Well we had an amazing time in Kiawah. It was such a perfect combination of rest, activity, time with the fam and time with my husband, I just loved it!! And of course...loved being with Hopie, my niece. We got to see Dylan and Meaghan (and Meaghan's fam) on the way back in, spent the night and a quick breakfast with them, and then got home just in time for a really BUSY BUSY Saturday and Sunday, that ended with the new Transformers movie, which unfortunately had way too much language and sexual humor for me. Disappointing! Today is a normal Monday work day, except that Jordan's parents are here shopping and decorating their new condo, which is beautiful! We'll meet up with them in a little while when I am finished with work and help them pick out a few more things, and then wait for their washer/dryer to be delivered.

More to come- exciting week ahead!!

Hey everyone!! Well it's been an amazing week so far at Kiawah. Right now Hopie is napping and Erin & I are getting ready to go shopping. The rest of the clan: Hope, Steve, Jordan and Dan are playing golf and we will meet up with them in a bit.

If you want details....go to my sis-in-law's blog: www.herrenbruck.blogspot.com because she has lots and lots of great pics and details on there.

Have a great rest of the week!

We have had a great week so far! It's been busy. We spent some time working on the church: painting, reorganizing and cleaning, but it was well worth it and things are looking good! We have also had many events going on this week: small groups, cookouts, dinners with friends, etc, but all has been wonderful and well worth it.

We are getting ready to take off for Kiawah in South Carolina with Jordan's side of the family. Which, by the way, today is his mom's birthday!!! I need to give a HUGE HUGE HUGE Happy Birthday to Hope!



She is an amazing wife, mother, grandmother, friend, and everything else!! I love her with all of my heart and am so thankful to have her in my life! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to an amazing woman!

Hope & Steve took off driving yesterday, Erin, Dan & Hopie will take off today, and Jordan and I will take off on Sunday right after church. We all have about a 10 hour drive ahead of us, which I am actually looking forward to. I LOVE long drives with my husband. No one else to interrupt (except those stinkin' cell phones- haha) and just me and him- chatting, listening to music....I cherish these times before there are kids in the backseat....we all know that will change things immensely!! :-) But, nonetheless, we are thrilled to get to see them and very much looking forward to it.

In the meantime we have a busy weekend ahead of us until we take off, so we'll be buckling down and getting things done until then.

LOVING the new Hillsong United album: Across the Earth. We got it a couple of week ago before leaving for camp, but I am just now, this week, getting a chance to listen to it. I added three of my favorite songs to my music player below, so if you have some time, give them a listen and GO BUY THE ALBUM if you haven't already!!

One reason I love to cook...

Turning that...



...into this:

Fungus....eww GROSS!!!

So, we've been having a problem out in our front flower beds the past couple of months.....FUNGUS!!! It's disgusting and I was kind of worried about it when it first started. The first kind that I saw that was just CRAZY was this:



It looks like something from an Alien movie- I was completely grossed out. Jordan and I removed it and then a few weeks later we start dealing with this fungus that looks like yellow curdled mustard (I know, this post is not for the faint of heart) and then turns to a more solid, pizza-dough looking substance, like this:




...and then finally turns black and hardens and almost blends in with the mulch. I did some research and found out it's a type of fungus known as slime mold. Most of the time it's brought in with your mulch, which makes sense because we had just re-mulched about a week before I saw the first funky one! The particular one we are dealing with is nicknamed Dog Vomit fungus.

Isn't that horrible?

It's the weirdest stuff and SO hard to get rid of. I clean up like 3 patches and then the next day it's appeared in two more, completely different places! The good news is that it's not harmful to plants, animlas or people....and it certainly hasn't harmed any of my plants despite growing on the undersides of some of them.

It's just weird and disgusting!! Unfortunately, there's not much you can do about it...just remove it, and you can try and spray an anti-fungal thing, which I think we will do...but it's just crazy, and I figured I would amuse you today (or completely gross you out) and share our struggle with you!

I hope none of you have to deal with it!

Who needs Starbuck's.....

...when you have your own espresso machine and learn how to make decaf, non-fat mocha's.

When our coffee maker busted a couple of weeks ago....my husband bought (off Craigslist, of course) a dual coffee/espresso maker, and Sunday night we purchased some espresso beans, and have tried to figure out how to make different drinks. My favorites are Americano's, but I made a yummy cappuccino for my mom last night, and then I thought I would try my hand at a mocha for an afternoon snack.

So here ya have it! Not too shabby, eh?!

So it's been almost a month since I posted and yes- a lot has happened!! (Hence the lack of posting) Here's a quick (VERY quick) rundown:

We had graduation weekend, where all the public (and some private) high schools in Williamson County are having their graduations. Typically Jordan and I average about 4 each year, but thankfully this year, the only graduation we went to was Independance High School's. We filled up the rest of our weekend with graduation parties and open houses. Here are a couple of pictures:




Hope and Steve were also in town for a couple of days, headed to Evansville....then came back through for a couple of nights. We had a great time with them in the midst of the graduations and camp prep.

The next week was spent getting ready for camp! We had activities team meetings, worship rehearsal, scheduling, etc, all in the midst of our normal work/church schedules. It was busy, but wonderful!! Somewhere in there, Barry & Shannon O'Neal had their 2nd baby girl: Eleanor and she is BEAUTIFUL!!



Then last Sunday, we took off for camp! What an incredible week!! First off, here are a few pictures:









As always, camp included many memorable and enjoyable times: not-so-wonderful food, an eventful bus ride down and back, a lively dorm full of 9th/10th grade girls, hilarious morning activities, exciting team competitions and even me and JT taking a trip to the emergency room with one of our campers who busted open his knee!

There was also incredible transformation. While I would say last year's camp was marked with significant breakthrough for the students in regards to specific strongholds and addictions they were facing, this year was marked by significant growth and deepening of their relationships with the Lord and each other. I believe the fruit that will be produced from this week will be consistency in their intimacy with Jesus, and increased faith to see the Holy Spirit use them in amazing ways. I myself was prayed for (by Laurel) for healing this week and received it immediately! We are encouraged and determined to see more miracles in our lives and for the Holy Spirit to use each of us daily in the ways that the Bible instructs us to expect. I am so proud of all of the students, and so enjoyed the time with them...I honestly wasn't ready for it to end. I am excited though about what this summer and next year holds for all of them. I truly believe that we will see some amazing things in each of their lives!

Jordan and I had an opportunity to rest on Saturday, which was wonderful and much needed. Sunday we had a wonderful service and connection times, and then got to celebrate a dear friend and mentor's birthday in the afternoon.



We ended the evening with a movie and a great night's sleep! I am so excited about what God is doing. There are a lot of changes ahead, but I can honestly say that I now embrace and look forward to change! It is the very thing that keeps me pressing into God to hear the smallest whisper, His commands and His voice as we walk out the life He has blessed us with!

Praise the Lord for His guidance and love in our lives.