Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Thursday, March 31, 2011

New Blog

I have a new blog...it's here. You should go there instead.


-Thanks,


Meredith

Friday, March 25, 2011

my back hurts

My back hurts really bad from working on our garden the past few weekends. It's definitely much harder than I had anticipated. I've been wanting to do a garden for a few years, but thought, "we may move soon, and I would hate to do all this work only to leave it behind." But years have come and gone and we're still in the same place and God's been convicting me lately of using what he's given us now instead of putting it off for later.

My Valentine's Day present...seeds;)

We dug up the sod from the area so we could transplant it in front of our house. This was the worst part. Sod is surprisingly very heavy, especially when your wheelbarrow's front tire is a little low on air. We (my dad) plowed last weekend, bought some dirt mixed with chicken poop, and leveled everything off. I planted my spinach Monday morning. Apparently the frost/cold doesn't hurt spinach for some reason. This is the crop I'm most excited about because we eat a lot of spinach around here. I'm waiting for warmer weather and no fear of frost to plant my other seeds. I started seeding some cantaloupe and peppers about a month ago inside. I had to do some research to figure all this stuff out, but still think I probably messed up somewhere along the way. First sprout many sprouts! I'm hoping these sprouts keep growing, especially when I have to transplant them into the garden. Is it crazy that I pray for my plants? I breathe on them too...heard it helps. I can't help but think about the parable of the sower in Mark 4 every time I check on my plants. It's so cheesy, but I feel sad for the seeds that haven't sprouted because I relate them to people who don't know Christ or who say they do but have no relationship with him. I even dug through the dirt to check on the seeds and put them closer to the top so they could get some sun, but realized that I can only do so much to make these seeds sprout. Just like in peoples' lives, we can only do so much. Ultimately Jesus is the one who saves. It challenges me to be a "sprouter" - to be in the word and constantly asking God how I can change and grow to be a better woman of Him. It's so cool how much I'm learning just from planting seeds. God is pretty cool in how he speaks to us. I definitely recommend starting a garden, even if it's small. Your motivation can be to donate your crops to soup kitchens and food pantries. You can look up which ones accept produce here. Say a prayer for my sprouts;)

Monday, January 10, 2011

a year in pictures

I'm such a bad blogger.

I will try to improve.

When Jack and I first got married I decided to do a "yearbook" of pictures each year. I'm so glad I did because I already love looking through the two we have and remembering some really good times. It also motivates me to take more pictures of not just special occasions, but some of the everyday as well. I am always a little disappointed at the end of the year when I don't have as many as I thought I did, but it's better than none. It also is a good way to showcase some pictures without having to spend money on tons of prints. I am starting to design our third one and picked out some pictures of highlights throughout the year.

It snowed last year...twice...





We celebrated Valentine's Day at the Poinsett...surprise to me...If I had known I wouldn't have let him spend money on that, but it was really nice and we had a great time!



We rescued the sweetest puppy on our way to Georgia. We named her Georgia.



We celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary in Savannah, Ga. We stayed in an upstairs apartment of a town home instead of a hotel which made it feel like our own little vacation home;)





We made our first visit to Tybee Island while we were there. It was so nice before the crowds showed up, but once the tide went out the beach went for miles and miles...I really have never seen anything like it...hard to explain.






We swam a lot...



We took our first trip to Skytop Orchard after hearing about the apple doughnuts...





Did something I've always wanted to do around Halloween...a corn maze!



Time came to get rid of Jack's hand-me-down recliner...got him a bargain 2-seater for his birthday...





Surprise dinner for my birthday cooked by Jack...It was tasty!



Got our pictures made in our wedding attire one last time!



Went on our annual trip to get our Christmas tree...with two dogs this time.



Decorated with retro lights again.



Had our first white Christmas as a family.


It was a very good year and we were blessed to be able to experience a lot of new things, see new places, and create lasting memories. I think we're most thankful for God's provision and Him choosing to discipline us in so many areas. Many times I wonder why certain things happen or don't happen and feel like we're the only ones struggling with certain things, but it always ends with us thanking Jesus for growing us in that certain area and showing us our need for Him. He is so good and I'm excited to see what He does in 2011!