Back To School

"Back to school, back to school..." sing it like Billy Madison.  You KNOW you want to!
If you would have said, by Fall 2013 semester, you and Jeff will be working at NGU.  I would have looked at you with complete confusion. huh?  Well we are!  God has worked out a lot of major life stuff for us lately!  I am working part-time at North Greenville University as Enrollment Marketing Assistant.  I must say, I love it!  I was a work study in Admissions while I was in school, then I continued working with them through freelance design assignments.  Now I'm there Tuesday-Thursday designing our marketing materials, working on the Admissions website, and lots of other fun stuff!  I hope these prospect students get a real taste of the awesomeness of NGU through this marketing.  I know if they come to NGU they will hear the gospel and be discipled!  What a great purpose to have at work!
   Jeff is teaching Introduction to Health Promotions and Wellness and he does an Exercise Physiology Lab.  It's right up his alley!  He loves being able to inspire the future workers in the medical field!
   We love our alma mater and are blessed to work "Where Christ makes the difference."
   There are many times that we are stretched with the daily demands of life and 2 jobs each, but God gives us rest and keeps providing energy.
   You may wonder, what about photography?  It's still going full steam ahead!  This have sessions all weekend and will edit throughout the week.  I have had to reformat parts of my business plan.  It's been helpful to take a look at everything and reshape where necessary.
No worries, we still have time for fun!  Mom turned 60 and we celebrated at the lake.  We visited the Williams in Lancaster and Jeff led worship at Vertical Church. 
The Brick House improvements are coming along nicely!
Sunnie turned 2 years old!!
Millie and Evan will be married in 99 days!!!!!!!

Salsa

"Snalsa" as James calls it.  We have hoed, pulled weeds, planted seeds, and are now reaping the harvest!  The main focus of this year's garden was to make salsa.  The consensus of last year's salsa stash was that it ran out far to quickly.  Not this year!

Everyone plays their part and it's different every time.  Libby hates to cut onions and I love it.  I don't want to peel the tomatoes, but mom has it covered.  Jeff was the master canner.  James started the garden...Millie loves to pick the garden.  Ya see!

We were writing down recipes, but that went out the window with a pinch of this and handful of that.

It's not odd for a sibling to come by for a visit and leave with a mason jar full of this veggie goodness :)  Just don't take too much, this has to last a whole year!

Bye July!

Oh July, where did you go?? SO MANY things happened and I have written zero. zilch.  Now I'm behind on August!

Aunt Marianne and Uncle Robbie came down for a visit and for the big wedding!  We loved having them both back in the south.  Marianne stayed around a little longer, so we hit the lake for some sunshine!  It is always refreshing to have Marianne around.  We hear interesting stories about the Farnham side!
Check out James & Mary Kathryn's July 13 wedding here!

Along with James and MK, I photographed two other weddings in July.  That means Jeff got to spend a weekend surfing in Charleston!  We try to manage our time to the best of our abilities.  Sometimes you have to drop everything and GO!  Other times(most times, lately) you have to buckle down and get to it!

God has given us amazing opportunities and has provided for us so much this summer!  I can't wait to tell you more when the time is right!

Our little Millie made the move to NC.  She is setting up her new classroom and getting into the groove of adultishness.  We are all adjusting to having one less closet to dress with.

Lib, Mil, and I have been working to speed up our pace.  We'll do speed workouts here and there.  Last week I ran my first 6.2 miles at a sub 9 minute pace :)  That's up here in the hills!  Getting ready for our 10K in October!

Cabin Fever

This one will be much more light-hearted than the last post.  promise.

Last week we had CABIN FEVER big time!  Jeff and I chased the sunshine to NC on Saturday for Coon Dog Day in Saluda and then a stroll and lunch in Asheville.  No worries, we'll get back to enjoying Greenville when it's no longer water logged.

Poor Sunnie has had a rough time lately.  If it's not thundering, someone is shooting guns off.  Then there's July 4th. and 5th. and 6th. and 7th of fireworks.  It's thundering right now and Jeff had to carry the 50 pound pooch up the stairs to get her to stop hiding and go to bed.

Dr. Williams is working hard! I feel like Jeff has been working for forever because clinicals and classes seemed like he was "at work."  He's been at SSI for over a month now :)

This old house has been full for the summer!  James said, "The house feels like a college dorm."  That will change rapidly.  James and Mary Kathryn GET MARRIED this Saturday!  Two weeks after that, Millie will make the move to NC.  I am anticipating the empty nest right along with mom.

The garden is gushing with goodies.  We have had fresh vegetables with each meal.  Last night Millie and Evan picked our blackberries.  She washed them and put them straight into the dish to make a cobbler.  drooling!

When asked to contribute to this post, Jeff said, "It is never too late to enjoy a homemade biscuit!"  He is referring to his baking shinanigans at 10:30pm.  He makes the best biscuits, a Williams trait for sure!

Our grass was crazy tall.  I'm still learning to maneuver our beast of a lawn mower.  I set out to practice yesterday.  I did the majority of the yard before learning how to lower the blade.  Needless to say, I was back in the yard today actually cutting the grass.

I'd rather Cabin Fever over Bieber Fever anyday.

Wrath

I was angry.  Boy was I hot!  Not only did I have a super long week, but Sunnie was being rebellious...and I'm pretty sure it was raining, which makes things even worse.  I was packing everything up to meet Jeff in Lancaster for a family gathering.  As I was running out the door I told mom exactly how perturbed I was.  Her words, "you need to work on that, before you get there." helped a little.  I tried to get over my frustration with the multitude of things, but the three hour drive just made things worse.  My favorite songs on the radio wouldn't even help.  I was ornery and there was no snapping out of it.
When I arrived to Lancaster, I stopped at the Walmart.  I called Jeff to see if he needed me to get anything.  "What isle are you on?  I'm at Walmart too," he said.  My thoughts exploded.  I knew I wasn't in good shape to run into anyone I knew, especially husband.  He found me by the rice crispies and much to his dismay, he encountered an unhappy, on the edge wife.
For the next 10 minutes he followed me around the store as I blurted out all the horrible reasons why I was frustrated...a few of them included him.  When it was his turn, his calm, supportive response pointed me to Proverbs 15:1.

"A gentle answer turns away wrath,

but a harsh word stirs up anger."

Instead of reflecting my horrible attitude, he showed me love.  Instead of exposing my faulty expectations, he comforted me.  Instead of walking away, he offered to help.  Instead of stirring up more anger, he turned away wrath. 

The reasons why I was so bothered aren't important...it was weeks ago!  Mostly just little things piled onto a high stress week.  The point is that we must decide how to react to moments like Jeff was faced with.  He knew the right reaction long BEFORE I stormed down isle 6.  Anticipate the struggle and decide to respond the Christlike way.  Proverbs 17:27 states, "The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is even-tempered."

Thank you LORD for mercy.