, but we did it anyway. We had been engaged since July and were planning an October 2007 wedding. Certain family members (who will remain nameless) had been heckling us about our guest list (or lack thereof) and it felt like our wedding was getting out of control. Brett and I had joked about just driving down to the courthouse to get married by the magistrate and call our families and tell them after the fact! I really thought it was just an innocent joke!

Brett had a job interview in Montgomery on November 29 so we drove up to Montgomery early that morning. After his interview we decided to kill some time at the local Chevy dealership before heading home. As we were walking through the lot, we started talking about what would happen if he got the job in Montgomery. It was pretty much a given that I would move up to Montgomery with him, but I still felt weird about moving away together before we were married. I'm not sure how the conversation went from that to Brett calling the Montgomery County courthouse to find out what time they closed!

We were nowhere NEAR dressed for a wedding, had no wedding bands, no friends/family in town, NOTHING. Sure enough, we high-tailed it to downtown Montgomery and were married by the magistrate. My parents were excited about it, Brett's mom and step-father weren't. Thankfully, Brett's dad and step-mother were as excited as my parents were! In hindsight, I wish we had been a little more prepared. We were so spur-of-the-moment that we didn't even have a camera with us!

Brett, I love you 4x as much today as I did the day we got married. We've been through our fair share of storms, but we've always made it to sunnier days. I love you with all my heart. -J

Thankful

2010-11-28T11:43:00.002-06:00

There are so many things that I am thankful for this year that I don't think I could begin to cover them all on here. This year has had plenty of storms, but we've weathered them better than I could have ever anticipated. We've truly been blessed.

I do want to take a minute and introduce you to an organization that I'm sure you've heard of, but that is near and (very dear!) to us. Compassion International is the organization that we've been able to sponsor our sweet Samuel through. Please take a few minutes to check them out (if you haven't already) and prayerfully consider sponsoring a child this holiday season. Your love (and letters!) will mean the world to a child out there. :)

Wordless Wednesday {10.20.10}

2010-10-20T12:46:00.001-05:00

"Transforming Church in Rural America"

2010-10-11T07:47:00.000-05:00

I was so excited when I saw this book on the Thomas Nelson website. This is a subject that is very dear to my heart and I hope to share a lot more about that in the near future!

Fear of change seems to be one of the largest stumbling blocks in small, rural churches and Shannon O'Dell tackles this subject with grace and blunt honesty. Small attendance, an ever-shrinking budget, and decades-long traditions are choking the life out of rural churches of ALL denominations. O'Dell offers fresh insight on how to overcome these obstacles and breathe new life into your church.

As someone from a church with a membership roll under 60, you better believe I will be recommending this book to everyone on our church board AND to everyone in our local ministries. Thumbs up, Mr. O'Dell!

Beautiful Things

2010-10-04T13:41:00.002-05:00

In February I signed up to review Sheila Walsh's new book, "Beautiful Things Happen When A Woman Trusts God." I started reading it and then life caught up with me and it sat on my nightstand collecting dust. I'd much rather think that it wasn't the right time for me to read it than my priorities being skewed! When I picked it back up today, I realized just how much of an impact this book will make on someone.

Guilt. Anxiety. Depression. Mistrust. Every single one of us, at one point or another, has fought one of those demons. Sheila so openly shares her personal battle with each of these and does it in such a way that you feel like she's having a one-on-one sharing session with you. This book is a must read!

*This is a compensated review.

Where I've been lately

2010-10-02T16:07:00.004-05:00

I haven't been blogging much lately and I have a really good reason. You see, I've been spending a lot of time with

THIS

and THIS (well, lots of them actually!)

I am so thankful for the opportunity to spend my time behind the lens of my camera with subjects like this! :)

Wordless Wednesday 09.22.10

2010-09-22T09:00:00.001-05:00

Vacation Pictures

2010-09-15T07:30:00.000-05:00

Contrary to what the last few posts may lead you to believe, we did get to spend some time driving up the mountain and just plain relaxing! The weather couldn't have been any nicer and I hated not to spend as much time as I could outside. It was so nice not having to deal with 90% humidity.

It didn't take long before I had a chance to try out my new 55-200mm lens. I was clear across the porch when these guys flew up. I'm pretty pleased with how the pictures turned out!

We took a break Saturday night to drive up Sand Mountain and catch a glimpse at the start of all the beautiful Fall colors. I can't believe that so many of the trees are changing already. We were too busy looking to bother taking the camera out (we're not so bright all the time!) but Brett did take some nice shots driving through Henagar and down the mountain towards Scottsboro.

Art in the Park (Part 2)

2010-09-14T09:51:00.004-05:00

I know Part 2 is late, but hopefully late is better than never!

Two of my favorite vendors had nothing to do with art! Fresh squeezed lemonade and funnel cakes. Enough said! We spent more money on lemonade than anything else. Seriously. :)

We couldn't have had nicer weather. I think the high was right around 80 with a light breeze all day. It was the perfect day to spend outside!

The highlight of the day? Easy. :)

A Retired Art Teacher Tells All

2010-09-09T14:25:00.004-05:00

I'm postponing Part 2 of our vacation pictures to proudly announce that Marlene's book, "A Retired Art Teacher Tells All", is now available from Barnes and Nobles and Amazon!

As a young art instructor, new on the block, Marlene Nall Johnt went looking for an instructive manual about successful art education techniques. To her dismay, she never found one. Now retired, Johnt realized what needed to be done: she needed to write just such a manual for the young teachers of today. A Retired Art Teacher Tells All is an educational guide and workbook with detailed tips for running a successful art classroom. It is a step-by-step lesson for teachers, with comprehensive instruction and thought-provoking questions intended for reader response. Within its pages, Johnt shares the logic behind time-tested teaching techniques with true-to-life stories from her own extensive career. Unlike most art instruction textbooks, which read like art autopsies, A Retired Art Teacher Tells All adds the human touch, dealing mainly with real students in real life scenarios. It is not a collection of lesson plans, but a collection of relational plans, aimed at guiding you to be the best art teacher you can be. -- Amazon.com Product Description

Mar -- I am SO proud of you! You've worked so hard for this and I couldn't be any happier for you. I am honored that you allowed me to be a part of this!

Art in the Park (Part 1)

2010-09-08T11:00:00.007-05:00

Brett and I got home last night after a wonderful trip up to Scottsboro, Alabama to help my mother-in-law, Marlene, set up for the local art show. Art in the Park is a Scottsboro tradition and attracts vendors from all over the southeast.

Brett and Jim set the tent up Saturday afternoon so all we had to do Sunday morning was hang all the paintings up. We woke up at 6:00, were at the park working by 7:00 and still didn't finish before it started at 8:00! I think we all underestimated how long it would take!

Caldwell Park was full of interesting vendors. I only spent $22 so I was pretty proud of myself. If our car hadn't been packed so full I might have been tempted to get more, though!

Part 2 (and maybe even a Part 3!) coming soon!

Western Sky

2010-08-30T11:53:00.003-05:00

This was the view out our back door last night as a storm was rolling in. The pictures don't do it justice at all.

Reese

2010-08-25T15:17:00.004-05:00

Things have been pretty quiet around our house lately so I haven't had a lot of inspiring blog material! We're going on vacation late next week so I should at least have a bunch of new pictures to post when we come home.

My birthday was last Saturday and we had a low key celebration. Brett took me out to dinner at Samurai Friday night and we spent my actual birthday taking down and re-painting the shutters. You know you're getting old when you ask for a home improvement project as a birthday present! HA!

I got a new lens for my Nikon yesterday afternoon and I've been playing with it ever since. I snapped some super funny pictures of Reese on the porch this morning. I apologize in advance for the out-of-focus ones. I was laughing way too hard to hold the camera steady!

Needless to say, I don't think Reese will try to eat the leaves off my Gerber Daisies anymore!

Reflection

2010-07-27T15:13:00.003-05:00

Brett and I went down to the river yesterday evening to start getting things finished for our family reunion. My parents got down there before we did so we decided to surprise them with a picnic supper. After dinner we started cleaning out what's going to be the garage and started working on finishing up the large cabinet that's going to go in the garage. I wasn't paying much attention to the scenery until Brett pointed out the moon rising. It was gorgeous! I'm so glad I brought my camera with me!

Camaros, Candles, and Cupcakes (and a flipped jet ski!)

2010-07-25T12:30:00.006-05:00

The title probably gave away the fact that this is probably going to be the most random post I've ever done. I haven't blogged in so long that I have a lot to catch up on!

We missed the July 1 deadline to have our '67 Camaro up and running by a long shot. Until yesterday, it hadn't moved in over a year. We pulled it out to give it a good bath and plan to start working on it next week. Nothing is worse than working on a car with a million spider webs on it. Ick! I did want to post proof that we did wash it, though! :)

Since it's taken us so long to get the '67 up and running, we recently bought a '73 Camaro to be our summer toy. It's not nearly as since as the '67 is, but it will be a fun little footbrake car. It's already in the garage and I think it'll be up and running next weekend! I haven't taken any pictures of it myself yet (BAD blogger!!), but I have a couple from the guy that sold it to us.

In the midst of getting our racing britches back on, I've been on a baking kick. I found a few recipes lately that turned out well, but they were nothing compared to the Key Lime Coconut cupcakes I made yesterday. I found a recipe off the Bon Appetit site and tweaked it a little. The measurements they gave worked well, but the the frosting recipe made way too much for 12 cupcakes. I may or may not have just spread a little icing on a graham cracker and went to town!

We're hurrying to finish the bathroom and kitchen in our lake cabin before our family reunion in August. In the midst of looking at tile colors and blinds, I wanted to buy a few of my favorite B&BW candles. I was shocked to find out that our local (i.e. Pensacola!) B&BW no longer carries that variety. I haven't checked their website yet, but I'm hoping like crazy they haven't been discontinued. I think I would seriously cry!

As to why I've not been blogging too much lately, my cousin Cory and I were in a minor jet ski mishap a couple weeks ago. Without going into too much detail (to keep my aunt from coming after me!) we managed to flip and sink it in less than 30 seconds. Cory came out unscathed, but I managed to rupture my left ear drum, sprain my right thumb and wrist, and strain my right shoulder. It is a pain in the neck to type in my brace, so I've not been online too much since then. I'm able to go without the brace 90% of the time now, so it looks like I'll be back to blogging semi-regularly.

Where has June gone?

2010-06-17T08:02:00.002-05:00

June is over halfway gone and I'm just now logging in to update. I'm either a very bad blogger or this month has gone by WAY too fast!

Brett started his new job on Monday and we're loving his new schedule. I have my hubby back! It's going to be so nice to actually make plans this summer. I was hoping we could go see Jim and Mar this weekend, but they're flying out early Saturday morning for a week in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I'm not speaking to them anymore! :)

I'm still working out with my good friend and Brett. I've lost 4 lbs and 6 inches so far and I'm pretty happy with it. I've still got a LONG way to go, but I'll get there.

We've just been pretty low key lately...enjoying early summer in the South!

Lack of direction (and Memorial Weekend photos!)

2010-05-31T19:18:00.004-05:00

I really feel as if my blog has lost its sense of direction lately. I started it as a way to keep track of (and share!) my genealogy research and then it kind of morphed into a creature beyond recognition! I've always been extremely cautious about sharing too much personal information on here, but as I've learned in the past few weeks, it doesn't take much for someone to take advantage of. With that being said, I'm having a hard time figuring out where I want to take this thing!

On a much happier note, Jim and Marlene came down to celebrate Memorial Weekend with us. It rained both Saturday and Sunday, but we stole the few hours of sun (and clouds!) we could! We took the jet boat out for the first time on Saturday and rode the pontoon boat up the river Sunday afternoon/evening. We had a wonderfully, relaxed weekend!

Busy, Busy

2010-05-26T10:20:00.007-05:00

It was recently pointed out to me that I've done a not-so-great job of keeping my blog updated. I've had good intentions, but life has kept me pretty busy lately. I didn't realize how much time I was spending online until I cut most of it out!

Honey and the puppies are doing great. They opened their eyes last Friday and they're figuring out how to walk without losing their balance and rolling over. A couple of them have already figure out how to fight/wrestle with their siblings and it's the cutest thing ever. We're thinking about keeping the runt who happens to look just like her daddy! :)

We finally started working on our lake house again. I really hope it gets finished sometime this summer. It'll be nice to go down there just for fun instead of work! We're having a big Memorial Day cookout this weekend and I told Brett that other than cutting the grass, I don't want to do a darn thing work-related!

The biggest news is that I finally opened my online shop! Thanks to the talented Danielle, the website is up and running. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter. :)

We'll be holding a great giveaway when our Facebook page gets 250 followers and I'm planning something REALLY special when we get a good number of Twitter followers, too!

Puppies!

2010-05-17T16:30:00.003-05:00

Fort Pickens

2010-05-02T14:21:00.018-05:00

A rainy forecast

couldn't stop us

from having a great time

out at Fort Pickens

with some wonderful friends.

We explored tunnels,

checked out the old cannons,

climbed to the top of fort,

and watched the waves before the rain moved in.

We made plenty of stops

to take turns

taking pictures.

We only got lost once

and after a few more wrong turns

we finally stumbled upon

the way out...just as it started to rain!

Countdown

2010-04-28T10:08:00.002-05:00

I was hoping to be able to announce our new website, but it's not quite ready. The wonderful Danielle (a.k.a. The Design Girl) is hard at work on it and I can't wait for it to debut.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with a hint!

Changing things up

2010-04-24T18:17:00.002-05:00

There are some major changes happening around our house lately and I'm not just talking about some home improvement projects either! I don't want to spill the beans until everything is ready to launch, but keep an eye out around here. :)

Downtown II

2010-04-20T18:51:00.007-05:00

I simply LOVE our small town's downtown historical district. I could take a bottle of water, my cell phone, and my camera and be out there all day. Actually, add in the best friend and that's exactly what happened yesterday!

Downtown

2010-04-18T22:52:00.006-05:00

I'm a history buff so it's not a surprise that I LOVE old abandoned buildings. I would love to restore every single one of them, but unfortunately my loving husband doesn't exactly feel the same way. Rather than drive my husband up the wall about them, I've simply decided to satisfy myself by photographing them instead. :)

This evening's photo shoot was an absolute treat. My dad's best friend drove his beautifully re-done 1970 Camaro into town for me to photograph at some of my favorite downtown locations. Old historic buildings and a gorgeous Camaro? What in the world could be better?!

Happy 30th Birthday!

2010-04-14T21:11:00.003-05:00

My sweet hubby turned the big 3-0 today! We had a rather low-key (but wonderful) celebration this year. Brett was able to get a day off yesterday so he and I had lunch together at the new Japanese restaurant in town. We grilled steaks with my parents last night and gorged ourselves of his "birthday cake."

In lieu of a birthday cake this year, he decided that he wanted a cheesecake from Juniors in NYC. Everything looked so good and we couldn't make our mind up on just one, so we ordered two. After much deliberation we went with the Red Velvet Cheesecake and Reese's Cheesecake. I'm quite certain that angels started singing when I cut the Red Velvet. For those of you who haven't had a Junior's cheesecake yet, I'll give you a heads up. They are the BEST in the world, but don't bother checking out the caloric value. You DON'T want to know. Suffice it to say that I will be running a couple extra miles to make up for this.

For Brett's actual birthday dinner we had Japanese again with my best friend, Debbie. Cheesecake followed shortly there-after! :)

Happy birthday, baby. I love you more and more everyday!

The Smith Boys

2010-04-03T09:25:00.006-05:00

Thursday afternoon I met up with Shelli Smith and her boys to take a few pictures. Of course, Thursday was the hottest day that we have had so far this year and the boys were in dress clothes, but they were troopers!

What is absolutely amazing is Dylon (the cutie in the last three pictures) had open heart surgery less than a year ago!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-31T10:24:00.001-05:00

Going Down

2010-03-29T10:54:00.002-05:00

I'm extremely happy to say that I've lost 5 lbs in the past 10 days. I know it's not much, but I'm thrilled. To me it's a very important starting point. I have 26 lbs to go until my first goal so please help pray me there! :)

Things have been pretty calm around here for a change...and I'm LOVING it! Brett turns the big 3-0 next month and I bought him an Xbox 360 for an early birthday present. He's never been a big gamer, but he loves to play the golfing games when we go visit Jim and Mar so I figured it would give him a little something to chill out with after work. I'm also getting pretty handy with some of the racing games, too!

We're officially working on our '67 Camaro again, too. The goal is to have it up and running by July 1. I can't wait!

The joy of boys

2010-03-20T10:18:00.003-05:00

These cuties are Shelli Smith's boys and I just utterly adore them. Have you ever seen a more precious bunch of boys?

Beach Trip

2010-03-18T09:24:00.004-05:00

Brett and I had a great time down at the beach, but it was too cold to spend much time outside. We didn't even walk down on the beach. :( The upside is that we got to spend a lot of quality time with Jim, Mar, MeMe, and Bubba! We all ate dinner at Tacky Jack's Saturday night, but Brett and I skipped out on the after dinner dancing. We both felt "off" and it turns out that we ended up with sinus infections. What are the chances of that happening?!

Here are a few of the pictures that we took. We didn't take many pictures at all. It was in the lower 60's and sunny, but there was a 30+ mph wind coming in out of the north that made it pure cold.

I think that Brett and I are both over the worst of our sinus infections and starting to feel better. I'm hoping to get outside this afternoon and play around with my camera a bit more.

Life

2010-03-02T19:16:00.005-06:00

I'm proud to say that I've finally gotten the hang of my Mac (I think!!) and I plan to get back on the blogging band-wagon. I've mostly spent the past couple of days loading all my software and getting my genealogy information transferred over.

Brett and I took my car to the dealership in Montgomery last Thursday and our wonderful service advisor, James, hooked us up with a loaner so we could go play tourist for the afternoon. I went on a field trip (back in 2nd or 3rd grade!) to Old Alabama Town and wanted to go back as soon as I bought my Nikon. Brett was sweet and obliged me even though it was cold and windy. :)

We had a great time and I'd love to share a few photos that we took.

I hate admitting it, but I had to file my first insurance claim...ever. A rock chipped my windshield last Friday afternoon, but luckily our insurance company has a great glass policy. I have to take it in Thursday morning to get repaired. It's the smallest "starburst" I've ever seen in a windshield. Because of its size and location (right in the center of the windshield, above my Navi) they said it should be very easy to fix.

Next weekend Brett and I will be traveling down to Fort Morgan to spend a few days with Jim, Mar, and her parents. I can't wait for some relaxing time down on the beach with a good book and my camera. I'm loving my Nikon so far. I'd really like to get a couple different lenses for it, but I'm not sure which I need to start with. I'd appreciate any advice! :)

Please pray for Compassion International's Kenya trip that kicked off today. You can catch up on them HERE.

I'm sure that this post has bounced around more than should be allowed so on that note, I'm going to wrap this up and go spend some time with my wonderful hubby. The lemon meringue pie in the kitchen has nothing to do with it. :)

Bye Bye PC :)

2010-02-28T09:03:00.003-06:00

The brand new HP laptop that I was bragging about in my previous post is no longer. The first one had a major keyboard glitch so we exchanged it for another. The second one had a malfunctioning hard-drive so we returned it last night. We immediately high-tailed it across the street to the Mac store and I'm now the very happy owner of a new MacBook Pro.

I'm still learning all the differences (and trust me, there's a lot of them!) but so far I really like it. I went with the 15" rather than the 17" and it's super light. The battery life is very impressive and I'm in love with the backlit keyboard. I'm sure that I'll encounter a few bumps, but that's why we went ahead and bought 3 years of tech support. I told the salesgirl that I needed a "Mac for Dummies" course!

Once I get the hang of the new computer, I'll upload some of the photos that Brett and I took during our tour of Old Alabama Town last week.

Coming to you live from....

2010-02-23T10:30:00.002-06:00

my new home office setup! :)

My wonderful husband surprised me Friday night with a trip to Prattville, Alabama and a Saturday morning shopping session at Mac and More and BestBuy. I had made my mind up on getting a new MacBook, but I couldn't rationalize spending $2800+ on the 17" MacBook Pro. I ended up with a new 17.3" HP Pavilion (which does everything I want it to and more!), a new wireless HP printer, and a new Nikon D5000 DSLR camera. The computer and printer were necessities -- the camera was a pure treat!

I'm hoping that having a much better computer will encourage me to keep up with my blogging and to jump back into my ancestry research with renewed energy.

As a wrap this up to finish installing new software, here a few shots from my new Nikon. These were taken in plain auto mode before I had a chance to tweak the setting to my liking.

Snow Day Part Deux

2010-02-13T16:25:00.004-06:00

It was so nice to wake up this morning to a blanket of pure white all over our yard, but alas, it started to melt around 10 this morning and hasn't stopped yet. There is still a considerable amount in the back yard, but it's mostly gone in the front. Tomorrow's high is supposed to be in the mid-50's so the last bit is sure to be gone by then. According to our local weatherman, we have a chance for some light flurries late Sunday night/early Monday morning.

It has been so nice to have Brett home for 3 days in a row. I know he has thoroughly enjoyed it, too. He spent most of the day kicked back and relaxing while I spent most of it on the computer and doing some much needed face masks! It was so relaxing and ~~my face~~ I really enjoyed it! I finally uploaded a few more photos from yesterday and worked on some small genealogy projects since Brett and I may be making a trip back to South Carolina some time in the next week or so.

I'm also going to try to work on a much larger post that has been weighing heavily on my heart for the past few days. In the meantime, here are a few more photos of our snow adventures!

Brett and I trekking through our back horse pasture.

Looking off our front porch

Looking down into the bottom horse pasture

Our neighbor's very cold horses!

Standing in the pine "tunnel" from our barn to the front yard. This was absolutely stunning in person!

Our Camellia bush had already started blooming a week or so before the snowfall.

I adore this little church. It's been abandoned for as long as I can remember, but its simple country charm always warms my heart. This is one of my favorite pictures!

This is what our yard looked like this morning. Brett, my dad, and I took turns riding our 4 wheeler through the snow. The pristine snow didn't stand a chance against us!

Snow Day!

2010-02-12T17:12:00.006-06:00

The weatherman was finally right...it snowed in south Alabama! We got an astounding 6" - 7" and have enjoyed every bit of it. This was the largest snowfall in this area since the mid-1970's.

Here are a few pictures from our snow day!

This is probably one of my favorite pictures from today. This is an old sharecroppers cabin that is on the fence line of our old horse pasture. The contrast of the dark wood and the snow is gorgeous!

Round bales covered in snow. How pretty!

Brett in front of the frozen scuppernong vines.

Brett and I in the front yard. The snow was pristine before we took the 4-wheeler out and made a mess!

Part of our backyard covered in snow. We kept the 4-wheeler out of the backyard so we would have some nice pictures!

Brett and I ventured out to go check on our lake property and this was what our road looked like when we pulled out of our driveway.

Our front/side yard out by the road.

The temperatures are supposed to drop considerably tonight and most of the slush on the road is going to turn into ice. I'm very grateful that Brett has this weekend off. The best part of a snow weekend is that I'll have plenty of time to finish my new Sheila Walsh book while Brett is outside tearing things up!

Just a little recap

2010-02-06T07:14:00.007-06:00

I've not been blogging much the past few weeks because I've been a little busier than usual.

Our family's business just started an e-commerce site and it kicked off better than we expected! Praise the Lord! I've also started taking on a few genealogy projects again. I was really feeling burned out so I took a two month break. I can honestly say that the break was just what the doctor ordered!

Another reason that I've been blogging less is because, well, how about I just *show you instead?!

Brett and I are soon-to-be owners of one (probably two!) very nice show prospects for me and potential broodmare prospects as investments. The chestnut mare pictured above is a daughter of Magnum Psyche and is out of a Bey Shah daughter. For those of you who go to the Magnum website, see if you can find the celebrity in the photos and then post back here when you do! I want to see who all can find him/her! :)

The second mare is a daughter of Noyz (Bey Shah x Bint Miss Fire). Noyz is a full brother to NV Beau Bey. This photo of me and "Gidgit" was taken back in February 2008, exactly two years before the above photo of me and "Annie". :)

*Please ignore the wet winter coat and mud. It had just rained 4 inches and all the horses were turned out! :)

Where is God?

2010-01-25T17:03:00.002-06:00

How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

Psalm 13:1-4 (NIV )

Where is God? is Dr. John Townsend's attempt to answer the age-old question of how we look to God during our personal trials and pitfalls. Dr. Townsend relies on personal experience, years of Christian counseling, and scriptural reference to guide the reader through. While I understand his approach, I really think that this book misses the mark.

The Introduction started off strong and reeled me in quickly. Unfortunately, it set a high standard that the rest of the book was unable to meet. The first 9 chapters were based more on his personal and professional stories than on scriptural references and solid Biblical instruction. It is not until chapter 10 that Dr. Townsend really dug in and delivered his intended message.

It is a well thought out concept and the Introduction and last few chapters show the author's ability to convey the message, but the rest of the book really disappointed me.

*This is a compensated review.

It's OK.

2010-01-15T09:57:00.002-06:00

Other than a vague reference in my Little River Canyon photo post, I hadn't posted about the fact that Brett and I were expecting a little one in late July/early August. We received a bit of concerning news at our 7 week appointment and became extra cautious about sharing. We told close family and friends, but that was it. My OB wanted to do another ultrasound at 10 weeks, but there was a scheduling conflict so it got bumped back to 11+4, which was Wednesday. My intuition told me that there was something majorly wrong, but I tried to have faith and think positively. Unfortunately, we learned that our baby stopped growing around 8 weeks.

My emotions have been all over the place in the past two days, but as incomprehensible as it sounds, it's OK. I'm OK. We're OK. I truly feel as if the Lord has been preparing me for this for the past several weeks. As I sought Him in prayer, I just knew that this baby wasn't one that we were meant to keep. I'm still ~~mad as a hornet~~ thoroughly upset and I'm still questioning God. The good thing is that He is strong enough to handle my questions and doubts and is still standing there with open arms when I'm ready to give them up.

Sound Advice

2010-01-11T09:18:00.002-06:00

We had a guest speaker at church yesterday and his sermon was on Titus 2. I'll go ahead and admit that I don't remember ever reading in the book of Titus before. Why? I have no idea. As Bro. Wesley pointed out yesterday, the book of Titus is where Paul is teaching us what God intends our responsibilities to be. It's so easy to say, "Well, I don't know what God wants me to do about XYZ, so I'll just do it my way instead." In Titus 2, Paul makes it very clear what God expects from us.

He expects men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, love, and in endurance. He expects women to be reverent in the way we live, not to be slanderers or drunks, and to teach what is good. Each generation of women is to teach the younger generations to love their husbands and children, be self-controlled and pure, to take care of their homes, to be kind, and to respect their husbands. The reasons that we are to do this is so we, as Christians, do not malign the word of God.

I'll ask you the same question that Bro. Wesley asked us - What could be sounder advice?

The Weatherman Lied

2010-01-09T11:12:00.002-06:00

We didn't see the first snow flurry. What a rip-off! Oh well. Maybe next time!

I wish I was able to share some exciting weekend plans with y'all, but that's not to be either. We learned yesterday morning that a long-time family friend had passed away Thursday afternoon. Her funeral is this afternoon. We hadn't seen her very much the past couple of years, but some of my best childhood memories include sitting up at her office people-watching! Please pray for her children and grandchildren as they adjust to life without her.

Some of you may have noticed the new badge I have on the bottom right of my blog. I recently signed up with Thomas Nelson Publishing as a "Book Review Blogger." The first book I'll be reviewing is Where is God by Dr. John Townsend. I can't wait until it gets here!

Snow?

2010-01-07T18:48:00.003-06:00

The weatherman is actually using the s-word tonight. Could we be so lucky?!

2009 In Pictures

2010-01-01T19:31:00.005-06:00

I started writing an ~~insanely long~~ immensely detailed post for my 2009 wrap-up and then decided to just upload a video instead. Before watching, please pause the music at the bottom of the page!

I hope y'all have a wonderfully blessed 2010!

2009 In Pictures from Janice Johnt on Vimeo.

City boy in the country

2009-12-22T11:43:00.005-06:00

What happens when a city boy gets married and moves to the country?!

Yep. That is Brett. In the bucket of the tractor. Why was Brett in the tractor? Our gutters needed cleaning -- badly. Why use a ladder when you have a tractor?!

This and That

2009-12-17T09:49:00.002-06:00

December is half-way over and I've just now logged in to update. I've let Christmas get a little overwhelming this year and I've finally stepped back and simplified every thing (like I should have at the beginning.) I'm proud to say that other than a few miscellaneous items I'm going to pick up today, I'm done shopping! :)

For those of you who are unfamiliar with my online friend Adrienne's blog, please take a minute to pop in and meet her new daughter, Lily! Adrienne and her mother-in-law are in Korea now and will officially pick up her new daughter at 11 pm CST! Words can't express just how excited I am for Adrienne, Jim, and their sweet family!

Also, on the right sidebar I have a link for the Bloom bookclub. Bloom was started by Angie Smith and her friend Jessica Turner last fall and they just announced Bloom's new book selection. Starting January 24th we'll be reading Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. I read Crazy Love with Bloom and thoroughly enjoyed the community that this group offers. If you love to read, check it out!

Thankful Thursday

2009-11-26T12:07:00.005-06:00

I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. God has blessed me beyond measure and paltry words can do little to express it.

Lord, you knew the deepest desires of my heart and chose to bless me so richly. Thank you, Lord.

I'd like to leave you with some of the pictures we took last weekend up in Mentone and Fort Payne. God's handiwork is quite amazing, isn't it?

A space to call my own

2009-11-18T16:06:00.002-06:00

I feel totally accomplished this evening! After months (OK, more like over a year!) of major procrastination I finally cleaned out our home office. It had gotten so bad that it was impossible to walk more than three feet inside, let alone actually get to the desk and set up my laptop. I've desperately needed some space to work on my genealogy and the dining room table was buried under layers of family tree printouts, census records, and tons of pictures!

Setting the office was symbolic in a way, too. It was my way of accepting the fact that we're here to stay.

And now? I finally have a space to call my own.

Plans

2009-11-17T10:02:00.003-06:00

I am a planner. I like to have things written out in black and white weeks in advance. I'm the type who begins planning a trip weeks (if not months!) ahead of time. I'm not a big fan of sudden changes or surprises. It's probably not a big surprise that I tend to be weak in the faith department at times, too. I know that God will always have my best interest at heart, but I'd much prefer it if he'd send me a memo every now and then. :)

Brett and I have been praying about our "Plan A" for the better part of a year. We applied for jobs (Brett interviewed with his top choice back in April), found the perfect house (not once, but twice!), and prayed and prayed that the job would come through. It didn't. Another candidate was chosen and we were left back at square one. We felt 100% sure that this was where we were supposed to be and kept applying for jobs and looking at houses. At the beginning of November we gave up on "Plan A" and asked that the Lord open whatever door we were supposed to walk through. The next morning the company that Brett interviewed with in April re-posted the position he wanted. He re-applied for it and we crossed our fingers and prayed. That same afternoon he also applied for a much better job where we're living now. The company here offered Brett a very generous job offer. It took him 10 seconds to accept it.

A part of me is disappointed that we won't be moving to Nashville, Tennessee any time soon. Truth be told, I felt a little bitter that our "Plan A" didn't turn out to be God's "Plan A." In the midst of my self inflicted pity-party, a well known verse in Jeremiah came to mind...

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

In spite of all my well laid out plans, if they are not of the Lord, they will not be prosperous.

That last sentence has a little bit of a bite to it. I've literally spent the last five minutes reading it over and over again. I don't always want to hear it. Sometimes it can actually be painful, but at the end of it all...

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice! 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phillipians 4:4-7

Leon

2009-11-01T11:52:00.003-06:00

I've spent the last 3 hours immersed in records for the town of Leon, Alabama. My g-g-g-g-g-grandfather's family settled in the Leon community back in the 1820's and most of the town's records are relevant to my personal genealogy research. The Leon Cemetery is actually on land that was originally owned by my g-g-g-g-g-grandfather, William Merrill, and was first used as a Merrill family cemetery. Over the years it was used for friends, neighbors, and eventually the entire community and was officially named the Leon Cemetery.

All of my Merrill ancestors in the Leon community served in the Alabama 37th Regiment of Volunteer Infantry in companies C and D. As I was looking through the burial section, I noticed that there were several mentions of other Leon families who had links to my Merrill ancestors. As was common back then, most of these close neighbors married amongst themselves and their children who fought in the Alabama 37th were related to some degree. This new information also means that over 80% of the people buried in the Leon Cemetery are related to my family and need to be inputted into my family tree.

Translation: I'm going to be busy this afternoon! :)

Long time, no update. :)

2009-10-28T15:26:00.002-05:00

I can't believe it's been so long since I've really updated over here. We've had a lot going on (both personal and professional) and my online time has really taken a back-burner. I'm very grateful that things seem to have calmed down and we're mostly back to normal. :)

November is a busy month around our house. I'm knee deep in my genealogical research and I'm hoping to take a road trip up to Franklin, Tennessee to visit the Carnton Plantation to document some of it in person. I'm also hoping to take a side trip to Blount County, Alabama to visit a cemetery that many of my ancestors are buried in. We'll be in South Carolina for a few days to celebrate Thanksgiving and Brett's grandmother's 90th birthday. Our 3rd anniversary will roll around while we're in Aiken, so hopefully Brett has something up his sleeve for that! I'm hoping to sneak a trip up to Scottsboro before Thanksgiving, too!

Missing New York (Semi-Wordless Wednesday!)

2009-08-26T14:30:00.013-05:00

I am really missing New York this afternoon. I absolutely LOVE living in the south, but there's a tiny part of me that misses Niagara Falls. I miss my family up there most of all. I was never really able to develop a close relationship with most of them and that is something that bothers me to this day.

I was looking through boxes of my grandmother's old pictures (think early to late 1950's) that were taken when they were starting their family in Niagara Falls. The pictures preserved a type of unadulterated innocence that this generation missed out on. The town is SO different now. For those of you who have visited the area more than over the past 10 years, you know exactly what I mean.

As I wrap up what was supposed to be a Wordless Wednesday post, I'll leave you with some more pictures from our January/February trip up there. Keep in mind that this was Brett's first trip up there (even though his dad was born in Buffalo)! :)

I just adore this picture of Brett! This Florida boy was COLD!

My great-grandmother worked here until she retired at age 83 and moved back to Alabama.

I love this picture of Brett and I. As soon as we got home, I framed it!

This is one of my favorite places on Earth! I could eat here every day...literally.

For reference, Brett is 6'3".

Niagara Falls State Park. For the record, the sign is accurate, too. We found that out first hand!

P.S. I added a new song to my playlist this afternoon. I've tweeted several times (and blogged!) about "Hosanna", my favorite song on Selah's new CD. Christy Nockels has also recorded this song and she does an awesome job with it! Listen and see for yourself!

Sufficient Grace

2009-08-25T22:13:00.002-05:00

2 Corinthians 12:9 has been speaking to my heart now for the past several days (and when I say speaking to my heart I really mean making me bawl my eyes out and lay myself bare before Him.) I'm partial to both NIV and NLT translations, but this verse speaks to me more powerfully in the NIV form.

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 2 Cor 12:9

According to dictionary.com, the theological definition of grace is the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God. Free. Unmerited. Favor. Love. God places no price on His love. It's free. None of us are worthy of His favor, yet He gives it freely out of love. I'm prideful, selfish, stubborn, spiritually weak, and a laundry list of others too great to count, yet God clearly states that His power is made perfect in my weakness. My weaknesses are nothing to be ashamed of; according to 2 Cor 12:9, I should be proud of them for they make me more malleable to God.

On a wonderful side note, today was the release date for Selah's new CD, "You Deliver Me" and I can honestly say that this is my favorite Selah CD to date. Brett and I had the great honor to listen to several of the songs back in March and April and were SO excited when our copy of the CD came in the mail yesterday. I can honestly say that my favorite song on the entire CD is "Hosanna" and I've probably listened to it AT LEAST 10 times today alone. If this CD doesn't open your heart to worship Him, I don't know what will.

Pete Wilson, pastor of CrossPoint Nashville, is giving away 5 copies of "You Deliver Me" on his blog, so stop in and enter!

A Godly Wife (and a Kaden update!)

2009-08-24T09:39:00.005-05:00

My job description has changed these days. I'm still staying at home, but I'm not content to just be a stay-at-home wife. I seek to be a godly wife to Brett. My daily goal is for him to see the love of Christ through me every day. Headaches, dirty dishes, overloaded washing machines, and clogged toilets (sorry for the visual!) will happen, but through it all I know I have MUCH to be thankful for.

I stopped in at a small local store on Saturday and bought a small canvas to hang in the kitchen. It wasn't just the colors or design that caught my attention, but the words. The two sentences printed on it sum it up quite nicely, in my opinion. Thank God for what you have. Trust God for what you need.

Thank you God for my wonderful husband.
Thank you God for my loving parents and fabulous in-laws.
Thank you God for my awesome friends who are more like family than mere friends.
Thank you God for a pastor who truly loves our family and is always there for us.
Thank you God for the means and ability to enjoy our hobbies.

Yesterday C and her mom brought Kaden over to our house for a quick visit. Kaden is fast approaching 6 months and is already starting to scoot all over the floor! He's doing really well and we're all very thankful for God's healing and protection. His "big" urology appointment is on September 2 and I'll be riding down to Mobile with them to lend moral support and plenty of laughs! Please be in prayer for this appointment.

Kaden had his first experience with grass yesterday afternoon and it was so cute. He seemed fascinated with the fact that he could pull it up!

A little of this, a little of that...

2009-08-19T08:51:00.003-05:00

I've been reminiscing a LOT lately. The past few years have had a lot of ups and downs, but I can honestly say that I wouldn't change a thing. I know that sounds a bit trite, but each of those experiences (and several Max Lucado books!) has helped draw me closer to the Lord. With His help, I've been able to overcome the bitterness that I've been carrying around for 3 years.

For those of you who follow me on Twitter or who are on my Facebook, this will be old news, so just bear with me! My dad, Brett, a good friend of ours, and I drove down to Mobile a couple weekends ago and came home with a Kawasaki jet ski. Our lake cabin is right on the edge of the lake and the river channel, so we have two completely different waterways to ride on. Brett prefers the open lake and I love riding up the river. There's something about riding 50 mph through the curves of the glass-smooth river. Each time I go out on it, I always forget to bring the camera. The sunsets out there are just incredible!

Please pray for my mom as she goes in for surgery tomorrow morning at 6:45 CST. We hope that she'll be able to come home Friday (or Saturday morning at the latest).

There is a time for everything...

2009-08-01T09:55:00.002-05:00

A lot has happened since my last blog post, but I've been hesitant to post about it here or on any other public forum. As of yesterday afternoon, I'm no longer employeed with THSC. I enjoyed my job and most of the people who worked there so in a way I'm upset, but after months of prayer I feel like God opened another door for me. I'm going to use this time to get some much needed organization done around the house and focus on my ancestry research full time until God leads me elsewhere. Brett has been absolutely wonderful throughout this and has supported me every step of the way.

I have a complete feeling of peace that can only be from the Lord. Even though my thoughts are all jumbled and I'm having a hard time focusing on anything right now, I pray that He will use this situation for His glory.

Proverbs 22:6

2009-07-20T14:20:00.001-05:00

I took a much needed break last night and jumped on the four-wheeler (barefoot!) for a ride in the back pasture. I haven't done that in several years and I was amazed at how young and carefree I felt as the wind whipped through my hair and the grass slapped against the bottom of my feet. (Yeah, I tend to kick my legs out and not use the foot guards. I know that's totally not safe and I don't advocate anyone riding like that!)

Things like that make me realize just how blessed I was to grow up out in the country. I used to complain about watering the garden, spending my Saturdays cutting the grass/bush-hogging, and waking up early every single day to feed the horses, but I'm grateful for every minute of it. When I was 18, the only thing I could think about was getting out of our small town as fast as my car would go. I never knew how much I would miss our little country church with Fall Festivals and hay rides, Sunday dinner with my whole family, riding the horses down the old dirt roads, and sitting down with a good book under the shade of the old pecan tree.

As Brett and I get closer to starting our own family, I look back on all these memories and I realize how important it is to me to be able to provide those same experiences to our kids. As I was riding the four-wheeler last night (watching the fireflies - which is pretty rare around our place!), one of my favorite verses came to mind.

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.
Proverbs 22:6

Thankful Thursday

2009-07-16T09:04:00.004-05:00

I am so grateful that we have had many opportunities to spend time with our out-of-town family, both at home at and down in Fort Morgan, Alabama. They say that pictures are worth a thousand words, so here you go! I promise to have a better update here in the next few days!

Wordless Wednesday (Well, almost wordless anyway!)

2009-06-23T21:28:00.004-05:00

Our family spent Father's Day at the lake riding the jet boat, grilling steaks, and just enjoying each others company. Sophie finally was allowed her first ride on the jet boat, too! I really thought the noise would scare her, but she proceeded to march herself up to the front seat in the bow and take her rightful place as co-captain. This baby LOVES boat rides! Brett and I have a secret hope that she'll be Sawyer's new girlfriend, too! :)

I have a very important "unspoken" prayer request that I'd like to post about. Us Southern Baptists are very familiar with our "unspokens", but for those of you who aren't, please know that I'll post details as soon as I possibly can. At this time just know that each one of your prayers can make a HUGE difference in this situation.

Thankful Thursday

2009-06-18T13:30:00.002-05:00

This week has been full of unpleasant surprises and irritations and I've really felt the Lord gently reminding me of all I have to be thankful for. Today is the perfect day for a Thankful Thursday post!

I am very thankful for some of our wonderful new friends. They really exemplify the meaning of "the Lord's vessel." Thanks guys! :)

I'm thankful for my wonderful husband, even when we don't see eye-to-eye on everything I think we should. He has always been my rock and I love him more everyday.

I'm thankful to hold a full-time job in a less than desirable economy. We're very blessed and sometimes I think we really take it for granted.

What are you thankful for this Thursday?

Wordless Wednesday

2009-06-17T14:42:00.002-05:00

These are a couple of my favorite pictures from the past couple weeks. :)

Famous Ancestors

2009-06-02T10:20:00.002-05:00

I've spent the last few hours playing around with Ancestry's Famous Relatives search option. I'm astounded to see the eccentric mix of entertainers, artists, writers, presidents, and royalty.

On my Alsabrook side I'm related to:

Judy Garland
William Faulkner
Truman Capote
Audrey Hepburn
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis
Bette Davis

On my Rawls side I'm related to:

Emily Dickenson
John Steinbeck
Elizabeth II
Eugene Delacroix

On my Merrill side I'm related to:

Emily Dickenson
Samuel Adams
Julia Child

There are a few more that I'm checking out to be sure they're accurate, but the list so far is pretty interesting! :)

Flip Flops, Sunblock, and Ziggy Marley

2009-06-01T12:24:00.006-05:00

What do those three things have in common? Summertime! At least summertime around our neck of the woods, anyway. :) We kicked off summer a bit early this year by finishing up our jet boat and taking her out for a couple spins up the river.

This boat was the last project that my dad and I picked up together before I moved down to Florida. We bought her in January 2004 up in Wetumpka, Alabama while my mom was up in New York for a couple weeks. She came home to yet another project that needed a friend (or six!) Dad got the boat running in 2006, but pulled that motor out after only a couple weekends. She sat in the garage for the past two years collecting dust. Dad and Brett got the itch to bring her back out a couple weeks ago and we all finished up late Saturday afternoon. Here are some pictures from her maiden voyage! :)

Time Flies

2009-05-28T09:59:00.005-05:00

We haven't dropped off the face of the Earth...yet. The past few weeks have been hectic around our house so the blog and my ancestry research has taken a back burner for a little while. I'll get back to the grind sooner or later!

Untitled.

2009-04-20T17:16:00.003-05:00

Brett and I returned home this morning from an emergency trip back to South Carolina. This trip was one of the hardest we've ever had to make.

We received a phone call at 7:45 last Wednesday night (4/15) that NaMa was suddenly in very grave condition. As we were in the process of packing and calling to inform other family members, we learned that she had passed away. We arrived in South Carolina mid-Thursday afternoon and were able to spend a couple days with family and friends. We had originally planned to come home tomorrow afternoon, but left early, early this morning after some unexpected issues arose.

We didn't come home alone, though. We brought one of NaMa's cats home with us and as I type this, she is being introduced to Reese. As it stands, I don't think they care for each other very much yet. :)

Lucy at NaMa's house last week.

Winds of Change

2009-04-15T10:44:00.002-05:00

Brett and I made it back home mid-Monday afternoon and I must admit, it was SO nice to sleep in my own bed again! Honestly, I think my car is ready for a break, too. We drove up to North Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, and back to Alabama all in a week's time. Talk about racking up the miles!

We spent the majority of our trip with Brett's maternal grandmother who was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. Just one day into our visit, we had to take her to the E.R. and she was promptly admitted. As it stands, she'll be transferring to a rehab facility for a couple of weeks unless her oncologist decides to go another route. NaMa (as we lovingly call her) has family nearby and they have jumped in to help out as much as possible. Brett and I are planning another trip up there in the VERY near future as well.

After our trip to visit NaMa we drove down to Aiken, SC to spend some time with Brett's paternal grandmother, half-sister, half-brother, nieces, and nephew. Jim and Mar were also in town and we were able to enjoy their company again as well. We had an early birthday celebration for Brett and accompained his grandmother to her church for Easter services. I was raised a Southern Baptist and that side of his family is Episcopalian. The service was unlike any I had attended before, but we enjoyed it.

We have a very difficult decision to make in the coming days and would appreciate your prayers. It seems as if each time we decide on a route to take, something jumps out at us that alters our course. At this point we are just praying for God's guidance and wisdom.

- Please continue to pray for Stellan. It is my understanding that after a successful transition into a step-down unit, he started having longer episodes of SVT.

- Kaden is now at home and is doing well. He'll start his physical therapy in the coming weeks and we're hopeful that he'll go way beyond what his doctors expect.

- Please pray for Dylon, the grandson of one of my VERY good friends. He was diagnosed with a dangerous, but rare heart condition last year and is now scheduled for surgery in Houston, TX on June 16. Please keep Dylon and the Smith family in your prayers.

A God Thing

2009-04-08T07:57:00.003-05:00

My wonderful mother-in-law has been working on her book for many months. These past few weeks have been wrapping up loose ends, editing all the pictures, and a final proof-read and edit session before sending it to her publisher. I was completely honored (and floored!) when she asked me to be the one to wrap up those ends. We worked on it for a few hours Monday night and then for several more yesterday. I took a break yesterday afternoon to drive up to the top of the mountain for some meditiation and prayer and came back to the book with a new goal: get it sent to the publisher on April 7th. This was a small way that I could honor Audrey. I can't remember the last time I focused on something as hard as I did on that book last night...and at 11:57 p.m. on April 7, 2009 the book was sent into the publisher!

As far as we were concerned, I wasn't supposed to have been here to help with the book. We were supposed to have left yesterday morning for a 7 hour drive east. We learned on Sunday that there was an unexpected delay and we'd be here until this morning. Coincidence? Maybe. God? DEFINITELY. Mar and I were talking last night as we were uploading the book and we both feel that God ordained last night for a reason. Maybe that reason was a tiny way that I could honor and always remember Audrey. Maybe God had a completely different reason behind it that He'll reveal to us soon. No matter how you slice it, it was a God thing.

Oh. And for the record. It snowed here yesterday. :)

Snow

2009-04-07T10:16:00.006-05:00

**Update: Pictures are now added!**

Today is April 7th, and for those of you who follow the blog of my sweet friend Angie, you know that today marks the one year anniversary of the birth and death of her beautiful daughter Audrey Caroline. Brett and I were blessed to have been able to spend yesterday with her. When God started to weave Audrey's story he was also weaving a piece of mine and Brett's story as well. I can't wait to update on what's been going on with us, but I'm going to hold off until everything is finalized.

Sweet Angie, Todd, Ellie, Abby, Kate (and Sawyer, too!) - Our hearts are with you today and we will be lifting each of you up in prayer today. We love you guys!

During our Nashville trip, we saw a few snow flurries at a very important location. (More on that later!) I looked at Brett and Angie and I knew instantly that they knew what I was thinking. Those of you who know me, know just how excited I get in the snow (even though my family is from Niagara Falls and I've seen PLENTY of it over the years.)

Last night on the way back from Nashville we saw a few snow flurries at the base of the mountain. I prayed aloud to God that if the decision we're in the process of making is the right one, to please show us a sign. Not a mile later, the snow started to fall heavily. We pulled off at an exit and I stepped out of the car and into the beautiful snow that was falling on top of the mountain. As tears filled my eyes, I knew He had answered my prayer in the most obvious way possible. As I looked closer at each unique white flake that landed on my car, I was reminded of the blood Jesus shed to wash our sins and make us snow white. Each person is unique, just like each snowflake that fell from the sky. It was also a beautiful reminder that as Christians we are to respect and accept the uniqueness of each other. Simply put, G-R-A-C-E.

I have so many jumbled thoughts and I seem to lack a way to get them out this morning. Before I wrap this up, I want to ask each of you for prayers for precious baby Stellan. They finally have a new care plan in place and we're in prayer that this will help him defeat his SVT/arrhythmia issues. His mother, MckMama, is traveling a very hard road that each mother prays she will never have to walk. Please pray for her to have the wisdom she needs as she advocates for precious son, rest for her weary body, mind, and spirit, and peace that He alone can give.

Baby Kaden came through his second shunt surgery without any complications and if all goes well, he'll be coming home next Sunday. Please pray for his continued healing.

Finally, those of you who follow Angie's blog have more than likely heard the song "Unredeemed" that she posted on April 5. It is going to be released on Selah's new record (that is coming out in August!!!) If you've not had the chance to hear it, GO NOW! Curb is only allowing her to have it up for 3 days and the we're 2 days into the countdown. :)

Psalm 112:7

2009-03-29T20:12:00.004-05:00

It has been one of those weeks that makes me want to drop to my knees and cry out in defeat.

I am tired and I feel helpless. I feel frustrated and fearful.

My grandfather was rushed from rehab to a local hospital after suffering from chest pains. Thankfully, the doctors don't feel that he suffered another heart attack and they don't think his body is rejecting the new valve. We're still waiting on the final test results and we're hopeful that they will be clear.

We learned on Friday that Brett's grandmother's cancer is more advanced than we initially knew. She is currently unaware of this and I'm not sure when her children will tell her. At this time it does appear that the cancer drug is working, but the doctors have no idea how much time it will give her.

I've not mentioned it on my blog before, but I have several work related issues going on right now and it appears that it's all coming to a head in the next couple days. I received a phone call while we were at church that confirmed my suspicions. Please be in prayer that whatever the outcome may be, it WILL be God's will. He knows what our next steps will be and He'll be the one to guide us.

He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
Psalm 112:7

Kaden Update

2009-03-24T07:37:00.002-05:00

I had actually been working on another post when I got a Kaden update that I wanted to pass along. We really covet your prayers for this precious baby boy. The road ahead is going to be a long one and our fear is that this is just one of many obstacles he'll have to face.

The doctors found the source of his infection - his shunt. They had to perform surgery yesterday to remove the shunt and manually drain the fluid that had collected. Instead of a broad spectrum antibiotic, he's on one that should specifically fight this infection. The doctors said that if the infection has cleared up in 7 - 10 days they'll do another surgery to re-install the shunt. He'll then have to completely recover from the second surgery before they'll even think about letting him come home.

We have a few specific prayer requests at this time.

- That the infection will clear up and the next shunt surgery will go well

- That C will have the strength and peace to get through these next few weeks

- That C will be surrounded by people who have her and Kaden's best interests at heart and can give her the moral support she needs

- That Kaden will be completely healed by His hands

Baby Kaden...

2009-03-21T20:46:00.004-05:00

Precious Kaden has had a couple of setbacks over the past few days and is need of as many prayers as we can summon. Those who have read my blog or follow Angie on Twitter knew that we were expecting Kaden to come home on Thursday. Unfortunately, his shunt began to leak and he has developed an infection that the doctor's have been unable to isolate. As of this morning, he started to run a high fever and his neurologist still didn't know what was causing the fever/infection. C has been spending as much time in the NICU as she physically can and she's worn out. Because of Kaden's infection and the risk of further contamination, no one else is allowed to go in there with him to give her a small break. We also covet prayers for her peace and strength.

I'm honored to introduce you to the precious miracle who has kept defying the odds...

In His time...

2009-03-18T09:19:00.001-05:00

I want to start off by giving a wonderful update on my friend C and her precious baby boy. Kaden was born on March 9 at 8:07 a.m. and was a 7lbs 1 oz and 20 inches long. Not too shabby for being 3 weeks early! He had surgery at 3:00 that same afternoon and made it through like a trooper. To top it all off, we learned yesterday that he's coming home on Thursday. Thank you Jesus for your beautiful mercy!

Brett and I have been praying for some very specific things the past couple months. As a part of that journey, we had the distinct pleasure of spending this past weekend with our new friends Angie and Todd. They are truly some of the nicest people you will ever meet. You can't help but love them as soon as you meet them!

Brett and I have some very big changes coming up in the near future, so please pray that above all else that we are led where He wants us to be and that He receives all the Glory.

Heavenly Father, we seek your strength.

2009-03-06T09:35:00.003-06:00

Today's post has nothing to do with the past, but everything to do with the future.

A very good friend of mine, C, is currently 36 weeks pregnant with a precious baby boy named Kaden. C learned early on in her pregnancy that Kaden had spina bifida myelomeningocele. As soon as he is born, he'll under-go surgery to repair his exposed spinal cord and to place shunts in his brain to drain excess fluid. I won't go into more detail without her permission, but please be on your knees in prayer for this precious little baby and his very strong mother.

Lord, we seek your guidance and strength. We cannot do this on our own.

Legacy of Faith

2009-02-23T15:53:00.002-06:00

I've spent the past 9 months working almost exclusively on my ancestry research. Inadvertently, I've pushed God back on the priority list. In the middle of the most time consuming part of my research, I ran across an old newspaper article regarding the second cousin of my G-G-G grandfather, Robert Brown Merrill. Reverend Robert Brown Merrill to be exact. He was a Southern Baptist preacher in the small community of Leon, Alabama which is roughly 5 miles north of where we live now. From his obituary in the Crenshaw County News, we do know that he had a 'home' church, but I haven't run across the name of the church yet.

While searching for information regarding Rev. Merrill, I came across several old church records that mentioned numerous other ancestors. It was so wonderful to read through these old records and to learn that my family loved the same Savior as I do now. While some of the churches that they once attended no longer hold services, most are still standing and I've tried to view and/or photograph as many as I can. One in particular is where 5 generations of my family were laid to rest.

In the middle of my research it dawned on me that my ancestors left me a legacy. They left me a legacy of faith. Each generation took the responsibility of teaching the next about our Lord and Savior. Each generation served Him in their own way. Some chose to serve Him in the basic tasks of running a farm and praising Him for putting food on their table. Two generations served Him in the Civil War by serving as field chaplains. The next generation chose to serve Him from behind a pulpit. Yet another chose to serve Him by donating a parcel of land for a church to be built upon. Finally, my grandmother chose to serve Him by showing others how He worked through her. Those works helped lead me to Christ during my early teenage years. It is now my duty to one day pass this legacy along to the next generation.

I want to leave a legacy
How will they remember me?
Did I choose to love? Did I point to You enough
To make a mark on things?
I want to leave an offering
A child of mercy and grace who
blessed your name unapologetically
And leave that kind of legacy
(Legacy by Nichole Nordeman)

Oh my gosh...I've got a blog award!

2009-02-23T07:34:00.003-06:00

Cherie at Still Digging for Roots picked my blog for a KreativBlogger award. I am so honored! Thank you!

I'm going to buck the rules a tad and instead of nominating a set number of blogs, I'm going to pick two that I read on a regular basis. Both Taylor and Sarah pour their hearts out on their blog and I feel that both have more than earned it! :)

a little slice of Heaven...
Storing Up Treasures

Digital Scrapbooking

2009-02-16T11:59:00.002-06:00

Photography has been one of my favorite hobbies since I was 12 or 13 so it was a natural assumption on my part that I would love scrap-booking just as much. WRONG! I am sorely lacking the patience to be a serious scrap-booker. I can sit down, have a game plan in my head, and get a good start on my layout and then my patience wears thin and I stop. I usually repeat this every 6 months or so.

Imagine my sheer delight when a friend of mine mentioned the ScrapBlog website! I have spent the past week putting together a few layouts with my favorite family pictures. My goal is to get 30 or 40 pages done, print them, and bind them in a simple leather cover. Here is one of my favorite layouts. For those of you who happen to be dyed-in-the-wool scrap-bookers, please feel free to offer any advice and critiques!

A layout of our sweet Sophie.

Introducing...

2009-02-10T10:33:00.005-06:00

I just realized that I've not included many pictures of our wonderful family. I'd like to spend a few minutes to introduce you to Brett's step-mother (my wonderful mother-in-law), Marlene. Jim and Mar live in north Alabama and if we're out of town for the weekend, you can bet we're up at their house. Marlene is a retired art teacher, a very talented artist, and a soon-to-be published author. I've had the privilege of catching a few sneak peaks at the manuscript as well as seeing the first draft of the cover. I can't wait to read it in its entirety! Here are a few of her paintings that I absolutely adore. Enjoy!

Mar and "The Annabelles"

A more detailed view of "The Annabelles"

Mar and her most recent "Pansy" painting

A detailed view

When it rains, it pours...

2009-02-09T11:46:00.001-06:00

Brett and I just returned from a 10 day trip to Niagara Falls to spend time with my grandfather before he underwent open heart surgery. While the surgery itself was successful, he's developed a few complications and is still in the CVICU at Buffalo General. Please pray for his comfort and emotional/physical well-being as well as for the doctors and nurses who are attending to him. My mom made the drive up with us and she is still there with him.

While we spent as much time as possible with him at the hospital, we did do some winter sight-seeing outside of visiting hours. I was able to show Brett the house my dad grew up in and some of our favorite local haunts. For the record, if you do vacation in Niagara Falls anytime soon, make sure you go to the "Why Coffee Shop" off Main St. for breakfast. You can't beat the food or the price! Here are a few pictures of our travels...

Brett and I at the top of Devil's Hole Gorge

Niagara River Gorge

Frozen Niagara River and the Rainbow Bridge into Canada

The American and Bridal Veil Falls

Close up of the American and Bridal Veil Falls

My very dirty, very snowy car

Brett received a phone call on the way home telling us that his maternal grandmother in South Carolina was diagnosed with lung cancer. We don't have many details as her first oncologist appointment isn't until later this week, but please pray for clear answers and for her to feel peaceful regarding any decisions she has to make in the coming days. We will be going to South Carolina in the next couple of weeks to spend some time with her and hopefully we'll have a game-plan in place shortly.

Just us.

2009-01-13T13:08:00.002-06:00

I was reminded about my blog a few weeks ago when someone asked the simple question, "Do you blog?" Um, yeah. About that. Oops. I forgot to update it again. I am setting a simple goal for myself of updating AT LEAST twice a month. Once I accomplish that, I'll work towards a weekly update. I find that I'm having a major problem with time management lately and I'm trying to work on it. Bear with me!

PERSONAL UPDATE

Brett and I rang in 2009 with a trip to Emerald Coast Dragway's New Years Nationals race. It was a great day for racing (minus the cold wind and the track not sticking at first) and we had a blast hanging out with family and friends. Brett ran into some of his friends from high school and I was able to meet some people who I've only heard referred to in stories by Brett and Steve. Luckily, most of the stories weren't that bad! :)

My main goal for 2009 is to spend more immersed in my Bible and less time reading celebrity gossip magazines. I'm using the devotional book I picked up last year, but only haphazardly read.

As my EDD of February 8 comes closer, I'm having a much harder time with things than I once thought. I find myself constantly wondering about how things would be if we were still expecting two beautiful miracles.

There are a couple things that I really feel the Lord is impressing upon my heart and I'm trying to open my mind and heart to Him and His will. The most challenging part is to make sure that these things are "of Him" instead of "of Janice".

Since I'm at the office, I'm going to cut this short, but expect to see the "unexpected" in 2009!

I'm such a slacker.

2008-11-19T14:05:00.002-06:00

ANCESTRY UPDATE

I know I've been slacking on my weekly updates, but I haven't been able to spend a lot of time with my ancestry research lately. I was able to snag several hours of it while we were in Scottsboro and I've been able to work on it some this week, too. My focus this week has been on the Wiggins part of my family. Eula Lee Wiggins (1874 - 1914) married by GG grandfather Hugh Daniel Merrill (1863 - 1953) and was one of the first Wiggins' connections. Isabella Merrill, Hugh Daniel Merrill's sister, also married a Wiggins (George Washington Wiggins). My Wiggins connection is also the connection that I share with my mother-in-law, Marlene. She and I both descend from William Wiggins (1755 - 1819) and Elizabeth Cooper (1759 - 1825). I descend from their son Willis Anthony Wiggins and she descends from their son Stephen Wiggins.

My next ancestry project is to track down and clear up the ancestry of Elizabeth Cooper (1759 - 1825) and her father, Fleet Cooper. This is proving to be a very daunting project, so I doubt I'll have anything "clear" to show for it for quite some time.

Brett and I will be in Aiken, South Carolina for Thanksgiving and while we're there I plan to visit the graves of several of my South Carolina ancestors. I would love to be able to drive up to North Carolina and do the same, but our time is limited on this trip. This will probably be a project to undertake sometime in the Spring and I plan to wrangle Marlene up for it as well.

Farewell and Hello

2008-10-24T13:28:00.003-05:00

PERSONAL UPDATE

Jerry Morgan (a very close family friend) passed away last night in Pensacola, Florida. Though he had been fighting cancer for the past two years, his death was sudden and unexpected. Please keep the Morgan family in your prayers as they get through this very tough time.

ANCESTRY UPDATE

With the help of Crenshaw County genealogist Joyce English, I have been able to track down my grandfather's maternal grandparents and their immediate ancestors. The Moores were buried in Leon Cemetery this entire time and we never made the connection. I think the reason we had such a hard time with them is because we were going off of their nicknames/family names rather than the given names that would appear on a census. Brett and I will be going up to the Leon Cemetery this weekend to take pictures of their grave sites and update the family tree accordingly. My grandfather's maternal grandfather is buried at Zion Baptist Church in Dozier (rather than at Leon with the rest of his family) so we'll stop over there and take pictures as well.

I've also tracked down some ancestors that are buried in the Kimbro Cemetery in Dozier, Alabama. While they're not "direct" ancestors (aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.) I'm still planning to stop and photograph their grave sites for the family tree.

I also learned that I have a divorce (circa 1849) and two murders in my direct lineage. Phew!

We finally found it!

2008-10-22T10:34:00.005-05:00

ANCESTRY UPDATE

The only burial record we've ever had of my GGGG grandmother (Susanah McDade Merrill) listed her in the Leon Cemetery with her brother-in-law, Jacob Merrill. Brett and I scoured Leon Cemetery from front to back, but never found anything that mentioned her. I emailed a 3rd cousin* (once removed, to be exact!) and he told me that he found her gravesite in the Goodhope Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery several years ago. My immediate family (and NUMEROUS ancestors) are buried at Good Hope, but we never noticed her headstone. It turns out that she remarried a David Holland the same year she obtained a divorce from my GGGG grandfather William Merrill. She was buried (as Susanah Holland) directly behind her son Jacob Perry Merrill and his wife Elefare Parrish Merrill.

Susanah McDade Merrill Holland
1810 - 1875

Jacob Perry Merrill (Left) Susanah Holland (Center) Elefare Parrish Merrill (Right)

*Ron Head, Montgomery, AL (Thanks for all the information, Ron!)

It all begins somewhere.

2008-10-21T12:29:00.000-05:00

I had every intention of starting this blog when I first started researching my family tree, but as always, I got sidetracked and forgot all about it. I plan to use this blog to record new developments and information as well as a place to update friends and family on what's going on in our every day lives. I had originally planned to keep the two separate, but I'm bad enough when it comes to updating just one blog. The second would never stand a chance. :)

ANCESTRY UPDATE

Brett and I located the Valley Grove Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery, Leon Community Cemetery, and Veasey's Chapel cemetery where my Alsabrook and Merrill ancestors are buried. I took well over a hundred pictures and updated my Family Tree accordingly. I'm still having some issues with locating all of the gravesites that we know should be in this area, but I'm slowly but surely making headway.

With the help of my dad's cousin, we were able to get access to the Nall Plantation Cemetery to photograph the gravesites of Marlene's ancestors. The cemetery is quite over-grown and it took over an hour with an axe and weed-sling to clean it out enough to take pictures. A cleaning campaign is in the works and I'll be sure to take new pictures of the cemetery once we get it cleared out.

The Nall Plantation Cemetery in Gantt, Alabama.

PERSONAL UPDATE

Without giving out too much information, it looks like Brett has a good lead on a new job. We don't know all the specifics yet, but it looks like he's a solid contendor and hopefully we'll know something more either this afternoon or tomorrow. If you're family and want all our details, send me an email and I'll fill you in!