Merry Christmas to you!
9 Photography Styles Explained
3 years ago
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
away in a manger
"Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
Luke 2: 10-11
Saturday, December 4, 2010
i believe in auburn
...i just don't love it!
Christmas came early for John! He's headed to Atlanta to cheer on his team! Boda Getta??
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
five
Our fifth anniversary was October 15th. To celebrate, we went to one of my VERY favorite places...the beach.
Lucky for us, a cottage in Seaside was available which made for the PERFECT weekend get a way. Fall is my absolute fav-or-ite time to go to the beach, and the weather our anniversary weekend could not be beat.
Each day started with John's favorite thing...coffee...and my favorite thing...coffee dates with John!
We made up lots of excuses to have to stop by the Market. It is just too cute to pass up and happens to have the most delicious cinnamon rolls.
I honestly don't know if I've ever seen the beach more beautiful. Perfect weather, perfect water, just PERFECT.
I set up shop here....
and listened to this...
while John was more focused on things like this...
I came inside to tell him Aubie was outside. He didn't believe me, and DID NOT lose his concentration in the game.
TOLD you Aubie was outside!
A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.
Mignon Mclaughlin, Atlantic (July 1965)
Monday, November 29, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
35 years
Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! What an example of hardwork, dedication and teamwork.
I love you both.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
the morning after the iron bowl
november 19th 2000
I was eighteen years old. A freshman at the University of Alabama. We hosted Auburn for the very first time (in 99 years) in our stadium, and cheered our hearts out despite our loss...and the freezing rain. My roommate, Ashley and I woke up exhausted. I had a call from Trai, a friend we met while visiting our dorm neighbors' hometown. He asked if I might meet him for lunch...and most importantly if I might bring Ashley. Not the first lunch date for this "wingman girl". I rolled out of bed with a bad attitude, threw on a t-shirt and baseball hat without knowing that I was on my way to meet my husband.
I met the man of my dreams at McAlister's. Maybe it was the wooden bead necklace, maybe the gelled hair but whatever it was I was hooked! ...and ten years later I'm still hooked. I can not remember who wanted to take this picture, or if we just stopped someone in the Tutwiler parking lot and asked them to take a picture of the four of us after meeting just hours before, but I am thankful for this picture. A tangible look at day ONE. We had no idea that was the beginning. The very beginning...of this love story I'm living.
I am thankful for the details God orchestrated that day. Again, thankful for a god who specializes in details.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns"
-George Eliot
Monday, October 4, 2010
"above ALL else, guard your heart"
Bob Flayhart is Senior Pastor of Oak Mountain Church, and author of The Bobosphere. If you have never read his blog, I encourage you to do just that. I am not a biblical scholar by any stretch of the imagination, but I was encouraged by his post and wanted to share.
Last week, his post was on the following verse:
Proverbs 4:23-"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."
This is a verse that I "know", but I have not taken the time to really meditate on its truths. I must admit, this is one of those verses that I filed away in one of my life's little "chapters" and honestly have not thought much else about it. "Guard your heart" takes me back to the days of dating and Campus Crusade. The quiet times of "some day my prince will come". Not to make light of that time in my life, I do think it is important to guard your heart in the aspect of relationships, but I simply had not given it much thought beyond just that. I love the way Bob broke down this passage to share thoughts on the depth of each word.
Have you ever really thought about what your heart is? I haven't. How much more weight does this verse have in the context of your heart as the TOTALITY of your being?
Excerpts from his post:
"guard your heart"--I have to ask: what is my heart? My heart is the totality of my being, the very core of who I am. My heart is my intellect, my emotions, my will, my motivations, my joys, my priorities, the openness of my life to God and His truth and much, much more! I have a lot to guard...
"guard your heart"--hmmm, that must mean my heart is under attack! Constantly! I need to guard my heart from the lies of the enemy. I need to guard my heart from the mentality of the world. I need to guard my heart from the fallen pull of my own flesh. I need to guard my heart from living out of the pain of past woundedness. I need to guard my heart against living out of self-protection, self-preservation or self-indulgence.
Guard your heart from the mentality of the world. Wow. Well said. But even deeper, guard my heart from the fallen pull of my own flesh. Honestly, I've never thought about guarding my heart from the flesh, guarding my heart from myself, my own sinful nature that desires to live out of self-protection, self-preservation and self-indulgence. What a concept. A life changing, true concept.
"it is the wellspring of life"--I have been created by God and re-created in Christ to be a source, a wellspring, a fountain of life, to all those I come into contact with throughout the day. The life I am able to offer is directly proportional to the life in my own heart...life received from Christ, and His Word and His community. My heart is to be a wellspring of life for others and I need others to refresh my own heart as well."
Lord, let my heart be a wellspring of life.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
twenty nine
Today the man of my dreams turns the BIG 2-9!
Yep, the charming, lovable, Johnny Good times is turning to the very last page in this chapter of life...
Happy Birthday John!
I have loved every year of this twenty-something chapter with you, may 29 be the best one yet!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Loxleypalooza...part 2
...I bet you thought she was done, didn't you!?
Mo LOVED the beach!! AND we ALL loved watching him love it!
He would run, run, run as fast as he could...
laughing the whole way
and crash in to the "waves"!
after he mastered that, he was ready to graduate to the boogie board
or at least toss some seashells
and build some sand castles with Mama J
at dinner he cheered on a game of beach volleyball
What a fun memories and a fun weekend!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Happy Birthday Savanah and Payton!!
Happy 2nd Birthday!!
What joy you bring me!
We loved you both even before you were born.
Such special memories of the day we got to finally meet you just two short years ago!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Loxleypalooza...part 1
Loxleypalooza did not disappoint!
Time with family is a gift. I SO enjoyed having all EIGHT of us together for an entire weekend. The weekend was spent taking turns squeezing Mo, delighting in his every move, enjoying each other, and of course eating!
The mornings began slowly, as they should..sipping coffee and stepping outside in our pjs to see what the day had to offer.
We read books, visited and took afternoon naps.
(eyelashes?!?)
We went to Fairhope to stroll around and visit shops...of course taking time to smell the flowers!
We visited the Fairhope museum and "drove" an antique fire truck.
The guys had some "man time" while the girls wandered in a few shops.
(John and three generations of Jeff men)
Mama J soaked up every second of her time with her favorite little guy.
Grande and Mo watched the boats while we waited for lunch.
We went to Burris' Market for fruits, veggies and of course cobbler and ice cream!
(For those of you who know Grande...you know how amazing this picture is. Grande under NO circumstances shares his food. Proof Mo is the exception to every rule! Just a sweet smile and the "more" sign was all it took to break him!)
We ate boiled peanuts after nap as fast as Aunt Rachael could shell them.
Most of all we wished we could find a way to slow down time!
Friday, September 10, 2010
she said YES!
12.11.10
my sister in law is getting MARRIED!!! let the planning begin!
we are thrilled for you Emily and Eric!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Loxleypalooza
This thug is leaving his "hood" and heading south....this time WAY south.
Loxley.Alabama.
We are picking him and his awesome parents up Friday morning, for the FIRST.EVER.
Jeff Family Weekend
Excited would be a major understatement.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Mary had a little lamb
...and Ashleigh got a BIG FAT lamb!
After my cow made her big debut, my friend Ashleigh asked me if I would be willing to paint something for her nursery. Clearly, I'm an expert of all things farm life (ha!). She wanted a lamb, and she had been on the hunt for something for several months, but had not fallen in love with anything. Nothing super realistic, just a sweet, simple lamb with a blue sky.
Baby Brooks is in for a real treat. His nursery is beautiful! Every detail considered. I hope my fat little lamb feels proud hanging in a room so perfect!
Speaking of perfect...that is EXACTLY how Ashleigh looks pregnant. Here we are at her baby shower celebrating Mama and Baby Brooks. She is the blond sitting in the middle. Can you even tell?! Perfect.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Jennifer's new bedroom
Back in March I was happy to get an email from a friend from college. Jennifer and I have enjoyed "keeping up" with each other through our blogs, but I had not personally heard from her in a long time. Jennifer recently moved, and was hoping to make changes to her master bedroom. I was very honored that Jennifer thought of me!
excerpt from her email...
dear
"This is kind of out of the blue but we moved into a new home in August and right now our master bedroom is a hodge podge of leftover hand-me-down furniture. We really want to redo our room from top to bottom to make it somewhere that we can relax but I'm having a tough time getting started. Basically, I'm overwhelmed. I'm not exactly sure what you're doing these days or how much you are still doing interior design work, but I remember all of the work that you used to do in school and so I was wondering if you've ever considered doing "virtual" consultations. I know that there are some designers that do them but most of the people that I've found that do them have a horrendously long wait time to get a result. We're not in a big rush but I don't particularly want to sit around on this without doing something for much longer.
So, I was wondering if you would be interested in starting some virtual consultations. We worked with a designer picking out a few things in the main living areas when we moved in but I wasn't extremely pleased with her mostly because I wanted a whole lot more guidance than she was willing to give. I wouldn't be looking for you to design a room from start to finish or to execute the design, I'm mostly looking for me to send you the dimensions of our room, some pictures of what it looks like currently, some pictures online of rooms that I like, and then I would love some suggestions on color schemes, layout, and bedding/furniture that you think would be best."
I was thrilled! I had never attempted a "virtual consultation" but as you know I will try just about anything once...especially at the request of a friend. Jennifer and I live several hours apart, but it was so much fun that we were able to share thoughts and ideas through pictures and emails.
Jennifer did not need me to "execute" the design, really just needed guidance, or a direction to get her started. She had great ideas as to what she wanted to include, but wanted thoughts on color, layout, and resources to purchase suggested items.
She sent me pictures of the current space, floor plan, dimensions, a list of things she wanted to include, a budget, as well as "idea pictures" of spaces she loved.
I later submitted my design ideas to Jennifer. She and her husband Jason were able to put their own spin on my suggestions to create a room that was perfect for them!
I later submitted my design ideas to Jennifer. She and her husband Jason were able to put their own spin on my suggestions to create a room that was perfect for them!
Last week I got another email from Jennifer letting me know that they were wrapping up the master bedroom! She shared pictures with me and wrote all about the process on her fun blog! So much fun to see a concept come to life!
Jennifer and Jason I hope you are THRILLED with your new bedroom!! Thanks for the fun opportunity!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
cape cod chopped salad
I typically fall in love with lots of things I see in House Beautiful. Each new issue leaves me craving new colors, new accessories, new furniture.
The most recent issue left me craving something very different. SALAD.
You all know I am not a natural in the kitchen, but as soon as I saw this salad I had to give it a try. It did not disappoint!
Love it when a recipe calls for things like this..
...and this, yet its still a "salad" YUM!
Cape Cod Chopped Salad
Serves 4 to 5
8 slices (8 ounces) thick-cut bacon, such as Niman Ranch
8 ounces baby arugula
1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled and diced
1/2 cup toasted walnut halves, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries
6 ounces blue cheese, such as Roquefort, crumbled
For the Dressing:
3 tablespoons good apple-cider vinegar
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
2 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2/3 cup good olive oil
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place a baking rack on a sheet pan and lay the bacon slices on the rack. Roast the bacon for about 20 minutes, until nicely browned. Allow to cool.
3. In a large bowl, toss together the arugula, apple, walnuts, cranberries, and blue cheese. For the dressing, whisk together the vinegar, orange zest, orange juice, mustard, maple syrup, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and the pepper in a bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil.
4. Chop the bacon into large pieces and add it to the salad. Toss the salad with just enough dressing to moisten. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and toss well. Serve immediately.
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