The Craziest among the Crazy

I'd have to say the past few weeks have been the craziest weeks we've had in a while. It's all started with some close friends of ours that have been having some issues and so Darren and I took special interest with them and their situation...sadly things aren't working out which burdens my heart even more but at this point there's not but so much we can do about it but pray.

This past weekend on Thursday we headed to Greenville to visit and for Darren to marry my friends from College, Brandon & Shaina. We got in to town around 5:30 and went straight to Tim and Kelly's to drop off a picture we had picked up for them in Charlotte and to drop off some baby things I had bought.

We then strolled over to Grandma and Grandpas to visit with them for a while and pick up some potatoes and cucumbers from the garden. We also found the largest Cabbage we've ever seen.

After that we headed to Stacy and Robbie's to see the boys and drop off Matthews Birthday present. Don't you just love it when they drop the expensive toy and run off with the $2 "Poppers" I picked up for him last minute in the grocery line...

Anyways after we finished up there, Darren and I headed to Dax and Uncle Stan's to see Laura and Davis who are in town from Nashville for the week. We rarely get to see them so it was a treat.

Davis made sure we were all entertained. He's good at that.

Finally we went back to mom and dad's to get some sleep.

The next morning we were the witnesses at a secret ceremony for the couple Darren would be "Marrying" on Saturday. Since we didn't know if Darren's ordination would be excepted or not, we did this as a precaution. None to the family were aware of this...so it was kind of fun.

After witnessing the nuptials we headed to Wilmington with mom and had lunch at The George on the Riverwalk with my old friend Ashley Hill. We had an awesome time catching up and really enjoyed seeing the area.

We finished lunch and tried to find a beach since it's a rare thing these days to us. We found a beach but it wasn't the best around....it was kind of crowded but I filled my lungs with that salt air and that's all that mattered anyway.

We headed back and took it easy at the house for a little while before going to Tim and Kelly's for supper. Laura Lee also got to come so I was able to show her a few crocheting tricks since she's recently started teaching herself.

On Saturday we tried to just take it easy that morning knowing that we had a long day ahead of us. We left for Pine Knoll Shores around 3:30pm and got there with time to spare. It was really nice riding along those beachy roads again just like A1A in Florida.

We pulled up to the Aquarium which was rented out for the day for the wedding ceremony. It was absolutely beautiful. The ceremony took place in front of the glass wall with the fish and sharks swimming in the background.

The Ceremony went pretty well with the exception of Darren messing up on a few of their vows...but all in all in was really really nice and a wonderful location for the wedding. Even their 2 year old was extremely occupied looking at all the fish and sting rays.

Above: Darren and the Groom (Brandon)

Above: Me and the Bride (Shaina)

The happy couple pictured above. I was really honored to be on the front row representing only Brandon's family present there that day. His parent's health was not well enough to make the trip so they were represented by two flowers in the 2 chairs next to me.

After the wedding we started our long trip back and made it home at 1:30 am and Darren was up and at it at the church at 7:15 am. Don't worry, we got a good nap that afternoon.

We have bible school this week which already had well over 400 kids registered online before Sunday....I'm sure the numbers have climbed since then. Last night went well...I had the young 2's. I'm exhausted but looking forward to the rest of the week!

And June Begins....

So as I mentioned in my last post, Darren and I lead worship at the Speedway during the 600 race a few weekends ago. Below are 2 pictures I took that day.

 Below is Emily Scribner, she and I have become pretty good friends. We first met when she was a youth sponser during one of the youth events and stayed at our place during that camp.

It was really sticky and hot that day even with the large fan going. Not a good hair day.

I have been keeping up with my crocheting. I have so many friends having babies this fall I figured I should get a head start on some gifts. Here are some bibs I have started doing. I tried my hand at the sailboat for a friend of our in south Florida that will be having a boy in August.

They are so quick and easy to make.

A few weekends back we were invited to a fellowship with the Worship Team at Beth Gromis' house in Mooresville.  Below are a few pictures of Darren, his guitar buddy, Chris and his fiance'

While us girls chatted and watched the kids by the pool, the boys played a little basketball

We had a really good time. I helped us get to know everyone a little better.

We have a busy week ahead but we are looking forward to it. The week of the 20th is VBS at Hickory Grove North. It's a huge deal. I will be the one year old teacher and Darren will be helping with the kids music. It's from 6-8:45 Monday - Thursday so I'll be leaving work a little early to get there....pray my energy level picks up! haha I'm going to need it. 

All things new.....

Well a few new things have happened since I blogged last. We found out we were going to be Aunt and Uncle to a little baby GIRL! Whoo hoo! That will be the first girl in our family since I was born 23 years ago. CRAZY! Ever since I found out that Tim and Kelly were expecting, I just had something telling me it was going to be a girl so I picked up Crocheting and started whipin' out some girly things. Here are a few

Things are also going well for Darren's business. He designed & launched his new website http://www.2ndstoryproductions.com/ and is really excited about the opportunities it will bring. He's also started doing some office hours during the week at Hickory Grove North http://www.discoveryhickorygrove.org/ among being one of their staffed musicians.

Darren will be leading worship at the Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend at the Church's camp ground. He will also be doing it next Sunday for all the Nascar Campers. This is done through the Victory Racing Ministry we have at Hickory Grove.

I just wanted to catch everyone up a bit. Hope you are all doing well. XOXO

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." - Dr Seuss

So let me fill you in on life since my last post. Well Darren and I have moved to another apartment in Charlotte which is about a million times better than our old one. We've taken interest in refurbishing furniture. So far we've redone 2 Dressers, 1 Lingerie Chest, & a Bench. I absolutely love it. We bought each piece for around $20 or $30 by way of Craigslist then with a little sanding, paint, & new hardware we made a piece of furniture in which we love and that has our flair.

Darren is hard at work on his Graphic Design. He's finishing up a Action Storybook that correlates with the film Lion of Judah that's due to be in Theatres in June of this year. The book will be sold in Lifeway Christian bookstores and possibly Walmart (they are meeting with their executives now). Along with the Graphics, D is still working at Masterworks School of the Arts, Freedom House Church and Hickory Grove North while I am still at IES and Snap Fitness.

We are constantly trying to figure out how this vacation thing is going to work this year. We are kind of pulled in a few different places with just a little bit of time off. Darren doesn't get paid time off from any of his gigs and I only get 1 week so time is precious. We know we want to make it out to Florida at some point this year for a visit. We would also like to visit friends and family in Nashville and still have time to come home for a while when Kelly gives birth to our little niece or nephew. So much to do, so little time. I'm sure things will work out. They always do.

I have taken up Crocheting as a hobby. I really like it. I've made quite a few baby hats which is cool. I have many requests for more. Darren would like to start Illustrating some of the children's books I've written so that should be fun...I'm really looking forward to it.

Mom and Dad came to visit over Easter weekend. I had been looking forward to that for quite a while. They even got to come to our church which is the first time that's happened in about 4 years believe it or not. Jude and Lola got along really well so that was a perk.

That's all I have for now. Until next time, don't take yourself too seriously!

Unlikely Places, Unlikely Faces

So..... yes, its been over a year. Why do I decide to blog now? Well one source really. A complete stranger I met off ebay prompted me to write a new blog post. You know who you are, don't even act like you're not reading this one. :) Get back to work!
It's not as creepy as it sounds...as far as I know. Darren happened to sell his Taylor Classical to a guy in Wilmington. We ended up have some common ground and have become somewhat of cyper friends.
Well as for the updates, there's too many to tell. At the current moment we are frantically looking for another apartment seeing as our lease is up the end of January and we all know how procrastination bit us in the hiney last time. We thought we were ahead of the game and went ahead and paid the application fee, did all the paperwork and were approved for the place I had decided was perfect and a brilliant locations for both my jobs and Darren's many. Unfortunately they don't have any available that we wanted. I guess we weren't the only ones that thought they would be perfect. Back to the drawing board.
So many things to consider when it comes to finding an apartment. I mean, I've dealt ... well "dealt" is not the right word...I've put up with the friendly neighborhood drug dealer and wife beater....and finally had those lovely neighbors evicted. Where are all the old people out here?! Can't I just find a nice widow that wants to cook dinner for us and bring us cakes and fudge that she makes while watching her daytime soaps? I would even let her borrow a cup of sugar or some eggs whenever needed.
Oh well, at the moment I'm sitting at the gym watching people workout, it's slow right now but this time of year it always picks up. I signed 8 memberships in 3 afternoons last week. Not bad. The electrical company is picking up as well. This past month alone we've started new apartment jobs in Cary, Durham, High Point, Fayetteville and Raleigh along with the Norfolk one. That job has kept me real busy lately. I'm ready for a break. Laura and Barry dropped in from Nashville this past week. Planning on making a trip up that way the beginning of January to visit them as well as Jeremy and Jill.
Darren's starting back up with the CD project, he's keeping busy at Hickory Grove North, Freedom House, Masterworks, Northside and his Graphic Design business is really expanding. He's working with a school of worship, Charlotte Unite, as well as a hip hop company right now. He's having fun with their graphics.
Okay, well that's somewhat of a short update. Hopefully I can keep this up again.
P.S. - New Lee Dewyze CD is AWESOME!!!!!! Check it out....

Love ya!

Our little life...full of simple joys :)

This past Saturday night, we decided to babysit for a friend of mine, Lara. She has the most beautiful, sweet and smart little boy named, Neil. Her and her husband brought him over around 4:30pm and he stayed til' around 8:30 or so. He was so cute with Harper. Harper was a bit hyper and wanted to be all in his face and he would say, "Hopper, behave" or "I think Hopper needs to be put outside." He told us earlier in the night that he knew his name was "Harper" but he was going to call him "Hopper." He also called Darren, "Derrick", the whole night. Lara said he had an Uncle Derrick, thus the confusion. He played play dough with us and we watched Monsters vs. Aliens. Darren was more interested in the movie than Neil was.

The next day Lara told me that Neil was pretending to call us and talk to us on the phone. He would say, "I'm calling Crystal and Derrick" LOL.

Sunday afternoon we decided to take Harper to the dog park again. This trip was a little different than the first. There weren't as many dogs and they weren't as friendly as before. As soon as he came in this one big white dog grabbed him by his neck with his mouth and would not let him go. Normally we don't pay attention to that sort of thing because we know that's how they play but this one dog was just relentless. Every time Harper would try to get up he would push him back down with his mouth around his neck. Harper was doing the army crawl on the ground and crying. Finally with the other dogs owner just standing there, Darren picked Harper up and told him to go play with someone else because that dog was a meanie.

After a while we decided to go home and call it a night, I feel like we've had a pretty busy week. I have a pretty bad tooth ache this morning so I'm going to the dentist this afternoon then Darren is playing with the guys tonight and singing at the coffee house tomorrow night.

I would love for us to be able to make it to the state fair this year....Darren was suppose to sing in a wedding on Sunday but they backed out of having any music for financial reasons so maybe we can make it there then :)

Harper's first trip to the Dog Park

Sunday afternoon Darren and I decided to take Harper to the Reedy Creek Dog Park. We weren't really sure how he would react to all the other dogs and all of them being off their leash. He did wonderful! Not an ounce of hesitation and everyone commented on how amazing he did for it to be his first time. He played with ALL the dogs, big & small and enjoyed every second of it.

There was a brown speckled dog that was Harper's favorite. It was 4 months old and a little girl. Harper and her were about the same size and Harper was three month on Saturday the 3rd. Everyone commented on his huge paws and how big he was going to get.

We met some really nice people there as well. Some guy brought in a Wiemeriner which is what Harper's daddy was. He talked to us a long time about him and he thought Harper was adorable.

Darren had a good time teaching Harper how to play catch. Harper was pretty obedient the whole time.

He did great on the car ride back. He now sits in the back seat like a person. Thank goodness I brought wet wipes so I could wipe him down a bit before putting him back in the car. Darren gave him a bath when we got home and boy did Harper sleep well that night :)