Noonday giveaway & The Pearl Event!

 it's hard to believe it's finally here!!

we're packing up & heading to Nashville

for the event that has been prayed about for months & months!!

i can hardly wait to be there & meet these women

hug my precious dear friend sibi

& see some encouraging new sweet faces!

for all of you that have sent encouraging emails & facebook messages

thank you thank you!

to know you're behind us & praying for us is so encouraging

& such an honor.

i'm humbled by the outpouring of love by so many of you!

~~~

in other exciting news

i have a $50 gift certificate for one of you 

from the Noonday Collection!!

one of my current favorites

is the zoe necklace

created by our exclusive artisan group in uganda.

here's little zoe

who the necklace is name after.

she is now malaria free

after receiving medical care 

thanks to noonday purchases!!

zoe's mama & daddy are jalia and daniel.

after jessica ( our founder) spent the day with them, this is what she journaled :

Jalia & Daniel.

They believe in miracles.

They believe in healing & deliverance.

They are God fearing.

They love the name of Jesus more than their own name.

Their lives are dedicated to serving others.

They understand others because they’ve been there.

They’ve been so poor they had to sell their only bible to buy food.

They know what it’s like to be content: to be in want & to have plenty

They, like Paul, are content.

They set their minds on things above.

one night when we were visiting with Jalia,

she asked us if we would pray that her children aren't orphaned.

can you imagine?

jalia & daniel are receiving a sustainable income

thankfully due to purchases made through noonday.

& their children are NOT orphaned!!!

so....

leave a comment & tell me which piece of jewelry 

you would love to purchase if you were to win

& 

maybe tell me which story touches your heart.

~~~~

"I will see You as You are
Love You with unsinning heart
And see how much You paid to bring me home
Not till then, Lord, shall I know
Not till then, how much I owe
Everything I am before Your throne"

matt redman

cake & sushi

 friday we celebrated madison turning 17!

being a lover of all things pink & feminine

& somewhat over the top,

i knew she'd love this ombre delicious birthday cake!

( thank you my sweet things~~  it was perfect!!)

 

 

after dan's mom passed away, we were cleaning out their attic

& stumbled upon a large, empty Tiffany's box. 

how i wish i knew what she had , that size , from Tiffany & co.!

i warned madi that i had not splurged but had a "little" something in there, not from tiffanys.

plus it looked so pretty beside the cake :)

we usually cook something big at home or head out to eat

depending on what the girls choose.

since dan & i were leaving bright and early on our road trip

we decided to go out. 

savannah had eaten at Park Tavern ( in midtown beside piedmont park) & loved it,
so we decided to head intown for a fun outdoor meal.
huge storm clouds were looming
& a tornado warning made it for quite an exciting drive & evening!
 

 

the above images are so funny.

madi is shorter than her sisters but they had on flats

& she had on crazy high wedges, so she looks so tall!

while the next pic was taken with her standing on the down side of a hill, barefoot with emi not barefoot,

it's a little closer to reality.

 

 the bookends

 

for my local friends, Park Tavern is going through a little renovation

so i'd call before making reservations

but the ambiance is very fun & looks over Piedmont Park

we ate sushi,

& i took photos in the empty bathroom

because i'm easily impressed by faucets 

& i'm basically a wierdo

 

happy birthday sweet girl

we sure do love you!

~~

"When I stand before Your throne
Dressed in glory not my own
What a joy I'll sing of on that day
No more tears or broken dreams
Forgotten is the minor key
Everything as it was meant to be"

matt redman

13.1!!!!

 

we headed out early saturday morning for our 24 hour quickie trip to seaside

for the Vera Bradley Seaside Half Marathon.

( if you're a runner, this is a great half marathon to run.

loads of ladies groups, great gifts, cute tshirts & the runners

all recieve vera totes. i  share more about it here & here too)

it had poured all night here in atlanta and we'd had tornado watches too.

the bad weather was with us for the entire drive

& the entire day saturday.

poured!!

while a rainy day at the beach is better than no day at the beach

i hated to lose an entire day of beach bliss to yuck weather.

 

we checked in to our adorable little place for the night, which as similar to last year

was less than 50 yards from the starting line!

 

when you stay in a seaside rental, you get a load of goodies

not the least of which is a bottle of wine & a seaside cooler tote.

we headed over to packet pick up 

did a little shopping

( jumping over puddles & dodging the storms)

before heading to The Red Bar.

also known as "my favorite place to eat"

i carb loaded on a huge bowl of pasta

& the most ginormous shrimp i've ever seen.

true story.

 

we received cute texts while we were gone

with updates such as the following from my sister in law

(caroline living large getting a mani-pedi)

a group of friends of mine were in town for the race & we hung out with them for a little while before

heading back for what would be 

terrible night of sleep #2.

sigh.

since we usually sleep with some white noise & we didn't have that option

i felt like i heard every tiny little sound. even my stomach growling woke me up.

it sounded like the rain continued long into the night.

i laid there & worried ( no surprise there)

how on earth i'd run in the rain with wet shoes.

but we woke up sunday morning to a glorious day

not a cloud in the sky. 

despite a crummy night of sleep i woke fired up

excited & feeling great!

ate a quick breakfast & was out the door to meet up with my friends.

 

 

our group prayed before we took off

&

i'm telling you what

at the risk of sounding corny, i could tell the lord was giving me energy.

i haven't felt that good running in ages.

it was so encouraging to me to feel so good

because i felt ill prepared going in to it.

three of my good friends & i ran together the entire way.

big big difference than running solo.

hearing things like

"lets get this train rolling" when i wanted to stop & walk

& "i'm over it, let's just finish" during mile 12

&

funny jokes from two of my best girlfriends

gave me encouragement to finish

(  & finish at the exact same time as last year!)

thank you jeff, kathy & linda!

ya'll are the best!!!!

 

 

moments after crossing the finish line,

sweet holly came up & introduced herself!

 

as did lisa!

( i snagged your photo from twitter, hope that was okay!)

not only is that humbling to meet someone for the first time mere moments after running

(without my lipgloss no less)

but it truly is so awesome to meet a  sweet  blog reader.

i feel like i should hug them & apologize for the posts where i ramble

& thank them profusely!!

are they cute or what?!

i think holly is in conneticut

& lisa in texas.

too fun!

 

one of my sweet local friends was there too

& checked that 13.1 off her bucket list!!

way to go heather!!

( yes i finally showered & applied lipgloss )

 

 

dan & i only had about an hour or two before we needed to hit the road.

we walked across the street & checked out our rental house

that we'll be back for in july with the girls.

 which is a 60 second walk from one of my favorite little photo locations!

 

we sat there & listened to the waves

& talked about how we'd love to move there one day.

i have the sweetest hubby

who on a regular basis lays his life down for others

& usually the others are me 

and the girls.

driving down for a quick trip to seaside isn't cheap

the half marathon wasn't cheap

nor were my shoes

the food

the accommodations

or the goodies he bought me while we were there.

he spent the weekend asking me where i wanted to eat

what i wanted to do

& how he could help me.

no lie...

i pray each of my girls marries a man just like him.

thank you sweet man 

for everything you did to get me to seaside

& for cheering me along

just as you do every day.

i love you.

on the edge of seventeen

 

happy birthday birdie!!!

17 is such an awesome age!

i pray this coming year is full of dreams coming true

& wonderful memories being made.

daddy & i are SO proud of YOU

& the beautiful young woman you are becoming.

 here's a little recap of this past year! 

you had so many firsts & so many biggies! 

~~~

license.VWconvertible.JVFC captain

sophmore.DECA.

sarah.cameron.katherine.megan.haley.

broken nose.surgery.the gym.

first job.checking account.first paycheck.

shoes.shoes.shoes.

4.0

1stplace in 1st DECA competition.

4th place in state, heading to nationals.

d-group.

juicy.vogue.chanel.adele.dior.

accomplished huge personal goal.

helper.baker.sister.daughter.friend.

deepy loved.

~~~

 

 

Happy Birthday Little Bird

i love you

xo

my goodness

i hope you can hear that in surround sound with all the southern drawl i can muster up.

emphasis on the "my" of course.

i absolutely loved everyone's feedback & encouragement
from the previous post!
ya'll are awesome!!!

it's so hard to be clear in texts or comments & emails.

it's hard to hear the voice behind what is said.

blog posts are certainly no different.

i was not at all angry with the question that was posed.

i thought she honestly ( & she did indeed come on back by & tell me the same) was curious how we balance raising teenagers who go to public school ( one of the largest in the state) & watch things like the bachelor ( gag me),  gossip girl & the kardashians (on occasion)

but also love jesus.

 it can be done. it really can.

since i primarily write about our life

it's not unusual to get questions about how we handle different situations

& i will gladly answer what i can.

in fact, if you'd like to ask any questions you can send them

& i'll try to incorporate them into a few blog posts.

it's  a brave move to put yourself out there & share beliefs and convictions.

& also not get anybody too fired up.

i can count the times on one hand (& still have a finger of two left over) that someone has left me a rude comment.

i'm not sure how i've danced below the radar but thankfully i have.

anyway...that's enough of that for now. but i LOVED all the feedback. seriously!

for months i've thought about our schedule between march 2 & march 10th

& how things would all fall in to place.

dan & i are heading to my favorite place at o'dark thirty saturday morning.

last year was super blustery & cold but with the mild winter we've had, i'm hoping it will be gorgeous

for the Seaside half marathon.

this will definitely be my half marathon swan song.

i love running

but i've decided i do not love running for 2+ hours.

plus, i am convinced that my thighs & calves are completely jacked up now

due to all the distance running.

it happened last year too. i was certain that all that training i would drop a jean size & therefore treat myself to some post race designer flats. 

well, i didn't. i'll be darned if those last few weeks i got bigger.

what the heck.

so the other day i'm standing there in my little ugg wannabe slippers & i tell one of the girls ( whose name shall not be mentioned) that i thought my calves were bigger

 to which she replied "yeah, they do look weird".

fantastic

madison turns 17 tomorrow!!

she whipped up these dr. seuss inspired cupcakes a few days ago,

i thought you'd enjoy~

 ps. i bought the designer flats this year anyway.
so take that. 
signed, owner of ginormous calves.
~~~

And we will worship, worship
Forever in Your presence we will sing
We will worship, worship You
And endless hallelujah to the King

matt redman