Mom's 60th Birthday Party

So, my Mom turned 60 on June 11th. 

And we had a HUGE party for her this past Saturday night! We invited friends from Greer, friends from church, cousins, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandmothers, friends, pastors, children and more friends!

It was SO much fun!

This is the tent/tables/wild flowers/decorations for the party!

We had about 100 guests!

 This is my beautiful family - minus 2 babies, Caldwell (3) and Hamilton (2)

 Caldwell was not so sure about all these people at her house.  Papa was loving on her.

 We had a band! A BLUEGRASS Band!!! Ben did a little pickin' and singin' with them! It was great!  He is such a talented guitarist.

And Cake - lots and lots of Cake.  This is my beautiful Mom and her delicious cake! The band played and sang Happy Birthday to her!

My Beautiful sisters-in-law, Ashley and Beth!

This is my cousin Kelly, her new baby Kennedy, and her dad, my Mom's brother, Bud!

And this is my favorite pic of the night!

It really was a super fun night and I really think Mom enjoyed it! She hasn't stopped saying Thank you! It was so wonderful to be able to be with my family and be able to celebrate something good and laugh together! I also got to visit some sweet Greenville friends.  It was good to see them. This weekend made me pretty homesick for South Carolina.

Mood Radio

For music enthusiasts (and the musically moody) - this just might be the greatest invention of the world. ever. period.

www.stereomood.com


Go here. Pick your mood. Listen!

*Special thanks go to Melissa Summey for introducing this to me!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my Papa!

He's pretty much the greatest Dad out there.  I can't imagine what I would do without him.

I am THANKFUL for:

The Father that you are,

The Leader that you are,

The teacher that you are,

The encourager that you are,

The husband that you are,

The grandfather that you are,

The brother that you are,

The man that you are.

Twenty Six

Yesterday, I turned 26!

I loved being 25.  I loved everything about it.  Life during the last year was pretty fantastic.  I had an interview a year ago today actually for the job I have now, got the job, moved to Knoxville and have enjoyed my life here during the last year.  I didn't think that turning into the second half of this decade (my late 20's) would bother me but, I'm not gonna lie, I'm feeling a little old today.  Feeling a little more pressure to take the next step (whatever that may be - I have absolutely NO clue; thankfully Somebody does know...)

So I guess I'm moving on with life today.  It's just another day.  Back to work.  Nothing special.  I do have some exciting things planned for later this year:

• I'm going to the beach in July for the big Tourtellotte Roll Family Reunion.  It's my grandmother's family and we do it every other year and I look forward to seeing everyone and catching up and being at the beach.  It's really a lot of people - my grandmother was one of 6 and it's all of them, their children and now grandchildren and even some great grandchildren!  It really is fun.

• I'm going to Canada in August for my cousin Louis's wedding to Steph.  She's Canadian and they're having the wedding in the town where her parents lake house is.  The reception is at the lake house and it's going to be so much fun.  Not much of my other family members are going - just Louis's brother and parents and our grandmother.  I'm looking forward to getting out of the country! It's been 5 years and I had to get a new passport to do this! It's going to be so much fun!

• I'm going to Boston in September/October with Nellie.  She's a good friend from Greenville and has a traveling spirit and I'm looking forward to taking a vacation with her.  We've both been to Boston before but not as adults and not for an extended couple of days.  It'll be good to catch up with her and get out of town! I'm really looking forward to it!

So - I've got some good things coming up in this 26th year of my life :)

Synchronous Fireflies

The Synchronous Fireflies of The Great Smoky Mountains were amazing.  There's apparently this one specific species of firefly that does this and it can only be seen in TWO locations world wide - China and Gatlinburg.  The lights on the fireflies are more of a white or blue than the normal yellow ones that we seen in our back yards.  And true to the article that I linked to - they started about 9:30 PM.  

We left Knoxville about 3 PM and drove up to get a parking space at the visitors center.  We went on a little hike and I'm not sure I've ever been that sweaty.  It was just so humid.  It wasn't really hot but the humidity was horrible.  It was a nice, light hike.  We came back, ate a picnic dinner and then got in line for an hour and a half to ride the trolley up to Elkmont.  We found a seat in a less crowded area and sat down to watch.  It was really awesome and there were literally thousands of fireflies lighting up the night!  They were beautiful.  And it was incredible to watch them do their thing.  There were so many people up there and I really do think that it might be better to go on a week night - if you can get off work early enough to get up there and you don't mind a late night...Didn't get back to my house until after 1 AM.  I would definitely recommend it.

Mom

Today, I'd like to take some time to be THANKFUL for my Mom!

Today is her 60th Birthday! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

You are a wonderful friend and a fabulous listener.  I realize that you have put up with a lot from me and you'll never know how grateful I am to have a Mom (and Papa) as wonderful and gracious and loving and kind as you.

I am thankful for: 

the mother you are, 

the friend you've become, 

the friend that I see you be to others, 

the prayer warrior that you are, 

the wife that you are, 

the daughter that you are,

the sister that you are, 

the grandmother that you are

the wonderful woman that you are.

Happy Birthday!

Hope your 60th Birthday is everything you want it to be! I cannot wait to celebrate with you in a few weeks!

June

Well, It's June.  I can't believe it.  I've been in Knoxville almost a year now.  I'm terrified to say this but for the first time in my adult life, I am comfortable.  Life is good.  Things are good.

I'm still hurting in ways that I cannot translate into words after the loss of Maeve.  It's hard to believe it's been a month today. I cannot imagine the way that Gabe and Ashley must be feeling.  It's been hard to be here and away from my family.  It's been hard to not know what to do for Gabe and Ashley.  It's been hard to know how to pray for them. It's been hard to have the faith to know that God is Sovereign and in control.  I wrote in a recently post, the post about Maeve, with an assertive tone, that I knew these things to be true.  And I do - in my head....my heart's another story.

Just today - I felt like Jesus was saying:

"Marie, Give me your whole heart. You can trust me...."