A Plea For Help:)

I finally got bored with the old template/background I had on the blog and decided to try to find a new one...only now I don't really like it either. I just don't have the patience or creativity it takes to make a cute blog. So...I'm asking for help. If any of you are tech savvy and love experimenting with design or know someone who is, I could really use a bloglift! If you have any pointers for me on layouts or templates, I am open to any thoughts or ideas you can offer.

Thanks:))

The Christmas Singing

From the Publisher

After Gideon coldly broke her heart, can the warmth of the season revive Mattie’s hopes?

Mattie thought her childhood sweetheart adored her until he abruptly ended their engagement on Christmas Eve.

Three years later, will learning the truth behind his rejection restore her Christmas joy – or open the door to even deeper heartbreak?

Spend Christmas with the Amish in this story of love, romance, heartache, and restoration.


My Thoughts

I'm a huge fan of Amish novels and have read a lot, a lot of them. Cindy Woodsmall is one of my favorite authors so I was excited to have the opportunity to read this book. When I first ordered it, I debated over waiting until closer to Christmas to read it, you know so I'd be more in the Christmas spirit. When it arrived, I just couldn't wait. I had to get started on it right away. Cindy didn't disappoint. I was on the edge of my seat, so to speak the entire time it took to complete the book. I hated to put it down and couldn't wait to pick it back up again! This story is all about love, heartbreak, forgiveness and hope for the future. As a special treat when you've finished the book, there are yummy recipes in the back cased on the mouth watering cakes made by Mattie in the story:)




I received a free copy of this book from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Are you ready for some Football?

Ready or not, it's that time of year again. Unfortunately, Alan broke his foot at a Youth Camp last Summer and missed the chance to try out for the middle school football team in 7th grade. This year he has done everything within his power to make the team. He attended weight training at the school over the Summer and was there with bells on for the first day of try outs. Alan has worked so hard to become a Jaguar. He practices for two hours EVERY day and is doing everything he can to improve his game. I am so proud to report that my boy made the cuts and is now a player for the Rockingham County Jaguar football team!! Yeahhh:)





I never pictured myself as the "football mom", in the stands at every game, cheering for my player and screaming at the referees, but I have turned into that mom! Football has become a passion of mine all because of my children! I love this time of year and am looking forward to a great season! Go Jaguars and #99!!!

I Felt The Earth Move...

Yesterday at around 2pm, I was sitting at my desk, in my office at work when I literally felt the Earth move. I was one of the thousands of people on the East coast who experienced an earth quake for the very first time. The epicenter of the quake was approximately 185 miles North of me, but the ripples in the earth felt oh so close! The sounds and feeling of the earth's tremblings were very similar to when a very large truck passes by. You know that rumbling sound that a truck makes when the driver is applying pressure to the brakes? That was what I heard while I experienced the Earth's vibrations. The Great Earthquake of 2011 only lasted about 25 to 30 seconds, but honestly in that moment it felt like an eternity. My brain didn't immediately register what was happening. At first I thought it was an 18-wheeler, then I thought maybe it was a train. Finally, I realized that what I was feeling must be an earthquake. It was so strange, awesome, terrifying and amazing at the same time. As soon as it was over, I began receiving text messages and tweets from friends and family. I checked facebook and saw that people as far away as Maryland had felt the same things that I had. On the evening news they reported that the quake was felt as far north as Canada! I have a feeling this is the type of story that I will one day be telling my grandchildren!

A Mountain Day Trip

Back in June, Father's Day Weekend to be exact, Robert and I woke up with a hankering to go somewhere and do something. So after a quick breakfast and minimal housework we loaded the little kids (Alan was in Arizona with my parents) in the car and took off on a scenic day trip to the mountains of NC and Virginia. We're lucky to live within just a few hours of the NC Coast and the mountains. For several years my family has made trips up to the Blue Ridge Parkway, to Stuart and Meadows of Dan, VA. Along the way it's a requirement to stop at Lover's Leap and enjoy the view and take a few pics!





Once you get into Meadows of Dan there are a couple of old country stores like this one.



Here you can buy homemade jams, jellies, fried apple pies, rock candy, pickled eggs, chow chow, country ham, hoop cheese, and anything in between.




((Maxton and Joshua enjoying their rock candy and their DVD players))

A little farther on down the road is Nancy's Candy. This place has wonderful fudge of just about any variety from Peanut Butter to Cheesecake. They make lots of different varieties of candies as well. My favorite is their coconut bonbons!


After filling up on hoop cheese and chocolate and buying some Father's Day gifts for my dad, we headed on down the Blue Ridge Parkway to Mt. Airy.



We drove through downtown "Mayberry", you know, the home of Sheriff Andy Taylor and his trusty deputy Barney Fife. If you watched the show any at all, you heard them talk about going to Mt. Pilot. If you've never seen Mt. Pilot, well here it is!



After our many stops and a long ride, we finally made it back home! Sometimes it's nice to get out and just ride, stopping long enough to enjoy the view and smell the roses chocolate!!

Pirateland

As promised, I'm finally getting around to uploading the very few pictures that I took while on our vacation to Pirateland. Honestly, I was too busy swimming, sunning and having fun to take very many pictures. We're going back in a couple of weeks so I will try to do better next time!

We had a blast on our very first RV Camping Vacation. The RV sleeping arrangements all worked out fine and really other than sleeping and preparing a couple of meals we didn't spend much time inside. Our campsite was oceanfront so we had a nice breeze the whole time and enjoyed spending a lot of time outdoors. Pirateland has so much to offer that we wouldn't even have had to leave the resort if we didn't want to. We spent our days out on the beach, in one of the pools, in the game room or playing putt-putt. One evening we took in a new dinner show, Pirate's Voyage, presented by Dolly Parton. If you've ever been to Dixie Stampede it was a lot like that, only with Pirates! It's actually located in the Dixie Stampede Building, so if you're in the Myrtle Beach area you should check it out. I so wish I'd had my camera with me the night of the show, because Maxton and Joshua both took part in a Pirate Makeover that they offer for the kids (for an additional $20 per child, of course). They got all made up with beards, mustaches, earrings, hats and swords. They thought they were part of the show!
On Friday night the inhabitants of Pirateland decorate their Golf Carts, (which is the preferred means of transportation while inside the resort) and cruise down the main drag, which just happens to be ocean front, running right in front of our campsite. The littles were already tucked into bed while we adults were outside in our Zero Gravity Chairs (best chairs ever invented, in my opinion) lounging while watching the never ending line of golfcarts cruise by. Some were decorated, some were not. Some were driven by Elderly people, while others were full of teenagers. Some were playing loud country music and some played Elvis Presley. No matter their age or choice of music, they were all having fun and we really enjoyed the show!

We enjoyed Pirateland so much that we decided to store our RV there, atleast for the remainder of the year. That way we can go back anytime we get ready without having to pull the RV down there. The staff actually sets it up at our campsite while we are headed down there! We've got 2 more trips coming up in the near future, one with the kids and the one that maybe I'm most excited about is a trip for just Robert and myself! (woohoo)



The RV on our campsite


Our campsite at night


The dining area, which also converted to a Queen bed that Robert and I slept in each night.


The kitchen area, bunk beds behind and the bathroom door and don't forget the Krispy Kreme donuts!! We stopped by and bought two dozen on our way in from dinner one evening! Also, pay no attention to the clutter. In an RV there's just never enough storage space!


The RV's Master Bedroom

For some reason, I didn't get a picture of the Living Room area with the Entertainment unit and sofa which converted into Alan's full size bed for sleeping.:(


Joshua on the beach


This was really the only view I had of Maxton the whole time we were out on the beach. He loves digging in the sand and finding clams and whatever other treasures are buried.


Alan aka Beach Bum!

Toes in the Water...

If you know that song by Zac Brown Band, then you know the rest of the story. I can't wait to get my toes in the water down at the beach. I absolutely love the beach and would definitely move there, if I could just take my whole family with me:)
As far back as I can remember, my family has always vacationed in a little rental house on Oak Island, NC. A friend of my mom's oned the home and it became our little home away from home several times a year. Even since Robert and I have been married we've gone down to Oak Island a couple times a year, but just a few months ago, my mom's dear friend passed away. The family has decided to do some other things with the house, so we've had to find a new vacation spot. Typically, Robert, the kids and I, along with my parents will head down to the beach together, so we started exploring different options of things we could do and places we could all stay together. In our brainstorming we all seemed to come up with a fabulous idea at about the same time. We done a little shopping around and actually purchased a C Class RV that needed a little TLC. My dad completely remodeled it and had it in tip top shape, then we decided maybe we needed something a little bigger, so we sold the RV, made a little profit and headed to a new RV dealership with thoughts of what we wanted. We found the perfect pull behind Camper that has a Bedroom with a queen bed, a full size sleeper sofa, a Queen conversion and two bunk beds. It has a great kitchen with stove and refrigerator and all the space we all need! Robert already had a Chevy Silverado 1500HD with electric brakes so there was no need to purchase a new vehicle to tow the camper. We're all excited and ready to get started on our adventures. We're planning a few trips for this summer. We hope to explore a few new areas and campgrounds. Our first trip is planned for PirateLand at Myrtle Beach near the end of June and I CAN. NOT. WAIT! We've reserved an ocean front lot with a shelter and picnic tables. We're considering storing the camper at PirateLand once we've made a few other trips. If we choose to do that, the staff of PirateLand will pull it onto our chosen spot and hook everything up for us whenever we want to go down. PirateLand is awesome and they have other rental properties if you don't own your own RV. The kids are going to love the paddle boats, putt-putt, playground, arcade, lazy river, pools and all that PirateLand has to offer. Heck, we're all gonna enjoy it:) Be on the lookout for pictures and stories from our many camping adventures this Summer!