Pirate Party!

This weekend, the FAMILY got together. Now, if you don't know my FAMILY, (my mom's side) then you just don't know what you're missing out on! We are brash, loud, and fun-loving! (no, we aren't even Italian!) This weekend we all headed to Georgia to celebrate my cousin Jordan's graduation from UGA, my Uncle Jim's 60th birthday, and my Aunt Cheryl's retirement... with a PIRATE PARTY! Arrrrrrrrrrrrr! It was a lot of fun!

Here are some of the highlights....

Everyone pitches in to help get ready for the par-tay!

There is ALWAYS yummy food at our events!

Games are a must! AJ and Ben had fun playing corn hole and avoiding karaoke!

The "old" people sing karaoke! Quite entertaining!

Cha cha slide, as requested by the graduate!

Congrats, Jordan!

What's a fun family trip without the car ride with extended family?!


As is proven here, I'm blessed to be a part of an awesome family who will do anything for each other! I love them all so much!

Living in Florida

Growing up in central Florida, I knew I had it good- beach vacations every summer, and it only took an hour and a half to reach our destination! I learned at an early age how to do the "stingray shuffle", to run in a zig-zag pattern if being chased by an alligator, how to tell different kinds of snakes apart (coral snake vs king snake), and how to build the perfect hurricane preparedness kit. No snow days were built into the school calendar, but hurricane days were (and still are).

One thing I never did much of growing up was visiting the big amusement parks that draw millions of tourists to Florida. In recent years, I have had the luxury of visiting several parks with friends. Now in my young adult years, I have seen Disney's Magic Kingdom, Busch Gardens, Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Epcot Center, and Cypress Gardens (which is now closed). It's fun to see what brings people to your backyard... and even better to make memories with friends and people you love!

Me with the water skiing cast at Cypress Gardens a few years ago. (Not the most flattering picture of me!)

My friend Hillary and I with our Butterbeer in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventure!

Sue and I on St. Patrick's day at Epcot!

I am blessed to live in a great state and to experience its diverse aspects with amazing people!

24 Hours in Jax

This weekend I had the amazing opportunity to go on a "30 hour mission trip" to Jacksonville. The trip is 30 hours total, but we spend 24 hours in Jacksonville. Our youth pastor, Bruce, has started leading these trips once every few months to Jacksonville to work with North Main Street Baptist Church and Words To Works Ministries.

Upon arrival on Friday, we went to His Warehouse to hang out with people from the neighborhood who come to get a meal, hang out, and play games in this safe spot. I got to color a picture with four year old Latrelle, and share the Evangecube with a little girl named Zoey. Zoey was so precious; she pointed to the picture of Jesus and gasped, holding her hands to her face and said "That's Jesus! He loves me! I love Him!"

This is Latrelle! He was so much fun to talk to!

Zoey and I. She's the best!

I went to college and lived in the dorms with Jessica Phoenix; her dad is the pastor of the church and ministry that we were working with! It was great to catch up with her!

On Saturday morning, our group of 19 split into smaller groups of 4 and 5 to prayer walk, pick up trash, and pray with anyone we may come in contact with.

Here is my group (minus me) cleaning trash on an empty lot.

This is one of the men part of our group shared with!

Saturday afternoon, we headed to Washington Heights, one of the roughest housing projects in Jacksonville. We told a Bible story, played with the kids, did crafts for Mothers Day, and just LOVED them.

Me with Angel. She just walked right up to me and put her arms up to be picked up! Such a sweetie.

Making Mothers Day cards and flowers!

My friend Chelsea with Ali, another precious little girl!

I'm so glad I had the chance to go minister, show Christ's love, and make a difference!

On another note, HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!
I am so very blessed to have a godly, loving, awesome, wonderful mom! I love her so very much!

This photo was taken last year. Momma and her kids.

I love you, Mom!