I'm Back!!

WOW...it has almost been a year since I've blogged. I can't believe I let that much time go by!! Let's see if I can recap the highlights of the past year in one blog....hold on to your hats, here we go! :)

June 2010- Mexico Mission Trip

I went with Trinity UMC on my fourth mission trip to Mexico. It was another successful trip! The Lord sent us to Tecate, Mexico and we built two houses there. The Mexican people were grateful and humbled by God's hand at work!! It was a fun week of camping and fellowship with my Trinity family. Robyn went with me too this was her first Trinity mission trip but she fit right in like an ole pro!! Oh, also Eric and I started dating right around the time of this trip so it was extra neat to be able to spend that time with him in Mexico building and playing!!

July 15, 2010- My sweet puppy, Millie, was born!!

Millie, my salt and pepper colored miniature schnauzer, quickly found her way into my heart. She and her sisters had a rough start but they grew and weaned from their mommy and by September Millie was home with me and being spoiled rotten! :) My co-worker, Debbie, owns Millie's dad, TJ, and one of her sisters, Chole, so there have been some fun puppy play dates this year!

Millie as a wee little puppy before she came to live with me.

Millie in her crate; 7 months old

November 2010-MOVING DAY

In November I moved from my townhouse on 7th Street into a house with Robyn. Having a new puppy in the house meant I needed a fenced in back yard plus Robyn and I wanted some extra space. The three bedroom/ two bath house was a perfect choice! We mixed and mingled our furniture and things and our house became a HOME!! We had some adjusting to do when we got our first power bill but after lots of belly aching and with the weather changing (plus some energy conserving on our party) we figured out how to lower our bill and we are enjoying our new home now. With summer coming I know we are going to enjoy having our very own pool! :)

December 2010- It's the most wonderful time of the year!!

To start off December Momma and I went with KC and her cheerleading squad to Disney World for the taping of the Christmas Day parade. It was a quick trip but super fun and loaded with tons of girls time!! :)

Next on the agenda was Christmas. This year's Christmas was wonderful!! :) Despite having to work through the holidays the Lord gave the rest I needed and He sustained my engery so that I was able to attend and enjoy every single family gathering that my family and Eric's family hosted this holdiay season! What a wonderful way to celebrated the birth of Our King, fellowshiping with the ones I love the most. I came away from this Christmas very grateful for the gift of Jesus, sincerely thankful for helpful co-workers, humbled by the greatness of my family, Eric, and his family, and incredibly over whelmed with how I have much more than what I deserve!! :)

January 2011- Winter Retreat

This year we went on our 2nd Annual One2One Winter Retreat. The retreat was held at Lake Junaluska in North Carolina and Josh and Alli Hunter returned for their second year of teaching and leading worship. It was a weekend packed full of fun, learning, and growing with friends (new and old). After an awesome Christmas season I could not have asked for a better way to bring in the new year!! We visited the Biltmore House, got lost everywhere we went, and had a huge overdose of laughter!! I LOVE these retreats!

Febuary 2011- Rebekah is now a Bruner!!

My sweet friend Rebekah Thomas married her "God's best," Mr. Jason Bruner, and I got to stand beside her as a bridesmaid as she took those sacred vows! :) She was a beautiful bride!! After the wedding Jason and Rebekah moved to Washington. I miss her dearly but I'm excited about the new chapter of her life that is unfolding.

March 2011-Semane, Honduras here I come!!

EAMC sends a mission team to Honduras every year to set up a temporary clinic to serve the needs of a Honduran village. This year I had the priviledge of going to Semane and let me tell you, God blessed my socks off on this trip! I resisted going initially (for totally selfish and immature reasons) but despite my crumby attitude my Father had a plan and His plan prevailed! YAY :) The Honduran people opened my eyes to see life with a new perspective. We worshiped with them each night and even though we spoke different languages some how we had a sense of unity because we were praising the same God! So cool! While on the trip I formed solid friendships with some of the team members that work here at EAMC. I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to get to know these people and can't imagine if I had missed out on their friendships merely because we work on different units. Honduras definitly has a special place in my heart and I know that I have a strong desire to go back there sometime in the future; I'm praying God will fufill my heart's desire! :)

April 2011- Presenting Mrs. Amy Adams

In my second wedding of the "season" my (old) roommie, Amy Callaway, married her "Mr. Right," Mr. Ben Adams. It was a busy wedding weekend and she was a radiant, happy bride! They are living here in Opelika so I am expecting to see lots of the Adams in the near future when they get home from their honeymoon in Mexico!!

Whew, for those of you who hung in there and read this whole recap THANKS!! As you can see, my lack of blogging was definitly not due a lack of events to talk about. I'm sure I've missed somethings. I've been blessed and busy this year and I'm looking forward to seeing what God has in store for me in the up coming months :) Here are a few things to look forward to....

- Shelley and Jason are expecting their third child in October so I get to be an aunt, again!! :) And guess what.....IT'S A GIRL!!! We are super excited! Please pray for this sweet baby as God knits her together in Shelley's belly. P.S. She's spoiled already!

-In June, Eric and I are going back to Mexico for our third year in a row! In 2009 we met there and right around our 2010 trip we started dating so Mexico is a sweet and special place for us. We are beyond excited that God is allowing us to travel there again and serve Him.

-In July, I am going to Kentucky with my Pawpaw for a family reunion (more on that later) and we are also taking our annual Bennett Family Beach Bash mid July :) Super excited about that!! Then at the end of July we are traveling to Kingsport, TN for "BennettFest": a weekend full of pool time, the whole Bennett clan, and lots of FOOD! Should be a great time!! I'll keep you posted! Until then, God bless!

one more sweet year

My precious Momma had a birthday on June 10th. We celebrated this year with dinner at Shelley and Jason's followed by cake, ice cream and singing. This time last year we weren't able to celebrate quite the same because Momma was in the hospital on her birthday (to read more about that go here) but this year we did it the right way!! We had Santa Fe Salad with all the toppings plus her cake had a candle for each year (don't worry Momma...I won't reveal the number!!) let me just say there was alot of smoke! haha I've said it before but it's worth saying again, my momma is one of the most incredible people I know...she's my best friend and a beautiful, godly woman.

Happy Birthday Momma!

Bennett Family Beach Trip 2010

This may have been the best beach vacation yet! Bennett loved the sand, sun, and water. He played, played, and played all day long and stayed up late at night too :) There were lots of laughs, good food, and relaxing time spent together. I am beyond blessed with an incredible family and vacations like this one make me so very, very thankful. Amy and Ben joined in on the fun too...they survived their first Bennett family weekend adventure and we're signing them up for next year too!! The pictures tell it best....enjoy!

Ben with Payton and KC...he's cute and older, they were loving it!!

Payton, Me, Amy, KC, and Shells getting some sun :)

Momma and KC

me and my sweet roomie

Ben and Amy... yeah, they're too precious for words!

He's getting to be such a big boy!

Shelley with her boys

Bennett did lots of serious digging with his shovel...he figured the foot thing out all by himself.

the original Bennett fam

we loved our floppy straw hats

Brooks with Amy, he didn't love the beach this year... oh well maybe next year!

the Youngs (always matching--love it!)

Carrie's Baby Shower

Several Saturdays ago I had the honor of hosting a baby shower for a good friend of mine, Carrie Watts. The other hostesses were awesome and this might have been the easiest/best baby shower I have helped host yet! It was a great time of fellowship and good food plus Carrie got lots of new things for baby Carter. Can't wait to meet him soon!!

the cake

the food table: chicken salad, fruit, cheese wafers, cake, and mixed nuts

the hostesses with Carrie and ALL the gifts: R to L
Natalie Bass, Shelley, Me, Rebekah, Carrie, Anna Kat, Michelle, and Anna

One year older....

Last Tuesday was my 25th birthday and I've already posted about my pre-birthday celebration with Robyn in Atlanta but let me tell you the cakes and candles didn't stop there. My amazing family and friends treated me to a full week of happiness; the pictures tell it best:

Monday night Momma and Daddy cooked for me and KC, Shells, JY, and the boys joined us for a laid back, relaxing family party. They gave me great gifts to get me ready for our beach trip next week: a bathing suit and gift card for a pedicure!!



Tuesday night at Bible Study my girls treated me to Reese's peanut butter cake, trick candles, and a cute pink party hat. It was a great night of yummy food, good friends, and growing in the Word.



Wednesday night my roomie, Amy, planned a dinner for me and some friends at Cock of the Walk. Several people showed up and brought me nice gifts and hilarious cards. There was great conversation, lots of laughs, and of course yummy food!!




Also on Wednesday night I went back to work and my sweet co-worker, Debbie, had a delicious strawberry cake waiting for me! It was decorated like chocolate covered strawberries dipped in powdered sugar! ha It was such a sweet surprise! She even brought a candle.... and I made another wish!!


Birthdays like this make me really thankful and really excited about getting one year older!! Thanks everyone who made this year so special :)

super-cali-fragilistic-expialidocious

Today my incredible friend, Robyn, took me to Atlanta for a full day of fun events to start this year's birthday celebration. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love birthdays. I think they are such a fun time to reflect over the previous year of your life: to see what you have accomplished, to see the mistakes you've learn from, and to evaluate how much you've changed. They are also a great excuse to do something special, eat good food, and gather with friends and family. Birthdays don't come around very often...only once a year to be exact... so I've always liked to stretch out the celebrating and make it last as long as possible. Anyway, Robyn knows this fun little fact about me and she planned this great day leading up to my birthday to help me celebrate. Yep, I know she's pretty wonderful!!

We started out by meeting our friends, Laura and Barry, at Mazzio's Italian Eatery for lunch. It was yummy! Nothing better than good friends, great conversation, and delicious food!

From there we headed to The Fox Theater to see:
The show was amazing. The props and backdrops were breathtaking. You could tell they had some very creative and talented designers and artist to pull it all off. And the actors and actresses...WOW they were in a league of their own! The kids that were playing two of the main roles didn't skip a beat...they were talented beyond words. The music was really good also, lots of singing! JJ, Robyn's sister, joined us for the show too and we all three loved it!

Robyn and me, after the show


in front of The Fox Theater


Afterward we went to Cafe Intermezzo for dinner, dessert, and coffee. Let me tell you...if you are in the Atlanta area, DON'T MISS THIS PLACE!!! It is indescribable! Ok, I'm gonna try to describe it...two coolers three rows high FULL of freshly made cakes and pies. Stacked and oozing with caramels, chocolates, and whipped cream (the real kind!!) Then they have a book of different coffee drinks. I went with the Caffe Intermezzo...I figured if it was named after the restaurant it had to be a winner!! I was right! :) For dessert I had the White Chocolate Amaretto Cheesecake, de-lici-ous!! Oh I almost forgot... for dinner I had the Strawberry Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese Medallions, which was pretty fabulous too- but the desserts were my definite highlight!! The atmosphere is so nice. We sat in the indoor/outdoor part of the restaurant and the cool breeze blew by as the warm sun shone in...it couldn't have been anymore perfect weather.

at Cafe Intermezzo


This is exactly why I LOVE her!! :)


Yum!!


Doesn't that look heavenly???


Sisters: JJ and Robyn


To wrap up the trip we scrolled through the Ipod on the way home and had a little mini jam/karaoke session in the car on the I-85 drive, what a fun way to end an amazing day. I am blessed by Robyn in my daily life and I thank God frequently for our friendship and how she brings me closer to Him. I look forward to celebrating many, many more birthdays with her!!

BigHouse presents....

Kids for Kids Lemonade Stands

What is Kids for Kids? It’s a program created by BigHouse that promotes the kids (and adults) of Lee County working together to raise money for foster kids in their community. This particular project will be devoted to spreading the word about BigHouse and raising funds through lemonade stands.

When is it? Saturday, June 5^th throughout the day

How can you get involved? Register by email to host a lemonade stand in your yard or at your local business. You will receive fliers to hand out about BigHouse and a Kids for Kids Lemonade Stand Poster to display at your stand. Then afterward you simply donate your proceeds to BigHouse.

To register send this information to kidsforkidslemonade@yahoo.com by May 24^th:

• your name and the names of the kids that will be running your stand
• mailing address
• phone number
• email address
• and the location of your Kids for Kids Lemonade Stand