Before the Throne of God Above

This song was written by Charitie Lees Smith from Dublin, Ireland back in 1863.
It's been put to newer music, and is one of my favorite hymns.

On my personal psychiatrist...

"I do not have a psychiatrist, and I do not want one,

 for the simple reason that if he listened to me long enough, 

he might become disturbed."

 James Thurber LOL!

Happy 21st' Birthday, Jenn!

Mom's Dandelion Cake :)

Jenn’s Christmas Flower Arrangements

My very own beautiful arrangement for my room. Thanks Jenn, I love it! The worst part is I didn’t know it was for me, so I was critiquing it and telling her where to put the accent. Afterwards, she told me that she was about ready to pound me. LOL!

The cute little bow on the underside

My dresser top jewellery corner

Christmas arrangement with salmon roses

Finding the right light and setting, and focusing on just the right colour to bring out the vividness of the flowers proved to be quite the task.

Christmas Daisy Assortment

Gerbera and common daisies

Gold leaves and accents from Dollarama added a nice touch.

Colossal Fuji Mums, Crimson Roses and Magnolia Leaves

A hopeful spring cast to a Christmas bouquet

Aerial view

Fuji Mums come with an encasing sleeve around the flower. After removal, the flower slowly relaxes into small plate-sized beauty. 

Jenn’s arrangement for Mom’s Christmas Day table

Mom has an affection for redbirds. Go ahead, Aunt Jean, I know you’re just tingling with jealousy, but you can take satisfaction in the fact that this one doesn’t have the much sought-after tuft.

With this many shades of red, it was especially hard to decide on which colour to focus the camera is order to show true light.

The Mum angle

Sunday School Teacher Bouquet

Definitely a cheerful bit of sunshine

Fuji Mums, Gerbera Daisies, Mums, Magnolia and Cedar Boughs

Bouquet of Leftovers

When thinking about what 2013 might hold, I'm glad I can't see into the future. Grateful that God will never lead me, where His grace can't keep me.

I Will Trust You, Lord ~ Proverbs 3:5-6

It’s funny how we do it; compartmentalize.

We plan for success and try to pass the pain right by,

But it just doesn't work that way, God has a different plan.

He works in ways we’d never see, beyond the scope of man.

When my heart begins to faint because I see a life so frayed,

And my soul cries out, “Oh Lord, how long can I keep this at bay?”

In the fiercest part of battle when my feet don’t want to stay,

I will trust You, LORD.

I may not understand it and even question ‘why?’

“What good could ever come from this?” has even crossed my mind.

 But God’s teaching me to trust Him more as He works His will in me.

I rest securely in His care and surrender sure is sweet.

When the journey takes a detour unexpectedly,

And I try to accept and understand what it all means.

When I’m pressed to show the world what I really believe,

I will trust You, LORD, with my life.

Bruce & Sammy Frye

Merry Christmas to you all! May Christ's presence be especially real and near to you at this time. 

June 2, 2012: Caleb and Joy’s Wedding (Sarah and Jenn’s Pics)

We had a blast in North Carolina … what was it, three months ago? Only a semi-avid blogger with a busy life outside of the computer will understand why it’s three months later this post is finally making its appearance.
So, yeah, we got into all sorts of stuff. We discovered an awesome store called Hobby Lobby, which is like Michael’s, only bigger and better, That’s where we got stuck for an hour or two because of a torrential rainfall. You know what that means?

Photo shoot in the lobby, gang!
(Kelly and Sarah)

Rain haters. (One reason why we were stuck; all the drivers were rain-haters, as well.)
(Kelly and Sarah)

Testing the reliability of the expensive furniture.
(Joy, Sarah, and me)

We were also stuck because we didn’t have the courage to do this.

(Preacher and Samuel)
We all celebrated Kelly’s birthday by singing “Happy Birthday” as loudly, raucously, and off-key as was humanly possible (what a video that made—I'll spare you by not uploading it :) , then Samuel hacked, I mean, cut her cake into chunks, I mean pieces. Then Sarah got creative, and …

… wooo, baby! (Note that Sarah did this. Not me. Just thought you’d find that interesting.)

Peer pressure.
(Me, Joy, Sarah, and Kel)

Salisbury, NC: Birthplace of Cheerwine (non-intoxicating soda drink, though you wouldn’t believe it to see a bunch of us swigging it down and having a grand old time at Cook-out).

Afro/ camouflage.
(Micah)

Hope, after a day full of three-year-old busyness.

Test-driving the wagon for the flower girls and ring bearers.
(Sarah and Joy—“Together Again!”)

Kel was my hero for the week. Couldn’t have done all the flowers without her.

Steeple in the sunset.

Kel at Harris Teeters (thank God for that place, and the people thereof) waiting for another load of flowers. (This pic always makes me smile. So cute. :)

Work in progress: the banquet hall during the in-between stage.

Display at one of the pillars near the entrance to New Hope.

The main entrance.

Guest book table. (Note the cool pen Mrs. Mills and Cindy found at Hobby Lobby.)

Memorial table for Caleb and Joy’s grandparents.

Kel’s basket. Is she good or what?!

She also did all the jar and pitcher arrangements for the guest tables.

Bride and groom table decoration.

Bridal party table decoration.

Ditto for this.

Outside on the patio.

Thank God for this stuff. (Closest sub to Tim Hortons that we could find.)Two weeks of intense scheming, planning, and decorating would not have been pretty without it.
The lack of one Tim Hortons per block is the first reason why the South is not the Promised Land. (No offense, guys.)

Great pic of Kel. Wish I could’ve experimented with a lot more shots.

And the Shaws! Matching and everything. Love it. :)

Lewis and Cindy, the generous, thoughtful woman with the Hobby Lobby coupons. Thanks a million, again.

Cool shot of guestbook signer and guestbook attendant.

Last-minute cramming? lol
(Preacher and Mrs. Mills)

(Preacher, Joy, and Kel)

The catering crew did a fantastic job decorating the food tables.

Yeah, Mrs. Deborah!  (Woman responsible for making bows, exactly when I needed her. Wow, you were a blessin’. :)

Food tables in their entirety.

Mrs. Wilma decorated so effortlessly, and it looked amazing. I was truly jealous.

Bursts of colour.

Strawberry shortcake, compliments of Mrs. Wilma. (Cake topper from Hobby Lobby. Did I mention it’s an awesome place to shop?)

Punch table …

… and the punch lady. She really knows her stuff, too.

A big, sincere thanks to Char, Sonj, Sarah, Joy, Mrs. Mills, and Mrs. Shaw for sitting in uncomfortable metal folding chairs for hours and assembling the cutlery and napkin sets.

A hug and another big, sincere thank you to Mrs. Wraight for letting us girls invade your house and putting up with us occasionally laughing a little bit too loudly at comedies during the wee hours.

My sis, one of the bridesmaids.

Caleb and Joy with the kids from Caleb’s bus route. So glad they got to be a part of the big day.

Caleb and Joy.

Quick break during the photo shoot. (They thought.)
(Kel and Sarah)

One of the many laughs during the shoot. Mr. Worley scores again. :)
(Preacher and Mrs. Mills, Joy and Caleb, Mrs. and Mr. Worley.

Tired, but sweet.
(Preacher and Mrs. Mills)


Good pic of Joy and Caleb.

A two photographer team is perfect. You either get two completely different perspectives, or the one can whip the flower girls and ring bearers into shape while the other snaps the picture before it disappears yet again. :) I’ll try to remember to post the link to their site, where they’ve posted Joy and Caleb’s official pictures.
(Cara and Anna)

Thanks for posing, Mrs. Wilma! I know it took a lot of courage. :) She was absolutely great to work with; wish we could work on weddings together more often.

Joy and Caleb cutting the cake.
Will try to post Kel’s pics soon. She took some really good ones of some stuff I missed out on.
Blogged out,
Jenn