WHOA!!!!!!!!!

I hadn't realized just how much has been going on these past few days. I don't even know where I should begin. Ok, well, maybe I do. On Thursday I didn't have to go into work at the pharmacy so I knew I could have some down time and prepare a little for the weekend at Rose Hill. Well, around 10PM on Wednesday evening I got a call from my boss at the pharmacy saying that he needs me to fill in for him at this Senior Support Group at Greystone Baptist Church on Thursday. I told him I would definitely do that especially since I will be getting paid and I will be seeing so many familiar faces that I have not seen in so many years. Greystone Baptist Church is where I was raised. I practically grew up at that church from the day I was born. My dad and my Granddaddy were a huge part of that church and were very close friends with the senior pastor at the time. Dr. Malbert Smith was the pastor of Greystone for many years up until I was about 8 or 9 years old when he retired. He is the one responsible for me coming to know Christ at age 7 and he also baptized me in February of 1997. I was so happy to see him again after so many years.

 It was such a blessing to hear his words of wisdom again.

 He gave me plenty of advice about my new position at Rose Hill as the new Leader of Worship and Music. I am blessed to know such a wonderful man of God.

Thank you, Dr. Smith - for all the incredible things you have done to serve the Lord at Greystone. May you continue to be blessed as you serve Him each and every day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Friday I worked at the pharmacy from 3:30PM til closing. I must ask this: WHY MUST IT GET SO CHAOTIC WHEN I ARRIVE!? I know I have asked that question before but...good grief! Anyways, after getting home from working such a crazy shift I hit the sack! I was wiped out! Saturday morning I wake up to the sound of a vacuum cleaner and moving furniture. Why am I not surprised? My mom is a "real mean cleaning machine." Her weekends pretty much consist of cleaning the ENTIRE house. I'm thinking to myself, "Mom, you just cleaned the house like four days ago." She doesn't care...besides, Rollie and Leo have been itching a lot and mom found 2 or 3 fleas on BOTH of them. Yay.....that's exactly what we need in our house: a flea infestation. I had to pack my things to head over to Rose Hill for the weekend while mom shampooed the carpet in both living rooms (told you she was a cleaning machine). While on the way to Rose Hill I got myself a little pick-me-up at Starbucks ;) so what else is new? Hehehehehe. I arrived at my host home around 5:30PM just in time for me to unpack as they were about to head out to a dinner party. A couple of friends of theirs threw a dinner party that evening and they were planning to attend - and I got to watch the house and their little baby, of course. Hehe, my new friend - Tanner :) 

 SO CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!

We still don't know why his tongue hangs out like that...still absolutely adorable, though.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday was simply AWESOME! We had a great time of worship and fellowship. After the service, the Price family (my host family) and the Pastor and his wife, and myself went out to eat at a nice Mexican restaurant. The Price's daughters came to visit as well. They were real sweet. After we all ate I decided to do some exploring. I took my camera out and went around the front yard and took dozens of pictures. Some of which were simply AMAZING!!! Check these out!

This is the house of a very nice elderly woman living next door to the Price's. Her name is Mrs. Anna Rae Murray. She told me when I first came to Rose Hill she would not mind me staying and visiting with her. In a house like that, you better believe I said YES! LOL!

Bumble bee gettin' some food

Check out this HUGE garden spider. Not only was I freaked out (cuz I HATE spiders) but I was also amazed at how close I got with my lens.

 Here's Tabatha - the Price family's pet cat just rollin' in the grass and enjoying life

 Look at that pose!

 She looks like a lioness on the hunt

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here are more awesome pics of that garden spider - this time with a meal

 I thought it was so neat how I caught it spinning away

 Feeding time!

Look at all that silk! I think that is just so cool!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For all you gardening fans out there, these are for you

And one more critter pic for your viewing pleasure

 I think it's a gecko :) look at him showing off his pink neck-thingy or whatever you call it LOL!

Well, that's been the story of my life for these past few days. I ended my evening last night with some wonderful hot tea. Mrs. Price is a tea lover :) I had some Earl Grey tea with honey before I went to bed. Tonight we will be having Praise Team Practice at church. YAY, my first practice with the team. Praying this will go real smoothly.

Another Crazy Day

What is it with me and crazy days at the pharmacy? It's like every time I walk in ready to work everything just turns into chaos! Is it ME!? LOL! I was at a different sotre today so I could get some extra hours. The Pharmacy Manager wasn't available like she said she was supposed to be because she had an emergency call from the hospital. So, a different pharmacist was subbing in her place today. She was real sweet and knew her stuff, but it was just such an absolutely crazy day because people kept coming in one after the other wanting a flu shot. Not to mention this one guy was so dang rude to the pharmacist and the techs that it was difficult to keep a cool head when dealing him. This pharmacy also has a drive-thru so I had an interesting time trying to learn how that thing worked. I walked into this place at the wrong time LOL! I'm just glad I got the extra hours as well as the learning experience. I also met someone who came to get their medication who was from Lynchburg. I told her I went to Liberty and she was delighted. She told me she personally knew Dr. Falwell and his family. I thought it was so neat to meet someone from the 'burg who wasn't a student. She said she hopes to run into me again sometime. So sweet :)

Blessings & Honor

This past weekend has been crazy-good! On Friday and Saturday I got to spend all day with my Christopher. We went to the Skillet concert and had a blast at the NC State Fair and then watched THE BIG BANG THEORY all of Saturday morning. Around noon on Saturday, Chris had to leave :( and I had to be at Rose Hill, NC before it got too dark. This weekend at Rose Hill Baptist Church was probably one of the BIGGEST deals since my first visit.

I am now officially the Worship and Music Leader at Rose Hill Baptist Church

 I was recognized Sunday morning - October 16, 2011

I am beyond blessed and so very honored to now be a part of such a wonderful church family.

  I was also asked to sing on the praise team that morning as well as provide the special music after the offertory

I sang "How Great Thou Art" (the Carrie Underwood style)

I had about a dozen people say that they were moved to tears because they haven't heard that song in such a long time. Of course, mom was crying her eyes out (cuz she's mom LOL) and I know my Papa was a little teary-eyed, as well. My dad always mouths the words when he's watching and pretends he's singing along with me LOL! My family is.....unique, hehe. Not gonna lie, I was NERVOUS!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This congregation has a more traditional setting than what I have been used to for the past four and a half years. I was talking to one of the Elders of the church and he had mentioned that he has been aching for the good ol' days where the hymns came back into the picture. I felt like I was being put to the test - this is EXACTLY what I have been training for! Of course, I have been trained musically, but I have ultimately been trained to learn how to take on the role of leadership! This was like a real life example from my final worship class my senior year - I'm from a completely different generation being accepted into an older generation. That's such an honor! I'm looking forward to being with the choir and the praise team as well as serving in the church with the Pastor and the rest of the congregation. My mom reminds me to go in ready to lead and learn. There are so many Elders in the church - I have such high respects for them and I am excited to learn from them. I have gotten to know a few of them from Sunday afternoon and they are already like family. What a blessing!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This Sunday was also Pastor Appreciation Day at Rose Hill. After the service, everyone gathered downstairs in the Fellowship Hall for a cover-dish luncheon. This is how we do it here in Rose Hill ;)

 Food, Fun, & Fellowship - it's just what we do

 The food was so good, some even went back for seconds...or thirds LOL!

 Happy Pastor Appreciation Day to our Pastor - Bruce T. Herrmann

This is the Appreciation Tree made by the church with letters to our Pastor

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So glad my grandparents were able to attend this special day

I love my Papa :) My Hero

Me and my grandparents - Papa & Gigi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meet our Pastor

This is Pastor Bruce and his wife. Here's an awesome fact: he went to the same college as my other Pastor at Yates and were suite-mates at Campbell University. SMALL WORLD!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After all the food we could stuff ourselves with, me and the fam had to head out. Papa and Gigi needed to get back to Myrtle Beach, SC before it got dark and I had to go back to my host home and pack my stuff before 5PM because my host mom leads a Bible Study Group at 6PM and she needs time to prepare. My host family is awesome here in Rose Hill - Larry and Cynthia Price. They were so kind enough to welcome me into their home and let me stay for the weekend. Cynthia was the one responsible for me coming to visit Rose Hill in the first place - she called me late one night and told me about Rose Hill and I told her a little about myself. After that conversation she wanted me to visit and I was more than happy to do so. After that one visit, everything just fell into place. How God provides! When I first walked into their home on Saturday evening I saw the cutest little animal EVER!

This is Tanner, Larry and Cynthia's long-haired chihuahua. Isn't he just absolutely adorable!?

 He would sometimes roll over and let me scratch his belly. So cute!

I even played with him late Saturday night. He was kinda just walkin' around the kitchen and I found one of his toys laying on the floor and picked it up and started teasing him with it. He got in a playful mood right when he saw me pick up the toy. So, he hopped over to me and started his little growl...honestly, it sounded more like a squeaky door than a "growl." LOL! It was just so precious. If you look closely at both photos you can see his tongue sticking out from the side of his mouth LOL!!! We don't know why he does that, but it's still cute as ever. After this weekend, I think Tanner has made a new friend ;)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once mom and dad and I got home we took it easy and just kind of turned the rest of this exciting Sunday into a lazy-day LOL! It was such an eventful day and so much had been going on it just about wore us out...besides, we ate so much food we were bound to fall asleep real soon anyways, hehe. However, I remembered something right when I put my camera down in dad's office: I had a little sticker from McD's that said I could get a free frap. So, before me and mom went to look at all the pics I took from the luncheon I hopped back into my car and drove to McD's. I hoped that this little sticker I got would work and sure enough, I got myself a free caramel mocha frappe' from McD's. JACKPOT!

SO GOOD!

Honestly, I had never tried their frap's before until now. I have always ordered the usual iced coffee, but I must say this was perfect! Such a fabulous way to end an awesome day! PRAISE THE LORD!

SKILLET CONCERT! (State Fair cont').

Thought I was finished? HECK NO! THIS IS THE BEST PART! I SAW SKILLET LIVE FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the Dorton Arena where the concert was held

MY TICKET! HAHA I WAS SO EXCITED!

Me and Christopher in the Dorton Arena ready to KILL IT WITH SKILLET!

Wanna know how awesome my boyfriend is? He bought me my very first SKILLET t-shirt :) He got one, too, of course...but ain't he just the bestest boyfriend EVER!

Ladies and gentlemen, THE STAGE! Yes, we were this close!

BEHOLD THE EPIC-NESS!

And now I present: SKILLET IN ACTION!

 JOHN COOPER (aka Doggy) ROCKIN' IT!

 KOREY COOPER

 Just doin' her thing and keepin' it real - rockin' that dress with her guitar! EPIC!

 SETH MORRISON - KING OF SHREDDAGE!

JEN LEDGER! BEST DRUMMER EVER!!!!!

I FEEL LIKE A.....

MONSTER!!!!!!!!!!

THE FINALE

REBIRTHING

The concert was simply INCREDIBLE! I rocked out so hard I pulled a muscle in my neck. Hurts like crap, but totally worth it! LOL! At least I didn't lose my voice :) BEST PART: When John Cooper came to our side of the stage he saw me rockin' it out, pointed at me, and winked.....TWICE! EPIC WIN!

The Fair was just as great during the evening hours as it is during the daytime hours. It's a lot cooler though, but definitely nice. I was so glad I got to go this year and even see SKILLET live for the first time EVER!!! Best of all, I got to enjoy this with my wonderful honey. I love you, Christopher :-*