In the Storm

currents | april.

John's Eagle project - a deck and handicap ramp for Hoofs 4 Healing in Garden City, Georgia.

currently  |  april 2015

reading (or re-reading) Captivating, Lord of the Rings' Return of the King, through my Bible chronologically, the Uncommon Marriage Adventure by the Dungy's.

watching Glades (well in to Season 2), M*A*S*H with the boys

eating leftover Easter candy (I really hate calling it that because Easter is so not about candy) of Reece's Peanut Butter cups

drinking Sprite

studying the life of David, the King

waiting patiently, but looking forward to, that job transition to day shifts and senior observer position

making plans for some redefining and organizing things at work - slowly, once I transition to days.

needing to begin my big photo project for the year and just haven't had the time, but knowing that if I don't start it won't get done.

seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for John and Jarrod's Eagle projects and thus, their Eagle rank.

researching Essential Oil protocols for rheumatoid arthritis. Today I only have some stiffness and throbbing in my right knee but no debilitation. That's a huge praise over these past couple months.

looking forward to 8-hour shifts in the middle of May (versus 10-hour shifts I am currently working)

getting excited about our belated 21st wedding anniversary trip the middle of May to Charleston

pre-ordering this planner. Amazing! Can't wait to get it in. I'll make it work for my new 'job', a new year of school schedule, blogging, life, and creativity.

realizing we have a ton of activity planned over this next quarter: our anniversary trip to Charleston, John to a hiking campout, Jeff and the boys to an Order of the Arrow campout, finishing up their 11th grade year of homeschool, a new job position for me, the boys and I attending a Beth Moore conference in Greenville, SC, Jeff and the boys to Boy Scout camp and a week of kayaking and white water rafting, the boys to Milligan College for a week of Element (church) camp

loving that I have been blogging regularly this past month or so. In fact, in March, I blogged everyday, even though it may have been just a scrapbooking page.

hoping to put another order in to Persnickety Prints for my recent scrapbooking pages. My need-to-print folder on my computer is filling up with my latest creations.

giving to this mission trip here and that mission trip there for those who have stepped up to go, make disciples of all nations...

 

 

sons of thunder academy | 2015 - 2016 School Year

Our little homeschool, Sons of Thunder Academy, is in our final year of high school. John and Jarrod will be Seniors in the Fall. And the Sons of Thunder are heading to Point University for their senior year in high school. Although we will miss Kingdom Builders Co-op immensely, such a bittersweet parting, our little academy of students are moving forward, onto new and exciting endeavors.

We have enrolled the boys into Point Universities' Dual-Enrollment program at the Savannah campus, which happens to be located at our own church. They will take a Math, English, and Science in the Fall.

College Algebra equates to an Algebra IV. The boys just completed Algebra III this year, thus, perfect timing!

English Composition equates to an AP, or advanced English composition and will fulfill the boys' 4th English requirement, while obtaining college credit.

College Biology I equates to an Advanced Biology and will be taken online, while the other two classes this coming Fall will be taken in the morning on campus (at SCC/Point University). They are not in need of a class with the LAB but I think they have to take the LAB with the Biology class, which will be online as well.

We will continue our Bible lessons at home through Beth Moore bible studies. This year we have taken Daniel, James, Esther, and David. Following David we will do Jesus, the One and Only which will take us into the summer. Our summer course will probably be either Believing God, The Beloved Disciple, or Breaking Free. At some point this school year, their 12th grade year we will complete all three of those studies.

Their winter classes for 2016 will, at a minimum, be an Economics class, probably Macro-Economics, whether they take it at Point University or Savannah Tech, we aren't sure. We may need to transfer dual enrollment to Savannah Tech so Jarrod will be set up for college enrollment in Criminal Justice. He wants to be a Police Officer. We aren't sure what is in store for John, yet. As long as he has a job following high school he doesn't have to go to college, so we will see where his heart lies.

And that is ok. 

All this to say, also, life is changing. Transitioning to a new season. We have been amazingly blessed through Kingdom Builders Co-op through the friendships forged, the unbelievably talented teachers the boys have had, and an opportunity to teach Meteorology - oh my - that has been the best!

So, finishing up our last couple of months April and May and onto bigger opportunities.

stories from the files | observation.

I know.

It's a tree.

But, I love this 'tiny' oak in my front yard.

This tree, when we first had our house built with front yard landscaping, was skimpy, wimpy, didn't look like any sort of vibrant tree ready to live through harsh summers and cold winters. But, with some of Jeff's tender loving care...

our little oak has become a strong, full-bodied, gorgeous oak that is a beauty in our neighborhood.

stories from the files | november 2012.

I was longing for Project Life again. I completed almost two full years of weekly pages of our life together. Big projects. Big commitments. I really missed the process and style of my project life pages. As I was going through my older files, these from November 2012 I felt the pull of Project Life so I decided to complete a two-page spread of our month of November in 2012.

I modified a Cathy Zielske Project Life template by increasing the size of the photos to near full page (in other words, less white space). While I like white space I also like larger photos, plus, I wanted to use Paislee Press' new Minimalist collection. One teensy word art by Ali Edwards and tons of little stories and my November 2012 is scrapped.

I love the clean lines of the minimalist collections, type the same with a line underneath, a couple lines of journaling and a photo...repeat...repeat...

Super wonderful memories, a lot of firsts. Not sure if anything bad happened this month but sure will remember the good.

He is Risen!

source

HE is RISEN!

HE is RISEN, INDEED!

Have a blessed Easter.

30 New Books in 2015 | April

I am continuing with my year-long project of reading 30 New Books in 2015. I read 30 New Books in 2014, a huge success for me since I'd gotten into a rut of simply re-reading books I have on hand and not venturing into new territory. I decided I needed to change that habit. When I completed last years challenge successfully it seemed only natural to continue this year with another challenge. While I didn't change the amount of books to read, I still consider this to be a hefty challenge for me to achieve.

Thus far, I'm doing just fine.

GO Me!

Recently, I've read some amazing reads that I will return to again and again. First up is:

Love Does by Bob Goff. A super easy read because each chapter is like little true stories of how Love Does weaved into each tale. A couple things I didn't agree with, like not studying the Bible, rather he calls it Bible Do, and while I get that, not everything regarding Bible study has application so I fear just hitting the parts of the Bible where it requires action seems to me one can miss the whole Word of God. That being said, this is an amazing book of Love in action - Love Does.

Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge. Can I say, oh my!? This book is so FULL of my heart, everything about it that is wrong, that is right, where I need healing, where I'm doing ok. I can see me carrying this book around for a long time re-reading it's fullness of goodness. I'm not sure how to describe how it has touched my heart. I'm also not sure if a chapter has gone by that I haven't cried because it has impacted me so fully.

Satisfied by Jeff Manion.  Super easy read but plenty of action items I can incorporate into my life. I don't often struggle with discontent but these past months I have tremendously - living in frustration and sadness and discontentment and mad. I know some changes need to happen and hopefully I can make some of those changes impact my attitude.

Me Before You. Waste of my time! Don't even remember who wrote it...Jo somebody or another.

stories from the files | hello summer 2012

I don't think there is a summer that goes by without us heading out to Tybee Island for that first full beach scene, when we hit the beach early, when the beach is quiet of people, and when we, well, Jeff and the boys anyway, make a sand castle. I kick back in my chair, soak up the sun, read, relax, and watch the sand castle making action. After the sand castle has been made and water is added to the mote, then it's wave jumping time where we all head into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Because of their height, John and Jarrod can wave jump well past my wave jumping height, almost out to the alignment with the pier and hang out in the deeper waters until they tire and head back in.

Jeff and I will inevitably walk the beach, hand holding, waves hitting our feet as they sink into the cool, shell-laden sand, watching for the occasional crab, crab-shell or jellyfish. JUNE 2012.

52 Gratitudes 2015 | 13

Love Does. Love is an action word. DO you love. How?

stories from the files | school at the library.

One of the fantastic benefits about homeschooling is the ability to take our classroom anywhere, whether it is on a lengthy trip or it is just up the street to our local library. John and Jarrod always appreciate the unique little pleasures they have been afforded because they homeschool. This is just what we did one winter day: take our school to the library and then lunch at the mall which is right next to the library.

stories from the files | love gathering for homemade ice cream

Just plain good. Homemade ice cream is just plain good. It is a summertime delight, one of those little nuggets that we always try endeavor to do to make our summers stand out, like building sandcastles at the beach, watching fireworks on the river, camping trips, roasting marshmellows, picking strawberries, visiting the fresh markets, and making homemade ice cream...sweet gold.