Campmeeting -- Day 3

Today's big activity was Babyland. For those of you who may not know, Cleveland, GA is the home of the Cabbage Patch kids. This year they moved locations and opened up the new Babyland.

Four generations went together today (Grand Nana, Grannie, Mom, and Lorelei).

Mom had to play find Lorelei in the dolls since dad was not there.

Overall, Lorelei's first visit to Babyland was a success. She seemed to like the babies and she even got 2 babies (we had already checked out with this adorable little lamb baby and then we found a newborn baby that giggled and Lorelei loved her--So Grannie spoiled her with another one).

We then went to Grand Nana's house and visited for a while. We went back to the Campgrounds, cut up the biggest watermelon I have ever seen, and Adam and I cleaned the dishes (no such thing as a dishwasher here--other than us of course).

Tonight was the first night for service. Technically Campmeeting started tonight with service. This is the only picture Lorelei let us take of her before or during service.

She was pretty good for service and mom and dad actually got to stay for the whole thing! I wonder if that will continue throughout the week???

Campmeeting -- Day 2

Today is family reunion day. Every year, the first Sunday of Campmeeting, we all leave the campgrounds travel about 5 miles into the town of Cleveland, GA and go to the American Legion for our annual family reunion (the location has changed throughout the years but this has been the location for a few years now).

Why would we have a family reunion when the whole week is like a family reunion? That I could not tell you. This is a tradition and around here...we keep our traditions. This particular group is made up of the Blacks and the Bells (about 1/4 of the tents at Campmeeting I think). We are part of the Black family and a long time ago a Black married a Bell and now we get together at the American Legion for the Black Bell reunion.

It is a potluck meal and is pretty delicious. The president tells us all of the births, marriages, weddings, graduations, and deaths in the family and then we go home (or at least today we went to the new Walmart).

The line for the food
Talking to Papa Jim

Lorelei sure loved the food!

Everyone else did too!

Lorelei made some friends

Mommy's necklace--perfect entertainment when we are supposed to be being quite for announcements...

The rest of the day was spent sitting around playing games and enjoying each others company.

Now it is 11:30 at night and the breaker just blew out so we have no electricity. So much for Adam's 4 fans blowing...although I have to admit, I'd rather hear the beautiful noise of the crickets...

Good night world.

Campmeeting -- Day 1

Hello folks! We are in Cleveland, GA at Loudsville Campmeeting 2010. For those of you who do not know, this is a tradition my family has gone to for years. When I say family, I mean most of the people here are related to us somehow. We stay in what we call tents but are really more like rustic cabins. There is no air conditioning and it is Georgia in the middle of the summer so many people think we are crazy, but if you grew up here it holds a very special place in your heart. The children LOVE Campmeeting. They get to play outside all day with their friends and there are not too many rules. The adults sit around a talk and tell old stories of the Good Ole' Days. There are two church services a day (11am and 8pm--although some people just go to the 8). The morning starts at 9 where the children have singing and crafts. During the day there is are children's activities (i.e. hayride, Loudsville Olympics, tubing down the river, bonfire, etc). I just love Campmeeting.

This will be Lorelei's first Campmeeting (well she actually came for a few hours when she was about 5 weeks old but this will be the first time she will be here for the whole week).

To get an idea of what I am talking about please enjoy a few pictures of the cabin and the campgrounds. Note, this cabin is like a luxury cabin to the one I grew up with that had shavings on the floor and we all stayed in one room of bunk beds and approx 10 people shared one bathroom--I miss the old cabin sometimes but Adam and mom appreciates the new one.


The view from our tent of the campgrounds. You can see the arbor in the middle where we have church.

The view from inside the arbor

The outside of our tent

The kitchen in our tent

Our room all set up with a play area for Lorelei. Note the 4 fans blowing on the bed for Adam. This is by far the largest room in the house.

Lorelei loves Campmeeting already! She loves to swing :)

Campmeeting is exhausting!!

More to come as the week goes on!!!!

Our 4th Anniversary

Wow...I have the most amazing husband. I already knew that, but Adam has now outdone himself again. Wow. I am so incredibly blessed.

Now, prepare to sit back and enjoy a little romantic story that usually only occurs in the movies...but I actually got to live it out :)

I knew Adam was up to something. I was banned from getting on his computer and his Droid. He kept making and receiving phone calls where he would walk out of the room. He would always smile when he got back and say not to worry about it. Now you have to understand, my husband is a horrible liar. I can easily see when he is up to something, but I enjoy surprises so I try not to ask questions. I am usually a good guesser so he has learned to be as secretive as possible.

We were supposed to have our neighbors over for dinner the night of our anniversary (we take turns and it just happened to fall on that day). Adam suspiciously tells me those plans are cancelled and he has taken care of the details. He also has arranged for a babysitter for us. Now this may not sound like much, but we have not been out on very many dates since our little angel, Lorelei, was born. Yes, we have left her for things like company parties, a couple of concerts, and small group, but only one or two just dates. We love dating, but we also love bringing our little Lorelei places. So, to go out just the two of us on a date was quite the special occasion.

Adam brings me to Ippolitos on the Suwanee Town Square. It is this adorable little Italian restaurant. We ordered a bottle (gasp...not just a glass but the whole bottle) of wine, enjoyed our garlic rolls, got a good laugh when the poor waiter broke one of the wine glasses on our table (no worries--we got extra garlic rolls) and enjoyed our dinner and time together to the fullest. Adam ordered spaghetti and meatballs and I had sun-dried tomato and chicken stuffed shells. DELICIOUS!! Everything was so good. We decided to opt out of dessert since we were both so full.

Afterwards, we decided we should go for a walk around the square. There is a fountain that the little kids were playing in and I suggested we go watch. Adam said "Lets walk around the circle first and then we can sit on the other side of the fountain to watch." Sounded good to me so we began our walk--hand in hand as we so often are.

As we are walking, I notice up on stage is a violin player. I LOVE the violin so I excitedly say to Adam "Look there is a violinist. We should go watch." Adam, with a huge smile on his face, agrees. At this point, I realize something is up. I say to Adam, "You didn't do this?!?!" He can no longer hold it in and with a half laugh, says "Maybe." As we walk closer there is a photographer suspiciously taking pictures of us approaching and I realize...yes my husband has hired a violinist and a photographer just for me.

We proceeded to go onto the stage and dance for over an hour to the beautiful sounds of a professional violinist. We had many people who would stop and watch and sometimes sit for the show, but we didn't care. It was just us, in our own little world, dancing the night away. It was absolutely magical. We danced the waltz mainly and also at least one tango. We laughed, hugged, kissed, and just loved each other. All of this was also captured on film because my thoughtful hubby hired a photographer too. Pictures to come (she said maybe 3 weeks). The night was perfect. It was a warm summer evening in GA and Adam didn't even mind being hot. We were both on cloud nine. It will be a night I will always remember. We had so much fun.

We ended the night with a stop for dessert at Sonic. What a perfect night :)

I love that man so much. Not because he does incredible things like this, but because he loves me so incredibly much. I mean, who does that? I understand maybe a dating couple...I joked the people watching probably thought we were getting engaged. But no, for a 4th anniversary? Not a 20 or a 50 but a 4th? My husband is incredible. I am so very loved. He knew how much I love dancing and how I missed it. He wanted to make me smile. One time during the night when I was laughing in joy, he said how "it was all worth it for that laugh alone".

Our magical night together. Forever in my memory. I love you Adam. Thank you for an amazing night.

Trust Me

Does trust have to be earned? I think for most adults, myself included, we have a hard time giving the gift of trust to others. As I study this picture (and I often do) I see many things. I see a woman I love with all my heart who puts her full trust in me daily, not because she has to, but because she wants to. She trusts me with her life and her heart and I do the same for her. I think we’ve earned that trust from each other. I believe some was given in hopes that it would never be broken. I also see a smile that says it all about her view of life. If you know her, you know you don’t have to be around her long to see that kind of smile. It’s regular and infectious. There is pure joy in those eyes as she looks down on our daughter.

What about Lorelei? What is she thinking? I love the look she is giving her momma. That is a look of pure trust. I’ve gone back to this picture over and over again and I can’t get enough of the look that is on Lorelei’s face. The slight smirk says it all. It says “mom, I trust you with my life and whatever comes along, I know you’re here for me.” Lorelei doesn’t require her trust to be earned. She gives it freely. As young as she is, she knows the love her momma has for her runs deep. There is reassurance of this love in those eyes. Lorelei trusts with all her heart. It’s a pure, non-wavering trust and she has a faith that is already strong. She may not know who God is yet, but she has faith, hope, love, and trust. She has a faith in her mom that she will be taken care of and her needs will be met, a hope in the future, an instant bond that forms so quickly between her and her parents, and a trust that all is well in her world and her parents will help get her to the next step in life. She’s already made us so proud. Just look at her mom’s face. Can anyone look more proud of another person?

It has been wonderful watching our little girl develop so much in the first year of her life. We are her world right now. She trusts both of us so much and I want to hang on to that as long as I can. I know as she grows and matures, she’ll gain more knowledge of the world around her and mom and dad won’t be super heroes forever. For now though, we are as cool to her as Mickey and Minnie.

God: Our Provider and Protector

I don't know why things happen the way they do. Ashley and I were all ready to embark on a risky venture that was going to take time and money with the possibility of making a nice profit at the end. We were about to close on a townhouse we had found and decided to flip. It was a small place, very manageable, and had lots of potential. We were excited, apprehensive, but faithful throughout the process leading up to closing. We hit some bumps along the way, but the inspection was successful and the appraisal came in higher than our contract amount. Everything was looking okay. All the while, I was a little nervous and I don't know if I was forcing some kind of peace about the situation, but my human side was reminding me all along the way just how much money we were about to fork over to the bank to purchase this house. Maybe I was ignoring that funny feeling in my stomach, but I kept praying every night for protection and that God would rescue us from this situation if it were not to be. From the mouth of John Maxwell, "we all are only one step away from stupid."

Two days ago, we were ready to do it. Insurance application was done, underwriting was complete, addendums were signed, and all that was left was the closing day where we sign over our life and wire the bank a bunch of money. We were going to have to wire the bank our money. Sounds like something that happens in a movie, doesn't it?

Then, I get an email. It turns out our bank made a mistake processing the loan, and now the loan amount they were going to give us was about 20% lower than expected. Jaw drop! Even though I was livid at the bank for dropping this on us 3 days before closing, I felt a small sense of peace. Suddenly, I realized that we're not supposed to do this right now. It may be the right time one day, but just not now. I felt it. It couldn't have been clearer. God was protecting us from a situation he knew we shouldn't be in at this time. It doesn't really matter the reason why we were kept from this. It may have been a financial reason, the loss of crucial family time, an injury that occurs during the renovation, the list goes on... Only God knows the reason and that's all that really matters. We are incredibly gracious and blessed that God loves us enough to give us that clear sign that we needed to call this off. He continues to provide for our family and protect us from bad decisions we make all the time. We just have to keep praying, listening, and feeling for that ultimate guidance. He's always there. The guidance is always there. It may not always be a hammer to the head or a light bulb that goes off, but it's there. Some situations call for a clearer sign than other situations. Even when we ignore the small signs early in the process, God continues to provide more signs along the way choosing to make them clearer and clearer. What an awesome God we have!

So let us keep our minds, ears, eyes, and heart on the one who provides and protects. Amen.

- Adam

- Adam

Mother's Day

Mother's Day 2010...what a blessing!

This Mother's Day was absolutely the best Mother's Day a girl could ask for despite the fact that I managed to ruin all of the sweet and wonderful surprises my husband had for me.

What a family I have. I am so very blessed. I cannot even begin to comprehend how much the Good Lord loves me. Mother's Day was just one of those days that reminds me and puts into perspective how wonderful my life is.

Friday afternoon before Mother's Day, I came home and accidentally saw the Mother's Day card my sweet husband and daughter had for me. It was out because Adam had put Lorelei's hand print inside and he was waiting on it to dry! HOW SWEET! To make it even more wonderful, he allowed Lorelei to put her own little mark on it (chewing on the crease). It will definitely be a card I will save and cherish.

Saturday morning before Mother's Day, I wake up and hear Adam's phone "Droiding." Without thinking much about it, I look at it to see if he is getting texted or an email or something, no I see it is his alarm reminding him to "Call Baskin Robins." Oh no, I have ruined another surprise! At the same time, YES he is ordering me a Baskin Robins ice cream cake--in my opinion the BEST ice cream cake in the world. I am so very excited.

So, although I have ruined Adam's sweet surprises, I am already so excited for Mother's Day.

Mother's Day morning:

We wake up to the sweet sounds of Lorelei playing in her crib. Without rushing, we get up, get ready, and head out to J. Christofers--AWESOME BREAKFAST! We go grab the ice cream cake and go to church. Church was awesome this morning--I just couldn't get past how blessed I am and I cannot thank Jesus enough for the little Angel He gave me in Lorelei. She has changed how I view life and I have never been happier. To have the love of a sweet child, to know that my Maker is entrusting me to pour His love into her life, to have a husband who loves me and is my best friend, I cannot describe how blessed I feel.

To finish the afternoon, we stopped by Longhorns to wish my Nana Happy Mother's Day, spent the afternoon at the pool (too cold to get in but enjoying the sunshine), landing a flip on the old trampoline, and going home to curl up on the couch with the two people who mean the world to me.

Mother's Day was absolutely perfect.

Thank you to my family for your love, thank you God for my family. Let my life be to glorify You.

With all my love,

Ashley