FEELING CRAFTY FRIDAY

So today I had a day off from work and I was feeling a little crafty... I decided to take on a very easy project suggested by a friend of mine here in the Ham. Christine is a fellow Interior Designer from Florida. She graduated from FSU, although we try not to hold that against her. :) She is so talented and has a wonderful Design and DIY blog at greatoakcircle.blogspot.com. She posts almost every day on all of the projects she completes or things she thinks are great design. It is great if you like to be inspired. She recently posted an entry on an Easy Fall Wreath. It was so cute, I just had to try it!! Here is the results of my wreath... not too bad if I do say so myself.

It definitely help me get in the "mood" for Fall. I am not too crazy about most of the Fall Wreaths that I have seen in stores and I absolutely love this one... and it was a fraction of the cost of most ready-made ones you find in the stores... all the supplies and everything I found today at Michael's and it only totaled $7.50. Not bad at all. Thanks for the great idea, Christine!

I also picked up another crafty edition to our home while at Michael's today... Molly needed something to keep all of her toys in here and so I found this cute basket that has a removable lining that I can take out and wash. I added some of this pink and orange ribbon that I already had to coordinate with her pink bowls.

I feel very accomplished today... it was a good day off. I am back to work tomorrow and then off just in time to watch Florida play LSU. Go Gators!

Hope everyone has a great weekend,

ALONG CAME MOLLY

This weekend we brought a new furry family member back from Jax to live with the Birmingham Hewietts: Molly. She has been my mom's dog for the past three years and is now going to be living with Josh and I. My mom and sister found Molly at the Humane Society three years ago - she was so sweet and well-trained. She already knew how to sit and shake. We absolutely love Molly - she is so well behaved and has a great, fun-loving personality.

She rode with us in the car yesterday afternoon for the 8 hour drive from Jax to the Ham... she did great. She seemed a little concerned as this was her longest car ride (with us at least) and we had all of her wordly possessions (food, toys, shampoo, leash, bowls, beach towels - I mean beds, etc) with us. Once we arrived last night she seemed very excited and spent most of the night exploring the apartment before going to bed... she did, however, forget to change her clock to Alabama time and woke us up with a loud bark to go outside at 5:45 AM. We are going to have to work on that!

Here are some pictures of her playing this morning... she really wanted to show everyone her new GATOR toy that my mom bought her for her move to Alabama. Mom knew that Molly would need to let all the other pups know where her true loyalties are. That's all for now... stay tuned for more updates and pictures of Molly.

JENNINGS WEDDING WEEKEND IN JAX

We went home to Jacksonville this past weekend for Adam and Tyler's wedding. This was our first trip back to Jax since we have made the move to Birmingham. It was great to see everyone. We got into town on Friday afternoon and went straight to get Josh's tux and then got ready and went to the rehearsal. The rehearsal dinner was at Hanna Park at the Dolphin Plaza - a very nice indoor pavillion on the beach. (This was a great spot for a rehearsal dinner, or even a wedding reception for that matter. I highly recommend it!) The wedding was on Saturday afternoon - the ceremony was at Monument Point Church in East Arlington and the reception was at the Wyndam hotel near downtown - everything was absolutely beautiful. It was so great to see everyone and we had a ton of fun dancing the night away. We are so excited for Tyler and Adam - they are now on their honeymoon in Puerto Rico!!

Me with the best looking groomsman!

Tyler and Adam cutting the cake

Adam and Josh
Steven, Laura, Becca and Josh

The Send off - complete with fireworks!

I just love weddings!! Hope you enjoyed all the pictures!

CONFESSION AND PETITION

This has been one of those weeks that I know that God is teaching me so many things at once: Reliance on Him, Patience, Humbleness and I am sure many more that He will one day reveal to me. In our couples small group on Tuesday nights the lessons have been on prayer. This week our leaders read the prayer you below... it definitely hit home for me and so I thought I would share it with you. It was a prayer written by a Puritan hundreds of years ago... yet still has so much truth today.

"Holy Lord, I have sinned times without number, and been guilty of pride and unbelief, of failure to find Thy mind in Thy Word, of neglect to seek Thee in my daily life. My transgressions and short-comings present me with a list of accusations, but I bless Thee that they will not stand against me, for all have been laid on Christ. Go on to subdue my corruptions, and grant me grace to live above them. Let not the passions of the flesh nor lustings of the mind bring my spirit into subjection, but do Thou rule over me in liberty and power.

I thank Thee that many of my prayers have been refused. I have asked amiss and do not have, I have prayed from lusts and been rejected, I have longed for Egypt and been given a wilderness. Go on with Thy patient work, answering 'no' to my wrongful prayers, and fitting me to accept it. Purge me from every false desire, every base aspiration, everything contrary to Thy rule. I thank Thee for Thy wisdom and Thy love, for all the acts of discipline to which I am subject, for sometimes putting me into the furnace to refine my gold and remove my dross.

No trial is so hard to bear as a sense of sin. If Thou shouldst give me choice to live in pleasure and keep my sins, or to have them burnt away with trial, give me sanctified affliction. Deliver me from every evil habit, every accretion of former sins, everything that dims the brightness of Thy grace in me, everything that prevents me taking delight in Thee. Then I shall bless Thee, God of jeshurun, for helping me to be upright."

SCHULTZ WEDDING WEEKEND

This weekend we went to Phenix City, AL for my cousin Jason's wedding. My sister Catherine flew into Bham on Thursday night and then she road with Josh and I to Phenix City on Friday afternoon. The wedding was on Saturday morning and it was absolutely beautiful. I know that Jason and Morgan were so excited and they are so relieved to be married now and on their honeymoon in Tennesee. All of the wedding party wore a bright pink color - "Melon" as Morgan likes to call it - and Morgan and JASON wore white - so cute. Here are a few pictures from the ceremony and reception.

Pre-ceremony: Mom, Catherine and Me

Josh and I
Here we are with the happy couple - Jason and Morgan
The reception got a little crazy - Here is Josh throwing Gabriel in the Air!

After the wedding, we all hung out in Phenix City for the afternoon.. watched a little football and then went out to dinner as a family that night. (Longhorn's - YUM!) Josh, Catherine and I drove back to Bham that night. The only hiccup of the weekend was Catherine's flight going back to Minneapolis on Sunday was canceled and so we had to go back to pick her up and take her again early this morning. It definitely worked out though as we got to spend more time with her and she and I watched movies last night while Josh studied. :) Overall it was a great weekend! Our next wedding to attend is coming up very soon... we will be in Jax for Adam and Tyler's wedding on October 3rd. Josh is one of Adam's groomsman - can't wait!!

ALL GROWN UP

I am feeling a little sentimental today... my little cousin Jason is getting married this weekend and my other little cousin Miranda got married a couple of weekends ago and it is finally dawning on me that we are all grown up (WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?!?) It seems like just yesterday we were all making tents at Aunt Pat's house or watching Jason throw rocking chairs through windows or all watching Power Rangers and claiming character colors (which was always a problem with the girls as there were 3 of us and only 2 girl Power Rangers - pink and yellow). Josh and I will have our 2 year anniversary in one month (from yesterday) and in some ways I am still getting used to the fact that WE are married and grown up. That's us in the picture here... I am the oldest with Jason sitting in my lap and Catherine (my sis) and Justin in the middle. I am so excited for Jason and his fiance Morgan. They have been dating for such a long time (maybe even longer than Josh and I???) and I know that they have been anticipating this day for what seems like forever. They are such a Christ-centered young couple and I know that God is going to do amazing things through their home and marriage. I can't wait for the wedding - THIS SATURDAY!!

Miranda, another one of my little cousins was also recently married. She married a guy who is in the Navy named Jose. We are all so proud of the sacrifices that they BOTH have to make in order to serve. I still can't believe how grown up they are... it blows my mind.

I have decided to post a few more pictures of all the Jacksonville cousins... enjoy!! Can't wait to see all of you this weekend!

Catherine, Miranda, Me, Jason and Justin

Miranda, Jason, Jordan, Justin, Catherine

Jason, Justin, Jordan, Me, Cat in the Hat, Miranda, Catherine

I am very excited about this weekend. My sister Catherine is flying in to stay with us on Thursday night (first time to the Ham!) and then we will drive to meet up with the rest of the family in Phenix City on Friday afternoon. Can't wait!

LABOR DAY: CHIK FIL A & OAK MOUNTAIN

Our Labor Day was very relaxing... complete with two trips to Chik Fil A and one long hike at Oak Mountain. We absolutely love Chilk Fil A so when they offer something like a free chicken sandwich deal for just wearing your favorite team logo, we definitely have to take advantage. I thought we might be the only Florida fans represented here in BAMA, but to my surprise, we were not. We saw at least one other Florida fan at each of our Chik Fil A visits. Very nice.

Our trip out to Oak Mountain was great. We went with our friends Mike and Jacquie and their dog Ally. Oak Mountain State Park is absolutely beautiful with lots of hiking, mountain biking, canoeing, horse-back riding, golfing, etc. We decided on our first of I am sure many visits to the park that we would go hiking. We drove up to one of the highest peaks in the park and climbed, I mean hiked, down to a nice waterfall. It was absolutely beautiful. However, I have to admit that I had no idea how truly steep this trail would be... I felt like I needed to be tied off in case my foot slipped or something. There were definitely a couple of moments where Josh and I had mini panic attacks about falling... but we survived.

This is a look down into the valley that we climbed into...

Overall it felt great to get out and hike at Oak Mountain... we are excited about going back and exploring more of the park... and don't worry friends and family who are thinking about visiting here in the Ham, Oak Mountain has several trails that are not quite as steep as the one we decided to venture on first.

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day! Now back to the work week...