what a magical day!

(found)


like billions of others,

i thoroughly enjoyed THE wedding this morning.

& i found myself completely smitten with Kate.

 her radiance

her elegance

& her grace

~

 each little detail

~

i am in complete awe of all the grandeur!

what a magical morning!

i think my favorite moment was how the sun seemed to come out

from behind the clouds just as she exited her Rolls-Royce...

or 

maybe when she stepped out on the balcony 

& exclaimed "Oh Wow!"...

what was your favorite moment?

(found)

  (again, image via BBC news)

what would kate do?

  

 (caitlin mcgauley via lonny blog)

i've recently found a great deal of pleasure in stating the following to my teenagers,

"now, would kate middleton do that?"

"would kate middleton prop her feet up on the back of the movie theatre seats?"

"would kate middleton walk barefoot in public?"

"would kate middleton speak with food in her mouth?"

except for the whole living with the prince prior to marriage thing, 

i'm going with it

& especially for one daughter

who is completely smitten with all things royal.

madison & i are looking forward to all the pomp & circumstance this weekend

all the footage

all the images

the magazine covers

all of it!

i have a small collection of time and life magazines featuring 

princess diana, jackie, and audrey hepburn.

i'm tickled to add a few featuring kate!

ps.i must keep it real.

in all honesty, i've only made one "would kate do that?" comment.

just one.

& i thought i was pretty darn funny.

we've got some mighty rough weather rolling in tonight....
praying all is ok for my birmingham friends and tennesssee friends too.

in my kitchen today

 fear not,

i am in no way trying to be a foodie photographer

whenever i post a recipe or images of fruits & veggies
i feel the need to throw that disclaimer out there for ya'll.

i was going to start out today's post with the following...

"there is so much beauty in the simple things that surround us everyday"
but
that sounded so darn cheesy
so i'll just roll with this one....
"here's a few miscellaneous images from my kitchen".
that's much easier to swallow right?

 

white eggs in a white bowl.

i love it.

 styrofoam carton who?

& some hard boiled eggs ( a fave snack around here)

recently i've seen a few of my fave bloggers posting their own homemade lemon cleaning products.

so i whipped up some myself

& can i just tell you, i have never purchased any product that smells as lovely as this.

i guess you could say, i have fleeting loyalty when it comes to grocery stores.

i shop walmart for my staples

kroger for their flowers  & sales

but i love our fancy publix.

it's often a little more pricey but many of their bakery items are our faves,

plus i always run into my friends at publix 

so i leave there feeling like i just had lunch with one of them.

or something like that.

i know some folks are all anti-walmart

however...i use this product , better than bouillon.

$7 at publix, vs $3.75 at walmart.

the cash i saved by buying these babies at walmart, financed my latest essie colors.

also found now at walmart.

i'm a wealth of information

right?!

   

back to more random images~

i love to snack on radishes, but do you know how to do anything

different with those little guys

besides just eating them fresh/uncooked?

and a little pasta, peas & parmesan,

one of our regulars

served with barefoot contessa's parmesan chicken

sorry...

i feel like lately my posts are just complete bullet points

with run on sentences 

& all over the place.

i apologize.

it's how my mind is working these days!

ps.  i'm looking to buy some candy in bulk. 

cute candy, like maybe pink candy sticks, giant jawbreakers

or some fun colored rock candy on little sticks.

something a little different from the usual stuff you can find at target.

if you have any scoop on sites you've used in the past,

i'd love to know.

thanks!

He is risen!

 i hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend!

i was trying to remember the last cloudy rainy Easter day 

& i can't remember one. i feel the last several years have all had such beautiful weather.

& yesterday was no exception!

the love birds celebrated a special day in their relationship

with a yummy dinner at Nava in Buckhead.

 (remember, if you will, when i explained my girls reaction to my
"mini-wedges"?

well, check out their platform wedges in these images & you'll understand

exactly what they consider a true wedge! ;) )

 

the highlight of our weekend

was watching our Bailey's baptism!!!

the scripture says there is no greater joy then seeing my children walk with the lord...

well, she's not "mine", but i felt so much joy witnessing her

make this public profession of her faith!!

prior to the baptism, savannah shared some tender thoughts

& blessed bailey...

sweet bailey girl, it has been a privelge to watch you grow in the lord.

i see his spirit in you!

 i know you will do great things at ole miss!!

i love you & am so proud of you!!

 

 

 we are blessed at Grace to have an awesome staff

especially our youth pastors.

brian, the high school pastor, has been a huge influence on the girls

and was who baptized bailey!

 

 we headed home after the baptism

ate a little chocolate and then headed over to celebrate 

with Passion City Church, at the verizon amphitheatre.

i really wish i had brought my camera, but i doubt the picture would have captured

what a glorious day it was!

PCC is the "other" church we occasionally attend, usually on sunday nights.

PCC is the one where Chris Tomlin leads worship & Louie Giglio teaches.

wow!

wow is what we say after every service there.

however having worship with those guys

outside on a breezy gorgeous spring morning

at a fantastic venue 

with the birdies chirping no less

was so powerful.

one of the phrases louie spoke on was that Jesus came

to bring

life

forgiveness

& freedom.

that gave me chills.

 i am so thankful for a savior who gave it all for you & i to have life!

 why on earth am i slumping?

 quick wardrobe change for a couple girls

& then hooked back up with emi

before heading over to my brother & sis in laws

for a great lunch!

 

thank you sweet madison

for whipping up some cute bunny cupcakes!

what would i do without you?!

He doesn't give up on YOU!

You paid my ransom

You chose to suffer

Love I cannot deny

Sure as the morning light

Jesus, my Redeemer

Now I am not ashamed

To You be the highest praise

Jesus, my Redeemer

"Barbara's difficult home life had left her afraid and insecure. While the other children talked, she sat. While the others sang, she was silent. While the others giggled, she was quiet. Always present. Always listening. Always speechless.

Until the day Joy gave a class on Heaven. Joy talked about seeing God. She talked about tearless eyes & deathless lives.

Barbara listened with hunger. Then she raised her hand & said....Is Heaven for girls like me?...

I would have given a thousand sunset to have seen Jesus' face
as this tiny prayer reached his throne.

An earnest prayer that a good God in heaven would remember a forgotten soul on earth.

A prayer that God's grace would seep into the cracks and cover one the church let slip through. A prayer to take a life that no once else can use and use it as no one else can.

A prayer to do what God does best: take the common and make it spectacular......

To take three spikes and a wooden beam and make them the hope of humanity.

God would give up His only son before He gives up on You."


~~~~ from Max Lucado's Six Hours One Friday

my friends, i pray this Easter fills you with the hope of sweet Jesus,

who paid the price for our sin and gives you new life!!

He is Risen!!

conversational highlights & completely unrelated photos

 

- babe, every time we head down to passion city church, 

something in me wants to pack up and move in town.

-mom, do you remember your first kiss?

i hate to admit this, but the answer was no. i do not remember where or with whom.

hopefully this will help this particular daughter of mine realize that first kisses are sometimes over rated and maybe she'll postpone hers a few more years.

meanwhile, i'm totally planning to contact my highschool bff and ask her. surely she remembers who i kissed and when.

incidentally, dan remembers his. he also remembers who sat beside him in first grade and the one boy that got the one hit off of him when he pitched his little league championship game.

( i'm hoping his first kiss is not of equal importance as his 12 year big game. surely not.)

 

-did you see our neighbors took down their christmas lights?

-mama, i totally had on my cutest outfit ever today. 

& the winner~

-"hey mom ,so i facebook invited over 400 friends

to the graduation party at our home. 

but don't stress ok? 

they won't all show up."

......classic