Varied February

February is always an interesting month. It's the shortest month of the year, but it often feels like it can drag on to me. I know a big part of that is work is starting to pick up quickly. With that, I feel like I'm trying to squeeze in as much fun as I can while I have the opportunity. Together that feels like I'm always going which just seems to draw out time somewhat. Here's some of the things going on in our world these days.

Mia knows how much I love the gift of time, so for Christmas, she gave me a movie night together with her. She bought me some treats from Buc-cee's (chocolate covered cashews and peanuts along with their very yummy taffy), and she made me this awesome director's board to help me figure out we'd watch Back to the Beach together. It's still my favorite movie even though it was made in 1987! I was so happy to cash this in one evening and have a great time watching this with her. What a great gift!

One of my Christmas gifts to Ryan was an evening to go see comedian Jim Gaffigan at CEPAC. I love when shows come to this venue since it's so convenient to our house. We had dinner at Stockyard with Jeff and Ali Pennington beforehand which was a real treat; we always enjoy our time with them. Then we headed on over for the show. It was a horribly rainy night so traffic was a nightmare. We made it in before the show started though and settled in for a lot of laughs. We had a fun evening, but we agreed this wasn't his best show (we've several of his shows on tv before) and the opening act actually entertained us a little more than he did. Still, we will always take a fun date night out together, so we are thankful for this evening.

Ryan and I had a fantastic date night recently where we went to see an early showing of The Chosen's episodes 7 and 8 of season 3. We both absolutely love this show. It is so well done and stays Biblically true. While the episodes usually release once a week, we couldn't wait so we were happy to go to the AMC and catch the early release. It was so incredibly good!

We were surprised when we came out of the theater and realized that Lara Silva, the talented and lovely actress who plays Eden (wife of Simon), was at the showing too; she said she lives only about 15 minutes away! She was so gracious to meet and take pictures with so many of us. How fun!

Lily participated in her second mock trial season. This year they had a civil case, and Lily said she enjoyed it more than the criminal case they tried last year. She was chosen to be the lead plaintiff attorney. The last couple of years the mock trial competition has taken place over zoom. Everyone seemed glad they were in person this year. We got up bright and early one Saturday morning and headed to the main courthouse in Marietta. Everything started at 8:30, and Stonehaven's plaintiff went first. Her opening statement nailed it! She led our main witness and crossed the defense's main witness. It was so clear that Stonehaven and the other team had prepared and worked very hard. We were incredibly proud of all the kids (but especially Lily). This kid just may have a career in law in front of her! Ryan and I left about 11 after the first trial was over. We didn't stick around to see our defense side present. We didn't realize that Stonehaven would be one of the teams to get picked to go again later in the evening; our plaintiff team presented again and it sounds like they did great. Unfortunately, their team wasn't in the top three to progress to the next round, but they should be so proud. They did great!

One of the parents snapped this picture at one point. How fun to see Lily leading Avery, our star witness!

Grandma Jan surprised us with a Valentine's goody box from Mrs. Prindables...chocolate caramel apples, chocolate dipped oreos, and chocolate dipped pretzel rods. What a fun and tasty surprise!

We've had an unexpected event pop up this month too. Mia has been complaining of her ears bothering her more than normal recently, and we've noticed she's having a harder time hearing. I took her one morning to an audiologist who confirmed there's definitely some hearing loss. The following week I took her for a CT scan so they can better see what's going on inside her ears. It's hard to se your baby girl getting on to a machine like that. We'll meet with the doctor soon to see what the next steps may be to best help Mia hear better.

Ryan and I were happy to celebrate the wedding of our friends, Josh and Anna, recently. They are part of our weekly small group, and we're thoroughly enjoying getting to know them and deepen our friendship. They had a beautiful and God-honoring ceremony in Rockmart. We were happy to get a picture with the sweet couple and our small group just before we headed out from the reception.

I love our Valentine's tradition of posting hearts on the girls' doors telling them qualities we see in them and love about them. God has so wonderfully designed Lily and Mia; we are so thankful for them!

Mia painted this beautiful painting for me!

Lily made a couple of lovely art pieces at school as well. I love when my girls are creative!

Not a super fun picture, but it's one I wanted to remember. Our small group had the opportunity to serve the college ministry after church one week by providing lunch. We had white chicken chili with toppings (perfect for a very cold Sunday afternoon!), salad, bread, and homemade cookies for them. We enjoyed eating together and getting to know them. I appreciate this opportunity!

Lily loves to dress up...sometimes it's in a cute Buccee the Beaver costume, sometimes it's in a beautiful dress to go to a masquerade birthday party for a friend!

Ryan and I were very excited to spend a weekend up in North GA on a church retreat with about 60 others. They were college age and older, some singles, some married; it was a great mix and a wonderful time to worship together and get to know others better. One evening some of us played a lot of fun games like bananagrams and mind the gap while others enjoyed just sitting together and talking. We had a few hours of free time on Saturday, so Ryan and I actually drove down to Mercier Orchards which we love. They were celebrating their birthday, so our friend Ryan Lane was there serving up brisket, pork, and chicken. It was great to eat, but even better to catch up with him. We headed over to a little coffee shop in town afterwards then met up with a lot of friends at a local theater to see The Jesus Revolution movie.

We are so thankful for First Baptist and the people in it!

It's been an interesting month for sure.

The Start of 2023

2023 is starting off great! January has been a fantastic month filled with lots of family, friends, and fun. What a great combination!

Ryan and I were gifted 4 tickets to the Falcons/Bucs game from our friend, Katie Denis. We were so excited that Jeff and Elizabeth could join us! We always love having a Falcons football adventure with them! We were so excited to be at this game because we got to watch Tom Brady play. Granted, none of us like Brady at all given his unbelievable overtime comeback win against us with the Patriots in Super Bowl 51 (not that we're still bitter about that...) BUT there's a reason he's considered one of the greatest of all time. It's cool that we got to see him play live. Not surprisingly, the Falcons lost today's game, but we still had a ton of fun thanks to being with great friends.

Mia sewed the most adorable little red fox! I love him!

Lily has such a great group of friends!

Mia and all the kids at Brylliant Acting Studio have been working so hard over the last month. Right after Little Mermaid finished in early December, they hit the ground running to prepare for the Junior Theater Competition. They decided to go with Matilda Jr. for their 15 minute show. Unfortunately, they didn't win any awards this year, but that's okay; they had a great time acting together!

Mia split the role of Bruce with another actor. He played the speaking role (Bruce is supposed to be a 5 year old little boy after all) while Mia took the singing role. One of the most famous songs from Matilda is Revolting Children which is led by Bruce. It's a fast-paced and difficult song to sing but Mia killed it! 

Later in the month we were all excited to head over to Samford to watch StepSing. This is always such a fun competition! We had so much fun watching the different shows and placing our bets on who was going to win (none of us got it right).

The next morning, Ryan, Lily, and I went on Lily's first official college tour. Ryan and I have so many great memories of being at Samford. It was a ton of fun for us to walk around campus, think about those memories and people, and see all the improvements that have come along since our time there. Samford is still such a gorgeous campus, and it was the perfect day for walking around!

After the tour the three of us decided to have lunch in the caf. They've got so many different options in here now; it's great! I enjoyed a middle eastern meal (schwarma with rice on naan) while Ryan and Lily both had a good cheeseburger and fries.

Before we left, we drove over to West Campus, so I could show Lily the Zeta house and the sorority quad. We lucked out that a lovely young lady let us in the house so I could show her the chapter room, kitchen, and sitting area. I was a little overwhelmed thinking about the friends I made here, and how thankful I am for them. I think I appreciate them more now than I did then; I think I've learned the value of a good friend since then.

We headed on back to Atlanta, rested at home for just a little bit, and then headed downtown. We all went to see Riverdance in it's 25th anniversary show at the Fox. It was so cool! I always love this Irish dancing, and they did not disappoint. They featured other types of dance too including a Spanish flamenco dancer and two tap dancers. The music is always so beautiful too. This was such a fun evening!

Mia has made Lily two awesome pairs of pajama pants. One is a classic black and white plaid while the other supports our Braves. They're so soft and cozy, and I'm amazed that Mia can do this!

It's always nice when Grandpops comes to visit! We enjoyed having him in town for several days this month. One evening, we all had dinner together with my parents at Rumi's Kitchen. It was delicious!

Mia recently acquired a real digital camera from Grandpops, and she's been having fun honing her photography skills. Decker made a sleepy little model one evening.

Ryan and Lily made a little day trip to Buc-cee's one morning. Lily found lots of cute little items including this beaver face straw. We couldn't stop laughing!

Ryan and I celebrated our 21st anniversary this month! It was definitely more low key this year, but we very much enjoyed our dinner out at Marcel's. It was fun to try a new restaurant together, and the food was wonderful. On another evening, we enjoyed the blueberry pie I ordered as a little anniversary present for both of us via Goldbelly from Two Fat Cats.

Mia was excited to order another Blind Date with a Book on Etsy from a seller she likes. It looked so beautiful when it arrived! These are always so much fun!

It's been a busy but fun month to start out 2023!

2022 Wrap Up

What a fun New Year's Eve! Ryan and I met up with lots of friends at the Battery. We were so glad to be with Luke and Julie Elrod, Josh and Nabile Winkles, Adam and Marie Bishop, and their son, Connor. We are thankful for these friendships which have all sprung up from First Baptist. We started in an escape room called "Gold Rush." We managed to escape with about 13 minutes remaining! It had all sorts of fun puzzles to solve, and it took all of us to put it together.

From there we walked over to Garden & Gun for dinner. None of us had actually tried it before, but we all enjoyed it. We described it as "fancy Southern" and it was a good fit for the evening.

After dinner we all drove over to the Bishops house to ring in the new year. We had some delicious desserts and lots of laughs as we hung out. We planned on watching the Times Square ball drop but the GA bowl game didn't end until a few seconds after midnight. It was such an exciting game and it sends UGA to the national championship for the second year in a row. This was such a great evening!

I always enjoy looking back over pictures from the year in order to make my "best 9" of the year. This has been an interesting year. I continue to become more and more aware every single day of the many blessings in my life, especially as I see and walk with others through incredibly difficult times. I can't help but thank God for every gift, big and small. Most of all, I'm thankful for the grace and gift of eternal life that God has given me. I look forward to seeing how my life can glorify God in 2023!