new camera

out with the old...

in with the new...we're thankful to have a new camera, courtesy of a reward chris got at work! that first camera is one chris bought when he was still co-oping (circa 2003). i am excited that this new one fits nicely in my purse.

amazing God

next week is my last week of volunteering regularly at piedmont women's center. i have really enjoyed my time there, and leaving is bittersweet. the other volunteers are such spiritual encouragers to me, and it has been a blessing getting to know them. though i have been a christian since i was almost 9 years old, i have never had the experience of praying with someone as they receive Christ. last week i started praying that i would have that opportunity before my last day at pwc next week. i shared this with our director and chris this week, and they started praying the same thing with me. i am amazed to say that God answered our prayers this morning! with each client that comes into the center, we always try to share the message of the gospel. as i was sharing this with the first client i saw today, she told me she wanted to ask God to be the Savior & Leader of her life. praise the Lord!

winter wedding

no, i am not confused about the time of year - one of our friends from the gt bsu, mike winter, got married yesterday in black mountain, nc. we met his bride danni for the first time, and she was absolutely beautiful!
it was a charming ceremony at a rustic little cottage in the mountains called the wild hare. we enjoyed drinking his grandmother's sweet tea and her grandmother's "back porch lemonade" out of mason jars. ("back porch lemonade" has a little orange juice and crushed mint added - delicious!)
our friends justin & linda (to the right of us in the picture below) stayed with us last night on their way back to atlanta. they just celebrated their first wedding anniversary this weekend in asheville, which is where we spent ours last fall. we really enjoyed getting to see them! jordan & emily (to the left of us) are getting married in july, so we're looking forward to their wedding. we have quite a few weddings again this year (6 or 7, i think). good thing i enjoy wedding season like chris enjoys football season! here's mike & danni's getaway vehicle (and, incidentally, our car in the background). on the front porch of the wild hare, they had an easel set up with paint & brushes so guests could paint the view of the mountains - danni said they were going to display the finished product in their home! you can see my contribution of three little flowers to the left:

surprise visit

chris & i had a great weekend - wes & blakely called us on thursday so see what we were up to on friday. we didn't really have plans because chris had a softball game from 8:30-9:30pm. it turned out they were free & we were free...so they came & spent the night with us! how fun - my goal was (is) to invite them up, and each of our parents before the summer's over.
of course they brought their beautiful, almost-10-months-old boy, ashton. and their sweet dog, haley. we went to tsunami (our favorite sushi restaurant here), and showed them around downtown a little before the game.saturday was also a great day...after the yorks left, i went shopping for a bit. then in the afternoon we met grant & audrey at the pool and ran into tim & blaire there! the weather was gorgeous, and we ended up grilling out for dinner.

des projets d'art

as promised, i've been starting some art projects before i start my new job (official start date: july 2nd). there is a dear woman that volunteers on thursdays with me at piedmont women's center who makes the cutest greeting cards and sells them for only $1.50. i've bought several from her, and it got me thinking...i used to make all my own cards when i was in college. at the time, it had as much to do with saving money as being creative. i had gotten out of doing it as i'd gotten busier in grad school, but recently i've felt inspired to start again. here are a few cards i made last month:
i also bought a canvas this week at michael's. it's the largest one i've ever gotten, 24 x 20" (they were having a great sale!). is there anything more intimidating to an artist than a blank canvas? i have an idea in mind...my french teacher in high school had this great painting in her home in which the artist incorporated newsprint in the background, under the paint. the idea of a collage-style painting appeals to me, so i'm thinking of using some glossy magazine pages...i'm still not sure what the painting will be of, though...any suggestions?
(eva couldn't resist her curiosity as i took this!)

job :)

praise the Lord - i got & accepted a job offer this week!! i had two interviews in the past month, which was encouraging after not hearing anything for so long. i was concerned about the possibility of having to decide between the two agencies, so i prayed that God would close the door to the first agency if the second one was right for me - and that's exactly what He did!

the position is as a counselor at greenville mental health center, which is only 15 minutes from where we live. the job description is almost exactly what i had in mind when i graduated last may. i'll be working with adults on an outpatient basis that are primarily struggling with depression, anxiety, or other mood disorders. i'm excited about getting to do outpatient because i only got to work with inpatient populations during my internship at the hospital. this means i'll be able to develop longer relationships with clients and see them on an ongoing basis. it also means i'll be working normal business hours, which is thrilling! (it's surprising how few opportunities don't involve working on nights & weekends.) the caseload is rather large, but the good thing is i'll get to do a lot of group therapy. this was my favorite part of my internship!

i won't start until july because the agency is part of the state government (SC dept of mental health), so there's a little red tape. in the meantime, i plan to continue volunteering and to enjoy my last month off. i already have a couple art projects in mind!

rimes family spring fling

every memorial day weekend, chris' mom's side of the family gathers in alma, ga at the farm house where mrs. cathy and her brothers & sisters grew up. we always tell people that what we do there can be summed up in three words: talk, eat, sleep. in other words, it's a wonderful time of relaxation & fun!it took us just under five hours on friday to drive there. eva is a great traveler!it was raining off & on most of the weekend, so the ground stayed muddy. good thing we brought our boots! here i am with chris' cousin jay's little girls, emma & grace. (i think that would make them my second cousins-in-law?)
my favorite meal of the weekend is mr. mike's low country boil:
we stayed at chris' aunt trudy & uncle randy's house. their son will, and his wife, amanda have a sweet 2 year old son, michael and a 6 year old boxer named sugar raye (clever, huh?). here's sugar & eva being sweet:
on sunday night, we played what seemed like a never-ending game of phase 10. in actuality, it lasted just over 4 hours and ended a little before 2am. the later it got, the sillier we got. chris' brother kevin (in the light blue) & his girlfriend andra won, but i was excited that i finally made all 10 phases!