Memorial Day Weekend

With Marc in class on weekends and the girls having other plans I decided to make a trip to my moms for a couple of days. No use in spending two days looking at the walls!

This was the traffic on Friday!

Thankfully Marc knows his way around. We got off the interstate and took the back roads to meet my mom, and doing this probably helped Marc avoid some traffic on his way to school ( he travels 2 1/2 hrs away from where we live every Friday and Saturday for his graduate class).

Now that I keep some stuff at my mom's home I'm able to carry just a small bag for last minute weekend getaways. I'm considering leaving a couple of clothing items there year round so I can just carry my purse for quick trips.

Little did I know that my mom would put me to work the minute I got home! Her church was having a yard sale in the morning and they set every thing up the night before and priced it. Somehow I became the pricing "expert". LOL

My cousin Lo preparing fresh fish out the river for the deep fryer.

Chillin with the family!

My mom trying to decide what snacks to purchase. 

You can't tell by this picture but there was a rainbow surrounding the sun. I have never seen a round rainbow! So cool!!!

My cousin Babs recently moved back to the country. She couldn't seem to get enough of her brother's fish! 

I'm surprised she didn't eat the bones! LOL

When I say my mom lives in the country...I'm not joking! lol

I went back home in time for church on Sunday and finally got to dress like Cyndi!!!! LOL

This is more like it!!!!! (K and G top, Sarah Jessica Parker pants from her "Bitten" line from years ago, and a "Relic" brand purse from JCPenneys).

Mini Grocery Haul!!! 

Somebody wanted sausages and it wasn't me. Guess who had to grill them anyway? 

You would think looking at this picture that we lived in the country. Ummm, not! As a matter of fact our house is just seconds from a main highway! We have a huge backyard that never gets used. We really need to do something about that.

The hydrangea bush the kids gave me last Mother's Day seemed to have survived!

 I can't wait to see blooms!

We planted this tree when we built the house. I don't think we "planned" this out! It has beautiful pink blooms in spring and in the summer it fills up with lush green leaves. The only problem is that its taking over this little corner of the house.

We have honeysuckle on the other side of the house. They are not having any problem growing either. Monday I walked out back and its as if I was seeing all of the foliage for the first time! Summer is really here!

Speaking of summer. We are "this" close to our 30th anniversary getaway to Orlando! I am soo ready you wouldn't believe it. My bag is already full of my clothing...that's how ready I am. I will be doing a what's in my travel bag mini series next week. If you don't know it I actually have a travel blog!!! And this week I finally updated all of the details from our 2011 trip to Disney (yes, its taken me that long but I was determined to finish it before this trip..even though its not a Disney trip).

So what did you do Memorial Day weekend? And do you have any vacation plans for the summer?

Organizing my make-up/nail polish and jewelry

I wanted to start on a big organizational project but my arm is still not where I would like it to be and honestly I'm a bit gun shy after the whole pinched nerve thing. 

The good thing is I am able to tackle some small projects here and there so that's what I've been concentrating on. 

Marc surprised me with this last week. It's been on my wish list for a while. 

Knowing him he probably got it for a steal! 

I labeled my drawers after I sorted through everything!

These are actually file boxes from Office Depot. I've been using them for a few years now to hold my jewelry! Some items have moved to the new storage system which freed up additional space for more of my jewelry that was in random boxes! 

It didn't take me long to fill it up! I'm actually surprised that it holds so many of my stuff! Including most of my jewelry and make-up! My brush bag has a perfect spot on the side of the storage system. I just used a kitchen cabinet hook to hang it on!

I use fishing tackle boxes to keep items corralled. I may need to get a few more! lol

I left the make-up in their original storage cases so that I can easily grab them

 if I'm doing my make-up in another room.

I still have my hanging necklace "mannequins" on display. And it keeps smaller pendent necklaces from getting tangled. Eventually I hope to get tarnish bags from Michael's just to be on the safe side. After that I will just keep out my bulky costume I items. 

I only have a few nail polish items, but I already have a system in mind as that starts to grow. Which I have a feeling will happen now that I've signed up for Ipsy's monthly prescription! Get ready for monthly reviews on the products I receive!

So far I'm loving the new system. But I'm sure I will tweak it as time goes by! lol 

Womens Day

Thought I would share a few pics from our Women's Day celebration.

The gifts already to go to our team members! 

Our honorees! 

My Women's ministry team members! 

Love working with these ladies! 

The most humble member of our team! 

I was so uncomfortable in this ! That hat came off the moment I could get it off! lol 

With our speaker! 

The hat looks way better on her! lol

This is a version of the bracelet we gave the ministry team. I couldn't resist getting one for myself! lol 

Wedding Mania!

I can't believe my cousins wedding is only three months away! But since I'm the wedding consultant I shouldn't be shocked! My cousin, the mother of the bride   and I have been crazy busy running from vendor to venue! It's crazy to think that I was in her wedding all those yrs ago and now I'm planning her daughters wedding (my mom actually coordinated hers)! It's like we have come full circle! 

Her daughter recently posted this photo on Facebook. Can you tell which one is me (Hint: I'm the one on the right with the big hair)? 

I love trice's color theme which is this beautiful blue ( it's as close as we could get to Tiffany Blue) , white and silver! 

Last week we went to pick out flowers for the guest tables. 

I've shopped at the Williamsburg Pottery since I was a little girl. Last year they redid the whole area. We weren't sure if the still had their silk floral shop ( which had been there my entire life) so lets just say I did a little dance when I found out it is was still a part of this historical shopping spot.

This is the facade of the new buildings. Isn't it just the cutest place?

We also made a trip to the local Michael's to scout out hydrangeas! We had a bad experience with one of the clerks, but the second Michael's made up for it. Did you know that you can order bulk items from Michael's and have them shipped to the store if they are not available in the store? The manager told us as long as they have them in stock we can order almost anything we see in the store! Good thing to know especially since we had to order ribbon for our centerpieces.   

I noticed this while at my moms church and immediately went on a hunt for them. To me this looks so much better then those fountains people like to use. And it goes well with our theme. 

You know the wedding is getting close when the bridesmaids dresses start arriving! 

Or when the bridal shower invite goes out! 

There is so much more I could show you but then you wouldn't have anything to look forward to! lol 

One of a kind!

This Sunday will mark 5 yrs since we started a Women's Ministry Team at WABC.

I love working with these ladies! When I first brought this idea to them they were use to committees. Marc and I both want people to stop looking at themselves as "church members" with a title and start to embrace a "team" mentality. We are all in this together. I may "direct" the team but when it's time to work I want them to know that I will be down in the trenches with them working beside them and not just "directing".

There are so many stereotypes in the African American church of what a First Lady should look like, what do should do, how she should act, and carry herself. But especially what she should wear! When I came to WABC I wanted the women there to get to know "me". Not some facade or image others labeled me with. Five years later I'm sure their are many who still don't understand who I am but most seem to respect me anyhow. I know that there are some who still don't "get" me all the way but love me anyhow. 

That's really all we can do when it comes to this ministry stuff. We have to try and be out most authentic self and hope that people will learn to love us, or at the least respect us. But even if they don't we still have to love them because that's what God commands us to do.

There are some "traditions" in our church that I don't agree with but I've learned its not all about me or what I want. Sometime have to let people bring their own ideas and yes even traditions to the table.

This weekend we host our annual Women's Day celebration. It's the one time of the year where the women are in complete and total charge. It doesn't mean that we aren't in charge of some things year round but its a opportunity for us to lift up the women in our church with a message specifically geared towards them and in our case honor our women who have given service to the church and who sometimes are not noticed any other time ( think of it as a one day Mini Women's conference). Not because they aren't worthy any other but because this just happens to be the day we have set aside to do it. Many of these ladies have or are busy going around doing what they can do not thinking about being "recognized". 

This weekend in honor of our 5th year as a ministry team we will honor 5 women who definitely are not use to receiving the spotlight. And in honor of these "seasoned" women of the church I'm going to wear the "official" First Lady attire! Not because I have to but because I want them to know that even though I may not fall into the stereotypical  "mold" of a "traditional" First Lady doesn't mean I don't have respect for those who came before me. Women like my godmother and grandmother who many times didn't have the choices and freedoms that I do as a pastors wife! 

I can't very well expect them to step outside of their comfort zone and look at ministry as more then just a title if I'm not willing to step outside of mine. This will more then likely be the only time they see me in a hat...not because I'm opposed to it but because it would not be me being my authentic self. But having said that I don't want them to think that if they love hats and suits that they shouldn't. I want our women to be themselves. That's how God made us.

I say all the time I'm just trying my best to be the me God created me to be. I want these ladies to know that they should do the same. If they love wearing hats, then wear them. If the fancy suit is what floats their boat then do that! We should be willing to accept people as they are because we are uniquely made! That means we are one if a kind!