A Purposeful Peek

North Carolina is a place that will always hold incredible memories for us – it was the place we landed after moving across the country, where we hardly knew a soul besides each other.   It’s where we endured 2 years of residency and then started our first “grown-up jobs”.   It was where we began our marriage and built a strong foundation in our tiny little rent house on Magnolia Street.   It’s where we moved to a house across town to plant our first garden and grow our first baby.      We hiked the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville and enjoyed the culinary delights of Winston-Salem.   We snowboarded the slopes of Ski Beech mountain and ran our first marathon on the beaches of the Outer Banks.   We road-tripped all over the east coast, making weekend getaways in favorite places like D.C., Roanoke, Virginia Beach, and Charleston. We built relationships at work and church with faithful friends who became like family; we befriended “Doo...

Some of the biggest life changes that top many lists of life stressors include events such as having a baby, moving, buying a house, and starting a new job.  Many people would not recommend doing these all at the same time... But when God calls you to make big changes, He is in the details. Even when he moves you out of your comfort zone, literally. Only three months ago, we were living happily in North Carolina and preparing our home for the arrival of our firstborn. We, like many parents-to-be, were designing our nursery, researching daycare options, and saving our vacation hours at work so that we could take plenty of time off following the delivery of our baby girl.  We were making arrangements with our families in Oklahoma so that they could make the trip out to visit their future niece/granddaughter.  We loved our church family, friends, and neighbors and looked forward to sharing in this new season of parenthood with them. Life was comfortable....

We were fortunate to spend last weekend in one of the most charming and lovely places in the South - Charleston, South Carolina.  You can't help but feel like time stands still when you walk through the cobblestone streets past the Victorian style homes with huge rocking-chair front porches.  And the food...oh, the food! Here are the highlights of our weekend getaway, and places I would highly recommend visiting next time you find yourself in one of our favorite cities...               We arrived on Friday night just in time to pick up our race packets for Saturday's main event: The Cooper River Bridge Run .  I have been so fortunate to feel well and stay active for the first half of my pregnancy, and even at 5 & 1/2 months pregnant, I was not about to miss out on this race that we had registered for months ago! We checked into our hotel, the Embassy Suites in downtown Charleston - a charming place to stay and pac...

I've always had a fascination with names.  Every name has a story, a meaning, a purpose.  Some are more intentional than others, like a woman I met on the elevator at work who told me her baby boy's name is Sirod...because it is her own name spelled backwards (Doris)!  Then, I have a friend who felt so certain she was having a baby boy that she never considered a single girl's name...so when her daughter was born (surprise!), she handed the baby name book to her husband and said "pick one." Fortunately, he did a great job and selected a beautiful name. It seems I'm not the only one fascinated with the meaning and history behind names. There are thousands of books, websites, and databases that are dedicated to categorizing, analyzing, and archiving baby names.  One of my current favorites is The Baby Name Wizard , a website with a tool called the Baby Name Voyager , which graphs the popularity of baby names over the last 100+ years as well as their meanings....

It's March Madness around here. And what better way to celebrate than with some close friends as we revealed the gender of our little one at our "March Maternity Madness" celebration?! It had rained all week long, but the sun came out just in time for a beautiful Saturday afternoon cookout, and we kicked off our "Game Time" event with 30 of our favorite people.  It was Team Pink vs Team Blue… scroll down to see who won! *All photos below provided by our talented friend Bob Bonnett of http://www.bonnettphoto.com  Team Pink vs Team Blue What's a party without some good food? Game-time snacks Awesome basketball cake made by my friend Danielle Beautiful flowers from our family and "He -r- She" party favors Sweet gift from some thoughtful friends The kids' table Breaking the news with a basketball piñata... Seeing pink! Gathering the goods The winner! ...

Hello, friends! Today, it is my privilege to introduce you to a childhood friend of mine who recently published her first book, featured today on this virtual book tour.  I grew up across the street from Abby and her family, who are still dear friends of mine to this day.  In her book, Abby shares her story of heartache and survival from a battle that almost took her life.  Growing up, I witnessed some of her initial story firsthand, through the eyes of a child, but I never understood the full extent until I read her honest account in this book.  I encourage you to pick up a copy - no matter what your life's battle, you will find encouragement through the words of my friend, whose faith and transparency are awe-inspiring!   Genre: Memoir/Self Help About The Book Paperback: 196 pages Publisher: Bettie Youngs Book Publishers (March 17, 2014) ISBN-10: 1940784174 ISBN-13: 978-1940784175 About The Book I want. I want you to want ...