PLC

Whew! It's over. After months of planning...didn't we start planning before Lent?!...the Parish Life Conference is history. I personally feel like it will go down in history as one of the best in recent years. Ok, ok. I have only actually ever been to this one. BUT, it was really well done, and the speaker was quite something. Met. Kallistos Ware- check him out on www.ancientfathradio.com if you have never heard him. Incredibly intelligent, well spoken man of God. And, seriously, the best voice. Listen to him!

My small part in this huge conference of 400 people was to come up with the decor. On a pretty tight (but also generous- if that makes sense) budget. Thankfully, I had a partner in crime, and we worked pretty hard, but kept things very fun. We also had several volunteers through the weekend for set-up, clean up, cutting fruit, arranging topiaries, lighting candles, you name it. These pictures do not do our decor justice, but I wanted to share these anyway. I pray that God continues to bless all of our parishes.

These pics are in opposite order, so it will be a bit of a let down at the end of this post, but blogspot is not being nice to me today, and I don't want to spend any more time on this! OK, this is Saturday night...the big hoorah! The Grand Banquet:



This is Friday afternoon at the Women's luncheon (tea pots and local flowers from Whitton Farms):

This is the Men's brunch:

Ok, one last Women's lunch! We sold these arrangements, with tea pots, in order to raise funds for the Women's philanthropy. It was pretty successful!

What a wonderful weekend- I am still thinking about a lot of what Met. Kallistos had to say. thank God for him and his words.

Oh, and I want to do this for a career. Come on, Trish, Liz, Marj and Cait- you KNOW you want to!!!

Well, hello there

Not going to start in the typical way..."it's been a long time..." Y'all know how I operate by now.

So, let's get down to it. This will be a choppy, "nap time" post, with a little of this and a little of that so we can catch up.

The summer is here. So is the heat. Being pregnant in your second and third trimesters in the Southern summer is interesting. You don't want to complain all the time...well, you do, but you don't want to be "that person." But, man it is hot. Thankfully we have friends with pools and generous hearts!

Being pregnant while staying home with a toddler is also...interesting. I love it, but it is absolutely the hardest thing I have ever done. Trying to remember to pray! Pray, don't get mad. Pray, don't worry. Pray, don't lose hope.

My baby sister graduated (grad-u-ma-wated) from college. I know, I can't believe it either. Isn't she 13? Oh, 16? Hmmm...this is not going in a good direction for me, her 10-year older sister. While a lot of her friends seem to be moving closer to home, she is making her way in another big city. I desperately want her to be near to me, since we are the closest family we have, but we each have to make our own paths. I know I wouldn't move out there just to be close to her, so why should I expect her to conform to my life stlye and schedule? Well, the answer to that is actually quite easy. Beacuse I'm the big sister. and that's how we think. and act. Hmmm, better work on that one too, along with the praying. Perhaps those goals will go nicely together.
After 2 years of fairly steady work, we are enjoying our house. We have a table and chairs on the back patio, zinnias blooming almost daily, sunflowers towering near the fence, and several new plantings along the back. It has been wonderful to be outside as much as possible. One of my favorite times of day in late spring was after work. daddy's home, dinner is ready, and I ask, "Where do you want to eat?" "OUTSIDE!" comes the unanimous response. I love my outdoors folks around here.

As someone said: It's summertime, and the livin is easy.