A Purposeful Peek

Our friends and family have more than showered us with baby gifts; they've absolutely poured  their love and celebrations upon us!  We have been so humbled and felt so honored by the thoughtfulness that has gone into the planning of each occasion.    A Girls' Weekend Double-Shower This was my first official "baby shower," and I was delighted to share it with my good friend Elizabeth, whose due date was only 6 weeks before mine.  Our annual girls weekend is something I look forward to each year as a chance to get away with some of my best girlfriends from college, especially since we are now spread across the country. This year's celebration commenced in Ft. Worth, Texas. Our friend Amy graciously hosted us in her beautiful home, and we spent the weekend pampering with mani/pedis and our first experience getting our hair done at a "blow dry bar." We finished off the weekend at Morgan's family's house for a Baby Shower Brunch. Morgan and ...

I keep pinching myself to see if this is real life. In a matter of weeks, I said goodbye to dear friends in North Carolina and headed west to Oklahoma, with everything we owned in the back of a moving truck that was somewhere along I-40.  I journeyed west with my dear mother, who had sacrificed the past 2 weeks of her life helping us pack all of our belongings, and our two dachshunds - three of the best travel buddies I could ask for. We took our time road tripping across the country, stopping to stay with friends in Memphis and touring every other rest stop on I-40 for this pregnant momma  the dogs to stretch their legs.  As soon as we crossed the Oklahoma border, we made a mandatory stop at Braum's so that I could savor the REAL ice cream that I've been missing all these years.  We drove into my new hometown just as the Oklahoma sun was setting over the wide open fields and the wind literally came sweeping across the plains. Some things never change. During m...

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...