The Destiny Manifest

Congratulations Colin & Stephanie!

My little brother Colin and his bride Stephanie were married yesterday at the Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Highway in North Carolina. The weather was perfect... it was all very beautiful.

Colin wore a white linen "suit" (he wanted a "beachy" feel, he said) and the entire bridal party went barefoot. Stephanie wore a white satin dress with a short train that bustled up on the dress after the ceremony.

The maid of honor was Steph's best friend LeAnn and her bridesmaids were her two sisters and my sister Hilary.

The best man was one of Colin's best friends, Jason and his groomsmen were his old friend William, my brother Zeb and Hilary's boyfriend Jesse.

Here they are at the reception:

My family:

L, dancing to the music (I was the music person and got to figure out the equalizers and such, fun fun):

Sorry for all the pictures... here are more if you're interested:
Wedding Flickr Picture Set

Congratulations Hilary!

My sister graduated from high school today. I cannot tell you how proud I am of her and how bright this girl's future is. She will be leaving home for Coastal Carolina University in a couple of months and I will watch her go with both a smile and a heavy heart.

Ten years separate Hilary and I and as such, we don't always understand each others' positions on things, but when I have needed someone to talk to, she always listens and gives me her opinion and I try to be the same for her. I know she will be successful in her life... I know that beyond a shadow of a doubt.

She's brilliant, resourceful and beautiful, loving and giving, with a strong work ethic and a hearty sense of responsibility for herself and her actions. She's what I want my daughters to be like when they are 17.

I love you Hilary. I'm sorry I wasn't there to watch you graduate, but my heart was with you, my mind was on you and my eyes were on the clock, picturing you walking into the next stage of your life.

Congratulations Steph!

My sister-in-law-to-be-very-soon Stephanie graduated from Converse College this morning with a Bachelor's in Music, Oboe Performance major.

Congratulations to you Steph! I love you girl, even if I was less than complimentary of the way-too-early-to-be-awake-on-a-Saturday graduation ceremony time. :)

Pretty Petal Pink

My mama & I painted half of my house this weekend and it looks fantastic! We did the girls' room in a pretty petal pink with bright white trim, bright color accents and sparkly butterflies hanging from the ceiling. They were so excited when they got home from Andy's last night and saw their "new" room.

I've managed to misplace my camera so these are cell phone pics, and therefore a bit blurry... plus these were taken before we finished decorating... but it gives you the general idea. :)

 

Snow Day!

It snowed today! *happy dance*

Chris woke me up at 5:15am with a text message: "It's snowing!!!" I dressed quickly and ran outside to see. It was gorgeous, a thick blanket over everything. Snow... the like of which we just never see down here in the South. We grinned and happy danced like small children, caught snowflakes in our hands and on our faces, called our friends and family to tell them to look out their windows.

Once the girls woke up we bundled them up and walked up to the park by L's school, about a mile away. The snow on the roads was still basically untouched, just a few footprints here and there. There were kids in the park building snowmen and the happiness was just contagious. We threw snowballs until the girls' mittens were wet and then we trekked back to warm up.

We thought we might lose power (our neighborhood frequently does) and neither Chris nor I has heat so we packed up the kids and ventured out to Raina and James' house. The men started a fire in the fireplace; Raina and I settled the girls in to watch some Noggin and play. We spent the day playing Risk. Chris won as always, James knocked me out of the game right off the bat. World domination is obviously not meant to have a place in my life.

We headed home around 7pm, tucked the kids into bed and then Chris headed home... I had a hot cup of cocoa and I'm headed to bed myself. By morning the snow will be patchy and by midday it will be mostly gone... but while it's here, it feels magical.

 

Chris in the snow	Chris and the girls
L	A
Chris and James w/the fire	Chris
Raina playing Risk	Colin and Stephanie in the snow