upward

chris started coaching basketball last winter with the upward program at our church. this year, he is coaching with liz's boyfriend scott. what a great help scott is, since he actually played basketball in high school! yesterday liz & i went to their game to cheer them on. miss leah came along, too and was so sweet, waving to her daddy and clapping. we had a good time and the kids were so cute! they don't keep score at this age (1st & 2nd graders), but they seemed to have fun. so this is where christopher is every saturday during january & february!

snow days!

last winter i was told that the state of south carolina never closes for weather. the policy is, if greenville county schools close, staff has the option of using a vacation day, making up the hours, or forfeiting the day's pay. so imagine my surprise and delight when i get a message from my boss yesterday morning saying that the governor closed all state offices for the day...and again today!
when i took eva outside yesterday morning, my ruler measured the snow at 6 inches deep. this is also the approximate height eva is off the ground. so you can imagine how thrilled she is at being made to walk (shuffle, hop) around in it. bless my neighbor for shoveling our sidewalk and a small area of the grass so the dogs in the building would have a spot to "go"!

i have accomplished so much in the past two days! i thoroughly cleaned the apartment, exercised, caught up on laundry, gave myself a manicure & pedicure, watched some tv, started a book, and made meals- white chicken chili last night and chicken pot pie tonight. meanwhile, christopher has been diligently working from home, as he has a pretty big deadline coming up. yesterday we made a snowman together: we named him george. you can't tell, but he has a georgia tech hat on. i used the gilded pecans left over from my table decorations and was giddy when i found a carrot in the fridge for a nose! here's how eva enjoyed the snow days (on the couch): as compared to how she usually enjoys her days: not a whole lot different! it looks like i'll be headed back to work tomorrow, with a delay of a couple hours. it's been fun!

holidays continued...to 2011!

we have enjoyed a whole week off for christmas & new year's. for the first time ever, christopher & i had our own christmas eve and christmas day celebration before visiting family. i wanted to make a special dinner and use our china, but i didn't want the traditional menu. i made chicken fettuccine alfredo with salad and garlic bread: our church's christmas eve service wasn't until 11pm, so after dinner we had plenty of time to drive around and look at lights. on christmas morning, we made banana pancakes and opened presents from each other. one of the things we got were study bibles. i am hoping this will help us understand the bible better and give us insights into some of the historical contexts. later in the morning we drove to augusta to visit our parrents. apparently, we missed a white christmas in greenville, but we had a beautiful drive to alabama the next day- there was snow on the ground and in the trees. we had a nice visit with grandmother and daddy buck. we also got to see my cousin ashley and her fiance, patrick. they got engaged last month and will be getting married in june! we came back to augusta and got to visit with some of chris' high school friends, the boxes and jessica...and some of mine- lindsey & gerrit. (check out the dogs- they were playing at our feet and i didn't realize it would show in the picture!) 2010 has been a great year: we celebrated our third anniversary in charleston. we traveled to chicago for tori's wedding. we celebrated milestones with family- my grandmother's 80th birthday and our brother's & cousin's engagements. we continued to be active in our church, christopher with playing softball & coaching upward basketball and me with the women's ministry. we also started serving as AWANA leaders for third grade girls & boys. God is showing us new ways to use our resources to serve Him. one amazing thing that happened in 2010 was paying off my student loans and being 100% debt free! we have grown in the Lord through our bible studies. i prayed for God to reveal His character to me, and through a study of the patriarchs i was reminded that God is absolutely trustworthy, He is faithful even when we are not, His love is unconditional, and He pursues us because he wants us to have closer relationships with Him. i have many hopes for 2011, and i am eager to see what God will do in our lives over the next year!

christmas table decor

i'm catching up on my posts and did two at one time, so if you missed the other one about our holiday activities so far just scroll down...or go here. this year i hosted a table for the women's ministry christmas dinner at our church. it involved decorating with a centerpiece, using your china, and providing placecards/favors.christopher helped me out greatly with the creation of the placecard holders. first of all, i have to thank chris' cousin pam for letting me take some pecans from her yard at thanksgiving! i was in their front yard walking eva and noticed how pretty some of the fallen pecans were. anyway, christopher was so sweet to drill slots in the pecans and hollow them out with his dremel. (good excuse to use the man tools, huh?)then i painted them with some shiny acrylic paint.and added the placecards.i actually used the same centerpiece i used last year but changed it up by spray painting some of the pinecones with silver & gold paint. i also added some of the gold pecans i didn't use from the placecards. i was trying to mix the silvers & golds so that my gilded dishes (i really just wanted to use the word gilded!) would blend better with the silver tray & flatware. thanks to my mom for letting me borrow her fine flatware, as i don't have enough of my own! for the favors, i stuck with the pecan theme. i made my grandmother's sugared pecans (which she always has at christmastime!) and put them in some tiny (and therefore cute!) chinese takeout-looking boxes. i really had fun with this project and was pleased with how everything turned out.

holidays so far

it's been a while since our last post, so i'll catch you up on our holidays goings-on...we went to the farm in south georgia (chris' mom's side) for thanksgiving. we had a baked turkey and a fried turkey. christopher was in charged of the fried one, and it was delicious! i've already decided that in 30 years or so, whenever i'm responsible for taking over holiday meal preparation, i'm going to let him fry it up! it's so much faster and equally delicious. the next day while the boys were doing something with beef brisket (smoking, maybe?), i stayed inside with the girls and we made christmas mice- an idea mrs. cathy got from her friend. at the beginning of december, we had a christmas party with christopher's work at the very lovely westin poinsett. these are some friends that we actually know through church, lori & brandon, but the husband also works at ge. this month we also had a christmas party with our sunday school class. the boys didn't want a picture, but here is one of the girls: and finally, last weekend we did christmas with the golden side of the family. here is a picture of us: christopher, his two brothers, and his parents. kevin, his middle brother, just got engaged this month and this is his fiancee, andra! i have always wanted a sister!

missions

october is missions month at our church. a couple weeks ago we had an amazing multilingual service and shared the Lord's supper with Christian believers of other cultures in the area. we've been learning about some of the conditions around the world, and some of the financial statistics are eye-opening. for example, if you sold everything you owned and could come up with $2,200, you would be in the wealthiest 50% of the world. if you did the same and could come up with $61,000, you are in the wealthiest 10% of the world. (for most of us young people, it will only be a matter of time before we can achieve the latter.)

by nature, i enjoy things- clothes, going out to eat, taking trips, other luxuries. i pray that i won't be materialistic or ever love these things more than i love the Lord. lately God has been showing me that i have SO MUCH and have been blessed in so many ways. i am so thankful for this fresh perspective and feel content with what i have, knowing that it is really more than i need. a year ago, i was impatiently wondering, "when will we ever pay off my student loans so we can buy a house?" now that we are debt-free, i feel God challenging me to ask, "how can i use what i have to be a blessing to others? how can i glorify Him?"

i am touched by recent reports from some of our friends. a couple we know left this month to be full-time missionaries in a middle-eastern country, trusting God to compel other believers to give enough monthly to fund their efforts. our dear college ministers from GT, jamey and mary, are continuing to minister to college students in louisiana but more recently have been taking steps to adopt a child from uganda to be a little brother to their three sons. (check out their adoption blog.) they are stepping out in faith, knowing that God will provide for that which He ordains. this is God's love in action, and i want to be a part of it! i'm not exactly sure how God is calling us to respond, but i want to be prepared to say YES!

today in the mail, we got a christmas gift catalog from samaritan's purse, a ministry founded by billy graham's son whose mission (quoted from their website) is to "follow Christ's command [in Luke 10:30-37] by going to the aid of the world's poor, sick, and suffering." please check out the catalog here. i love the format, as it reminds me of a department store catalog. i couldn't help but cry as i read what different amounts will buy for those around the world- such as $75 to rescue a child from exploitation or $9 to feed a hungry baby for a week. not your typical christmas presents!

our praise band sang a worship song sunday that vocalizes what i'm feeling:

You said, Ask and you will receive
Whatever you need
You said, Pray and I'll hear from heaven
And I'll heal your land

You said Your glory will fill the earth
Like water the sea
You said, Lift up your eyes
The harvest is here, the kingdom is near

You said, Ask and I'll give the nations to you
O Lord, that's the cry of my heart
Distant shores and the islands will see
Your light, as it rises on us

O Lord, I ask for the nations (repeat)

[music from hillsong]

fall so far

fall is definitely here! last weekend we went apple picking at sky top orchard with liz and scott- and little miss leah, of course!it was very picturesque, walking around filling our baskets with handpicked apples of every kind. i am thankful for my tall husband whose reach far outstretches mine! i love how the rows of trees were labeled with the type of apple. we had to pose here, for obvious reasons:this week i made apple streusel muffins and apple crisp. i also sliced up winesap apples- the kind my grandmother picks from her backyard for her fried apple pies. they freeze well, and i will be making some pies of my own soon. for saturday's game, we are taking apples & brickle dip (among other things). speaking of games, here's some photos of the gt season so far. first game: this is the dress christopher picked out for me in chicago. here i am with the girls, linda & katherine:christopher's whole family ended up coming for the white-out game. we're not sure of the last time the four golden men were together at a football game!a few weeks ago, we had a church picnic with our newlywed sunday school class (and the teachers & their kids): the class is actually a lot bigger than this. we recently split into two classes because it was growing so much. so sadly, christopher and i are no longer newlyweds!