I LOVE THE OLYMPICS!

I love everything about watching the Olympics. I get nervous for the people, cheer for them, cry when they win, cry when they lose, the works. So the past two days I have been watching the trials (Thank God for the rabbit ears given to us by our neighbors). Of course my two FAVORITE events are gymnastics and swimming since these are the sports I competed in growing up. The girls final gymnastic trial comes on tonight. I like all the girls, but my favorite so far is little Shawn Johnson. She is a little 4 foot 9, 16 year old POWERHOUSE and is one of the cutest girls I have ever seen. She looks like she could, (and I am sure she can), beat up anyone that crosses her, but she talks with this little mouse voice that is too cute. Her gymnastic ability in UNBELIEVABLE and I cannot wait to keep an eye on this one! I will get back to you on my favorites for swimming, I am watching diving today. I LOVE THE OLYMPICS! YEAH!!

Time Shares....Hmmmm

For Father's Day last weekend, Mark and I went to Myrtle Beach. Why Myrtle Beach? Well, for years Mark and I have been all about doing Time Share presentations in different areas to receive the free gifts. This particular vacation cost us $39.00 for a 2 night stay at the Hilton Resort in Myrtle. The room rate is typically $175-$200.00 a night. Also, since we went during a weekday, after hearing our 90 minute presentation they gave us a $50.00 Visa Card AND a FREE 3 night getaway! Good deal huh? The weather was beautiful and we stayed right on the ocean in an ocean view room. The Hilton has great ammenities (sp?), but I must say that the rooms are very similar to the Microtels...very small. None the less, the weekend was enjoyable (other than going to bed at 8pm since that is Josiah's bedtime and lights were out), AND they actually put us in the wrong HOTEL so they refunded our $39.00 fee AND gave us an extra $25.00 on our Visa gift card! Basically they PAID US to vacation! The company we did this through is Bluegreen travel if anyone is interested in going.

More Coffee Roasting..

Remember my blog about Mark and his new hobby, coffee roasting? Well, this weekend he decided to try to teach me to roast the beans. I like the idea, but do not sit still enough to turn this roaster for 15 minutes. It was nice of him to include me in his hobby though...now if I could get him to LOVE fishing like me, that would be nice.

AHHH..Summertime!

We headed back to Wilmington this weekend for a party for my business and for playtime, of course!

AWESOME QUOTE

"The Bible calls debt a curse and children a blessing; but in our culture, we apply for a curse and reject blessings. Something is wrong with this picture." ~ Doug Phillips

Memorial Day

Mark and I spent our Memorial Day weekend in Wilmington just relaxing and spending time with family. Our sister in law, Amy, is an artist and she was a part of an Art Festival in downtown Wilmington, so we got some great shots of the area. Downtown Wilmington is a huge, historic tourist spot and the scenery is beautiful. It is on the riverfront and there are several historic churches and buildings in the area. We also visited the beach (of course) and spotted the 10 foot alligator (in the picture below), sunbathing at Greenfield Lake. That was quite exciting! Anyways, enjoy the pics!

Feeding the Geese at the park.

Here is our "little" alligator friend we spotted on the back of Greenfield Lake.

Horrible Tragedy

Steven Curtis Chapman is by far my most FAVORITE songwriter and singer of all times. His music is unbelievably powerful to me and just so genuine. Yesterday, tragedy struck his home. His youngest daughter Maria Sue Chapman, who was a 5 year old adopted from China was hit by an SUV in their driveway and killed. I cannot imagine the pain they are going through. As a mom, I truly cannot even begin to imagine going through this. I praise the LORD that they trust HIM and that HE (GOD) PROMISES to give us "peace that surpasses all understanding" even in situations like this. Maria is the youngest child in the Chapman family and was one of 3 that they have adopted from China. Maria had just turned 5 a few days ago, now she is home with Jesus. PLEASE pray for their family during this time.....

David Vs. David AMERICAN IDOL

I have been hooked on American Idol this season and tonight was the final competition between David Archuletta and David Cook. Everyone assumed it would come down to these 2 men in the end and it was awesome performances from both. It is so hard to know who to vote for because they are both so talented. I think they both were equally GREAT tonight, so I voted for each!! I cannot wait until the result show tomorrow night!

Myanmar and China

WOW, what tragic events in the last few days. Myanmar with the cyclone killing over 30,000 (at least), and China with the massive earthquake, killing at least 18,000. Before I had ever traveled overseas it was so hard for me to relate when tragedy struck other nations. After living in Japan for almost 2 years and traveling to several other countries around the world, I feel like I can better relate to the suffering of the people of all nations. The anguish and pain that we feel in America when we experience things such as 9/11 is the same anguish, fear, pain, and loss that all people of all nations feel when tragedy strikes. Thank God for the missionaries and for the people that have carried the message of Christ to such nations. Without Christ there is no HOPE in death, there is no HOPE when you lose a loved one, there is no PEACE to calm the fears. PLEASE..PLEASE pray for the people in these countries as they deal with such devastation and PLEASE if you feel God calling you to go and help, answer His call! Pray that through these events that God will be glorified among the nations and SALVATION will come to those that are lost.

New Camera Pictures

Mark and I just got a refurbished Olympus E-410 SLR camera, and we are getting used to it. Here are some pictures we have taken. The quality is amazing, and just think how good it will be when we learn to use it properly. Lucky for me, Mark reads instructions, because I never do!"I believe I can fly..." Josiah has begun to express himself quite vividly when he is upset as you can see here. God is truly the best artist of them all..... Lunchtime with MOM on Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day

What a blessing it is to be a "MOM"....Have a great Mother's Day weekend ladies!!

Tomato Plant

This year I have planted my first tomato plant, and squash and zucchini. I hope to save some money by growing the produce ourselves. SO...here are the first pictures and we will see how the progression goes. Hopefully, I have a green thumb....the squash and zucchini are just seeds in the soil for now, but this is the BIG BOY tomato plant.

Updated pics

Here are some new pics of our little man who is now a little over a year and a half...TIME FLIES..

New Job

I love running my own business, but lately I have been doing a lot of shows and got a little burned out. Being the only owner, it makes for a whole lot of work and time. Last weekend I was sick and participated in the Southern Women's Show here in Raleigh. It was a great show, but I worked 40 hours in about 3 days, so I was worn out! I will continue to do Unique World Trends, but starting Monday I am going to start coaching gymnastics for 3-5 year olds. YEAH! This will be my stress free, active, do not have to dress up job. I used to coach the same age group and teenagers when we lived in Wilmington at Gymnastics Unlimited and I really enjoyed it. Josiah will be able to take the "mom and tot" class for free, and I was a gymnastic NUT growing up, so that is extra exciting for me. I am already teaching him forward rolls which he LOVES. I tell him to tuck his head and he bends over, puts his head on the ground and gets ready to flip. TOO CUTE. So, if you are in the Raleigh area and have children, come visit Gym Carolina.

Shark Week all Year Long

Last night our friends Matthew and Elizabeth came over for our regular Wednesday night get together. Elizabeth has quickly picked up on my obsession with wildlife, especially SHARKS..She gave my one of, if not my most favorite birthday gifts EVER! It was the complete 20th Anniversary SHARK WEEK DVD set! I am so excited because my favorite TV week of the year is Shark Week. My husband picks on me because sharks are so exciting to me and yet they are the biggest fear that I have in life. Truly, no joking. I am from Wilmington, NC so I grew up on the coast, LOVE the water, but am terrified of sharks. I have been blessed to have only seen a very small once while I was in the water. Ok, off to watch some more SHARK WEEK! Thanks Elizabeth...

Cool Photos

I am sure you have all figured out my obsession with wildlife...love these pics..

Turning 31......UGHHH

SO... I am not loving getting older. I still feel like I am 21, so it is a bit odd to me to actually be 31 years old. Thank you for all the birthday wishes! Mark and I spent the weekend in Myrtle Beach at South Beach Resort to celebrate and it was GREAT! My sister bought a time share there so we got to stay as her referral in a 2 bedroom condo at the resort. We watched movies, ate at Planet Hollywood and an ocean front restaurant called Damon's and relaxed by the pool. It was our first weekend away from our son who is 18 months (which is good for all married couples to do with children), but we were more than ready to see him again on Sunday. GREAT BIRTHDAY WEEKEND!

HALLELUJAH

So, I am sitting here to watch the American Idol results show and I have the chills! They just opened the show the same way they closed it out last night. That is right, the contestants sang "Shout to the Lord"and they included JESUS in the lyrics this time! WOW!!! It reminds me that one day EVERY tongue will confess and every knee will bow to JESUS CHRIST! Whether the contestants singing it are believers or not, they just confessed who Jesus is..AMEN once again..

Idol Gives Back...Shout to the Lord

I do not know if you had the chance to watch it last night, but Idol Gives Back was a great show! The show is used to raise money to help AIDS victims, especially orphans in Africa whose parent have died from the disease. The money is also raised to help those in poverty in the USA. There were guest appearances by SEVERAL celebrities who shared their stories about traveling to Africa and places in America to experience firsthand the horrific situations of poverty and need for medical attention. Among the celebrities were Brad Pitt, Carrie Underwood, Robin Williams, and many more. The biggest shocker for me was when Ryan Seacrest announced at the very end that the Idol contestants would be singing "Shout to the Lord" which is one of my favorite praise songs about who Jesus Christ is. Even though they edited out the name of "Jesus" in the beginning of the song, it was powerful just the same. I love how God uses even American Idol to get the praise that He deserves! AMEN!! On that note, it was just 2 weeks ago that Dolly Parton was on the show and sang "Jesus and Gravity" also giving a great testimony to who Jesus Christ is. AWESOME STUFF!! ²⁷"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27 NIV

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