Sweet Southern Pearl

Well, the Blizzard of 2016 has pretty much wiped out my weekend this weekend, but thankfully last weekend was so great that it doesn't matter too much. Last weekend was stellar. Not only was it a long holiday weekend, but a few of my best friends that live out of town came in for the weekend.  On Friday evening, Grace came in from the coast to spend the weekend in Gboro for a conference. I got to spend some quality time having coffee with her in her peaceful hotel lobby as we caught up and just had a precious, wonderful time talking about the future and The Lord and sharing bits of fears and encouragement and faith. I cherished the time so much, especially since Grace is going to be studying abroad in Australia for the next few months and I won't get to see her! On Saturday, Leanna (bride-to-be) came from VA and Elyse (bridesmaid) from Charlotte. We had a wonderful lunch at Olive Garden, followed by a trip to the mall to try on bri

Ten years ago this week , I started falling in love. I was seventeen years old, starting my second semester of my junior year at Southwest High School. My first class of that second semester was English 11 and that's where everything began. The spring semester of 2006 is one of the major pivotal times in my life thus far.  (As I am now 27 and about to start my second semester of my first year teaching at Southwest High School, in the same classroom where I had English 11 and everything began, I can't help but look back and reflect. It's actually really cool. I'm so glad I've been given this opportunity.) So I was seventeen. Still had braces, but was getting them off that week (SO excited). Had a nice Jeep. Made good grades. Was in a ton of clubs. Extracurricular activities included dance class and cotillion and eating McDonalds double cheeseburgers every day after school. I wasn't expecting the growth and change that 2006 would bring (and I hope I can

Ever since middle school, I've been pretty serious about dressing festively in the month of December. To me, it just doesn't feel right if I'm not wearing red or green. Here's a look into this past Christmas season's wardrobe choices, with the staple pieces being: A plaid blanket scarf from Target A plaid blanket scarf from Walmart Emerald pants A good red vest Some Fair Isle Black tutu Red cardigan  Red/green jewelry Sequin bow shirt, a la Walmart .................. Church / house hunting Work / Christmas play Holiday stroll in Uptown Church Work / Jr. League party The sparkly shoes make any outfit instantly fabulous. Fair Isle and flannel for a day in the mountains. Tacky Sweater Day at work FLEECE LINED FESTIVE LEGGINGS <3 A day in Southport

Goals for 2016: 1. Complete the first three books of Emery's series and send to possible publishers. 2. Go to four states I haven't been to (flying through doesn't count). 3. Meet Tim Tebow (duh). 4. Stay in constant prayer. "Deepen my prayer life" will be "prayer is my life." 5. Keep my gym attendance up - 4x a week average. 6. Keep my Boone streak up - I've been to Boone at least once every single month since I moved back home. 7. Don't sweat the small stuff. 8. Read ten books (outside of high school novels I teach). 9. At least 10 blog entries every month. 10. Five random acts of kindness each month. 11. BE GRATEFUL. 12. BE CONTENT BUT NOT COMPLACENT. 13. Enjoy and savor each moment. 14. Keep my car clean. HAPPY NEW YEAR! eBa