Friday, Friday, Friday!

I don't really have a cohesive post today, just some fragmented thoughts about this week.

First off, I finally joined the technologically savvy world and got a Blackberry, although I am far from technologically savvy! It is certainly a learning process to get used to a smart phone after all of my years with the basic phone model. I still do not think I will ever be Twittering, but I do like to read all of your tweets on occasion.

Next is the economy. When is it going to get better? I still don't see any remarkable improvement here in Columbia, SC. Gas is expensive (for our area), jobs are scarce, and budget cuts still loom. Maybe I am just in the wrong field of work- higher education. I had my performance review at work and it went wonderfully. However, the University and the College I work for are facing huge cuts again this year, so there is no money in the budget for a raise. My boss said she'd love to give me one, but she just can't. I know that I can't really complain because at least I have a job, but it's hard when you are told you deserve a raise, but can't have one, and it doesn't look to improve any time soon.

Anyway, moving on. We have another wedding this weekend. I am still trying to decide what to wear. I am deciding between this polka dot dress:

**This was the closest picture I could find to showing the whole dress. This was taken at WEG's 30th birthday party, and clearly, I did not get a full shot of the dress in any of the pictures.

And this coraly-pink dress:

**Again, excuse the picture with my crazy friends in the background ;-). The dress has eyelet detail at the top. I obviously need to focus on taking pictures where you can see what I have on!

Also, I have a hot pink J.Crew dress that I can't find a picture of that is also in the running. It could really use being taken up a bit in the top, though, so I may hold off on that one until one of our May weddings.

The wedding is at 5:30, and I really have no clue as to the people invited to gauge what they might wear.

Finally, I'm still sending up prayers for Bayler, and I hope you will, too. I posted about this yesterday, so if you didn't get a chance to read, check it out.

I hope y'all have a great weekend!! Happy Friday :-)

With God, all things are possible.

With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God. Mark 10:27

Hey blog buddies! I come to y'all with a prayer request today. A little boy named Bayler and his family need your mighty prayers. Bayler is 7 years old and was diagnosed with neuroblastoma when he was 5. Over the past year and a half, he has been in and out of the hospital for most of that time. Just when the family gets good news, it seems they face another big setback. Right now, Bayler is in New York getting treatment from one of the best, if not THE BEST, hospital for this type of cancer- Sloan Kettering. Today, when doing scans, they discovered that Bayler has cancer in his knee and shoulder.

Here is what his grandmother updated on their CaringBridge page:

Our Dear Prayer Partners, Please lift Bayler, Risha, and Rob up high in your prayers as you go through today. They have just been told by Dr. Krammer that the “ monster” has reared its’ ugly head in Bayler’s left knee and left shoulder. Dr. Krammer told them this is not common. Dr. Krammer will be talking with Dr. Ron in Columbia about more chemo & radiation for Bayler in South Carolina to treat these areas before any additional tests can be completed in New York. This is quite a set-back and a shock for our families. But we continue to trust Our Lord, Our God to carry us along on this journey. Please continue to stand in the gap for us with your prayers. God Bless You All.

If you would, would you stop right now and say a little prayer for the Teal family? They have already been through so much, but continue to trust God in all they do. Their family is a true inspiration to those of us who sometimes struggle to see the good in bad situations and put our faith in our Heavenly Father. I know they'd appreciate a few more prayers, though. There can never be too many!

Thanks, y'all!

Bayler's CaringBridge site if you'd like to read more: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/baylerteal

It's wedding season, y'all

Well, y'all, it's Monday again. I swear this day occurs more frequently than the other six. Sure feels that way anyway!! Maybe it's because the weekends just FLY by. This weekend was no exception.

On Friday we headed down to Charleston for the wedding of some of WEG's friends. He grew up with the groom and his 3 brothers- yes, you read that right, 4 boys! And very rambuntious boys, I might add- can you imagine? We went to the rehearsal dinner on Friday night, and after that a stretch Hummer picked up everyone who wanted to go downtown. Needless to say, that was a late night! We were pretty worthless on Saturday. Here are a few pictures from the rehearsal dinner.

On Saturday we just hung around WEG's sister's house until time to go to the wedding. Abe decided he would pull a Houdini and slip through a crack in the fence...while I was watching him, I might add (contact-less, though), so we had to search the neighborhood for him. That was the main excitment of the morning. We found him, but really, it gives me nearly a heart attack when he does that!

The reception for the wedding was at a place right on the water in Charleston. It was a beautiful venue! And, afterwards, we went out downtown again, so another late night! Here are a few pictures from the wedding.

We got home yesterday and decided it was too pretty to sit inside, so WEG and I went fishing on the river for a couple of hours. I caught a striper- not big enough to keep, though. Can you tell that I was not too fond of having to hold it while WEG took a picture??

All in all, a great weekend! And my Gamecocks won another series in baseball- fell a little short of the sweep, but I'm so proud of them!

Thursday is the new Friday

Today is a wonderful day! Why? Because it is Thursday, which this week, is my Friday. Yippee! I took tomorrow off because we have to go to a rehearsal dinner for a wedding in Charleston. I have had a gift card for a spa mani & pedi from WEG since Christmas, and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to use it. I can't wait! Then we'll head to Charleston sometime tomorrow afteroon.

It's supposed to be beautiful weather. The rehearsal dinner invitation said it was casual, so I am going to wear white jeans, a coral ruffled top (hard to explain- I'll try to get a picture!), and silver jack rogers (although I'd really like gold, but I don't have those!). I think that will be good for a casual rehearsal dinner, don't y'all? I am thinking turquoise jewelry- what do y'all think? I have some earrings that are tigers eye & turquoise that are so pretty. I think those would be different!

For the wedding, I am wearing the dress from Boden that my parents gave me for my birthday. Here it is:

And I am still undecided on what type of jewelry to wear with it. Any ideas?

I am so glad the weather is going to be nice to allow for fun spring clothes and dresses. It just makes everything better!

What are your big plans for the weekend?

Vacation Advice- Need your help!

Hey y'all!
I hope everyone had a great weekend! I did- it was pretty relaxing in comparison to a lot of weekends lately and we actually got to sleep late on Saturday...glorious! We'll be pretty busy for the next few weeks with weddings and various other things, so it was nice to have a bit of a break.

Anyway...back to the point of my post. I need your vacation advice. WEG and I are trying to book a vacation right now for sometime in July. We're pretty flexible with when we can go during that month, but we'd like to go the end of one week, weekend, and first of the next so we don't miss an entire week at work, just parts of 2.

We are trying to decide between a cruise and going to an all inclusive resort. The problem I have found with cruises is the 5 days typically run from Sunday to Thursday, which doesn't fit our parts of 2 weeks criteria, but cruises are generally less expensive than having to fly somewhere.

That's where y'all come in. Where have you been recently that was budget-friendly? What airline did you fly? What type of a resort was it where you stayed? If you went on a cruise, where did you sail? What are your tips for finding deals?

We really want to go somewhere outside of the US- after all, I FINALLY just got a passport, and I really want to use it :-)

Praise for today

I know my posts have been pretty heavy recently, but the West Virginia mine tragedy is something that has been weighing on my heart and I felt like I needed to get out my feelings. I'm still saddened that it's 4 days after the explosion and there are still 18 dead inside the mine and 4 unaccounted for. These families have no closure, and if there is a glimmer of hope that the 4 missing are alive, then it's rapidly dwindling because oxygen in the safety chambers has to be getting close to running out.

However, while my prayers are still with those in West Virginia and my heart is still heavy, and will continue to be, I felt that a more upbeat post was in order! So, how about a few items of praise that I have?

1. We finally got some rain last night! Now, I know a few months ago I griped about all the rain we were getting, but we certainly needed it this time around. There was a cloud of pollen over the city and a yellow tint to everything. Not good for the allergies, that's for sure. And while the pollen is still here, at least the air is a bit cleaner for the time being.

2. It's Friday. Need I say more? We have nothing on the agenda for Saturday which means no alarm clock to jolt us awake. Sheer bliss if you ask me!

3. I have been blessed with wonderful friends, some that I get to hang out with tonight. And what's even better is having a boyfriend that really, truly likes my friends and enjoys hanging out with them. Of course, they're awesome, so why wouldn't he? Right, girls? ;-)

4. And while we're on the subject, another praise I have is a great boyfriend. He makes me laugh all the time and we get along so well. We are both able to be our own independent people and have our own hobbies and activities, yet enjoy many things together. It's the best of all worlds!

5. I also feel so lucky to have such great parents. I was able to spend all last weekend with them for Easter, and it's always a good time for me to relax and recharge and eat good home cookin' from my Mama. Everybody needs that once in a while!

6. Finally I'm praising the fact that I have a Heavenly Father that loves me and provides everything I need. No problems are too big for my God and he cares all of his children alike. What a wondrous thing!

What are your praises today?

Tugging at my heartstrings

Whatever you do for the least of my brothers and sisters, you do for me...Matthew 25:40

I don’t usually post about something two times in a row, but this is something that sparks a lot of passion in me. I didn’t get many responses yesterday, but I don’t care- I will continue to try and do my part to make people aware of the situation in West Virginia. Thank you to those of you who did respond- it makes it worth my while if even one or two respond.

This is a situation that really tugs at my heart. As I read the updates and watched footage last night, I could not keep the tears from rolling down my cheeks. Especially when I watched the family of miner Benny Willingham, a 62 year old man who had worked in the mine for 30 years and was 5 weeks from retirement. Five weeks- can you even imagine the pain they must feel? When Matt Lauer asked Benny’s daughter how her mother is holding up she told him “she’s not.” How utterly devastating. But, his daughter said that Benny knew the dangers of the mine, knew that any moment might be his last, and, fortunately, he also had told his family that if the Lord came to get him he was ready. Thankfully, amid the devastation they must feel, at least they have Benny’s faith to cling to.

The stories of the miners are many. They were family men- brothers, sons, fathers, uncles, nephews. They were friends, believers in God. And yet, outside of the state of West Virginia, in a few weeks their stories will be all but forgotten. Swept under the rug or thrown out with last week’s trash. Did anybody truly remember the Sago mine explosion that happened in 2006, that killed 12 people, until it was mentioned in the context of this explosion? Probably not anybody that was not directly affected.

And as life moves on for the rest of us, so it will for those in West Virginia. The mines will continue to operate, and many men will go to work each day, aware of the risks, but with no other options. As one miner said, “That’s what you get when you live in this area because that’s all we have.” So, it will continue in West Virginia because coal mining pays the bills. It’s a way of life. Every day they’ll put on their boots and enter the mines knowing that they may never return to the surface alive. But, as I mentioned yesterday, the alternative- a mine closing- is much worse. When this happens the people who lose their jobs are thrown into the depths of poverty, in need of the help of people like you and like me.

But, many don’t know the need of the people in West Virginia. They’re certainly not a group of people that would ask for help. But, the need is there. It’s a chance for all of us to make a difference in our own country. As WEG told me, it’s not romantic to people to help others in West Virginia- not like going to an African village or Afghanistan or South America. If you say you took a mission trip to West Virginia, people may applaud you, but not like they do if you say you went to Uganda (just using this as an example). But, to me, it’s not about the applause, and it doesn’t make foreign missions any more important than those in the United States. It’s about a group of people not far from my home in South Carolina that truly need us. So, again today, I ask you to pray for these people, and, if you feel a real tug like I do, there are ways you can help. Just ask me.