Life to do list - checked one off!

Triathalon - CHECK!!! Yes, that's right I completed a triathalon - well, it was a sprint triathalon so not a full one. I swam 400 yds, biked 13 miles and ran a 5K! (One of my best friends) Blaire & I crossed the finish line together at 1hr and 39min! yahoo! It was the Acworth Tri-Athalon on Aug.9th! I rocked the swim, could've gone a little faster on the bike, but I think I was trying to save my legs for the run and thankfully Blaire & I were able to run together which was a little extra motivation to cross the finish line together. We had our family & friends there cheering us on from each transition point and of course the finish line! As crazy as it sounds - I definitely want to do another one.

Lighthouse!

Lighthouse --- AHH!!!! You must read more about this organization - www.thelighthousefamilyretreat.org The Lighthouse allows others to serve children with cancer and their families at a seaside retreat helping them to laugh, restore family relationships and find hope in God. Our dear friends Kevin & Amber Price have served as volunteers for several years and always had wonderful things to say about it. The more Phil & I read about it the more we wanted to serve. We were in Grayton Beach for a week at the end of July with the most loving families and friends. We cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner for about 200 people every day, we played beach Olympics, we had devotionals and sang praise songs. There was a talent show, movie night, and a date night for the parents! We loved on these families and helped them enjoy time together at the beach.

The pictures below really don't even begin to show our trip justice so I strongly encourage you to go to my website to view all the pictures. www.livinandlovinphotography.com you can click on clients & friends. the password is lighthouse

We were paired with another volunteer family - The Raney's (whom we quickly hit it off with). Us & the Raney's were paired with the Tate family. www.timewiththetates.blogspot.com Oh, how we love each of them. We were able to spend quality time together and take care of them during the week. Elena and Olivia are their daughters. Please begin praying for Elena and that her little body can beat this cancer! As her shirt said "Cancer picked the wrong diva!"

Needless to say we had an amazing time serving at Lighthouse and will definitely do it again. We were able to spend time with Kevin & Amber and their two kids (Mallory and Taylor - who are our godchildren), be at the beach for a week, meet wonderful new friends, and serve Him! It was very clear that God was at work during this week - restoring faith and providing moments to cry out to Him. We serve a might God!

Phil & I with Susu, Sally, Olivia & Elena
precious Taylor & Mallory

Phil & I

us with our Family Partners - the Raney's & the Tate's

Sister moment! Elena & Olivia

Montana

At the beginning of July we (my parents & I) headed out west to hang out with my sister Carly! She lives in Bozeman and goes to Montana State Univ. We were out there for a week and were able to do a lot of fun things! We went to Glacier National Park, tubing on the Madison River, site seeing, farmers market, played games and spent quality time together in Big Sky! If you've never been to Montana - I highly recommend you go asap, however I'll warn you - you might not want to come back. You are surrounded by beautiful mountains, open sky and perfect weather (in the summer) :) It's so peaceful, clean and laid back! Carly was a wonderful host all week - taking us to the best places to eat, bike, walk, hike and shop.

In Bozeman they have a Farmer's Market every Tuesday night. Carly get's a booth each week to sell her fabulous jewels! Check out her site - www.crazymare.etsy.com She has a lot more that she takes to the booth than is on her site right now. She is extremely talented and I'm pretty much walking advertisement for her with all the jewelry she makes me :) thanks sis! Anyways - we were able to go to the farmer's market with her and help her sell her goods! It was great - an open air venue with many local artist selling anything from jewelry, pottery, and produce. They even had snowcones (ahhhh!) which I have decided has become extinct around here. (If anyone knows of somewhere around here I can get one please do share!)

Below are a few picts from the trip! The landscape shots don't even begin to capture God's beauty, but you can get a glimpse of what we were doing in Montana! The highlight of the trip might have been tubing, but unfortunatly we didn't risk taking the camera with us. We had a wonderful trip minus Phil not being able to join us. :( Thanks Carly and Mom & Dad for a great week with the fam!

Flathead Lake - view from our lodge

Goose Island in Glacier National Park

Wildlife in the park! So wild to be this close!

top of our hike - Avalanche Lake

Carly at the Farmer's Market - selling her jewels!

Sweet 16!!!

Chandler turned 16!!!! What a great combination - turning 16 and being a cowgirl! I loved taking pictures of her! She was easy going and wanted to have some fun. Here are a few shots from our session.

Popsicles and cousins

Here is a fun lil' storyboard of my neice & nephew with our cousins from England. We had to break out the "lolly's" (popsicles) in order to get some happy faces. As you can tell it still didn't make Luke very happy. :0 Phil's aunt Jill, cousin Karen and her two kids (Luke and Rhiannon) came over for two weeks. We had a great time hanging out by the pool and spending time together. I must add that a kid with an English accent is just lovely! :)

Weddings.....

Here are some picts from the last three weddings we've been to! It's always a blast to celebrate the couple's special day with friends & family!

Ashleigh & Joel ~ their wedding was May 30, 2009 at Tucker Plantation - right outside of Athens! We had a wonderful weekend celebrating and hanging out with friends! I actually took pictures at their rehearsal too which was a blast! Will post some of those later.

One last kiss before getting in the get away car!!!

cutting the cake - notice the horse in the background - perfecto!

Phil & I at the wedding love this one! had to capture this moment!

our fun group of friends with the newly weds!
Martha & Will ~ they got married on May 2, 2009 in Clarkesville, TN. Martha & I are sorority sisters from college! She caught the bouqet at our wedding! :) Unfortunatly, Phil wasn't able to go with me, but I had a blast with a lot of Chi O's from Queens! Their band was awesome!

the sweet couple dancing!

told you the band was awesome - Super T! How can you beat this outfit?! Me & Martha after a lot of dancing and sweating!

Caroline, me & Lauren All the Chi O's at the wedding!

Ryan & Margaret are friends of Phil's from college. Margaret is a rockette (yes, the real deal) and we couldn't stop watching she and all her rockette friends dance! Don't worry we didn't even try and dance like them. It was extra special for Phil and I because their wedding/reception was at the Old Decatur Courthouse which is where Phil & I were introduced at another wedding almost 6 years ago!!!!

the newly weds dancing the night away!

Margaret with her Rockette girls! They were amazing! Phil & I at the wedding Our group of friends - all Phil's GA Tech guys!

Long time no blog......

Our sweet family celebrating Dad!

His awesome retirement cake my aunt made!

Congrats Dad!! We are so proud of you!


Finally, back in the blog world. Sorry It's been so long. Let's see since my last blog Phil & I celebrated our 2nd anniversary!!!, went on a cruise (will post picts soon), celebrated Dad's reitrement, my sister was in town from Montana, I finished my Specialist degree, Phil finished paramedic school, we've gone to 5 weddings, and I finished another wonderful school year at EPMS! Needless to say, we are thankful summer is here! We've been sleeping in and hanging out at the pool! Phil has family in town from England for the next two weeks so we're soaking in as much time with them as possible.

As for pictures above - yahoo for Dad!!! He's officially retired and loving every moment of it! He & mom are on an Alaskaian cruise celebrating their 30th anniversary and his retirement! We are so proud of his hard work and dedication! We had a party for him at my parent's earlier in May! CONGRATS DAD!!! We love you!

Will post more pictures soon from all the weddings and festivities!