Book winners!

I only had 4 entries for the On Folly Beach book, so my "scientific method" for drawing a winner was to write your names down on pieces of paper and draw them from a hat.
Because I am at work, I have no camera to show you what I did, so you'll just have to trust me on this one.

And the two winners of the book are:

Belle from Life of a Southern Belle
and
ewatson

Ladies, email me your contact information so that I can send it on to the publisher to send you your free book! My email address is usc_emily@hotmail.com

I am moved by the spirit....

I am here to testify. I found an amen kind of love. The kind that makes you fall down on your knees and reach for the sky above. The kind that your soul can never get enough. I found an a-men, an a-a-a-men, an a-men kind of love.

Y'all, I'm not usually the romantic type. I prefer private shows of affection and love over public displays. You won't find sappy statuses on my Facebook. I'd rather get a practical gift than flowers (especially roses- I don't like roses!) But, just for a minute, I've got to break from my norm and tell you about something wonderful- three years with WEG.

I've told you before I don't do well keeping track of dates. I can't tell you a specific date when WEG and I went from friends to something more, but I can tell you it was Memorial Day weekend 3 years ago. And since that day, my life is forever changed. I never realized that I could love someone with the depth and passion with which I love WEG. Never realized there was someone out there that was so perfect for me. Someone who would challenge me and make me a better person. Someone that would love me like he does.

I'm not saying we haven't had our share of trials. But, to quote Gary Allan, "the struggles make you stronger and the changes make you wise." And if there's one person I want to face the hard times with, it's WEG. He's my rock, and I can't imagine facing tomorrow without him, having had him by my side for three years. I hope we have many more happy years together. And while we have no big plans for a celebration of the three years, I'll celebrate them in my heart and pray that God has more in store for the two of us.

Stream of consciousness

Ahh, Wednesday....halfway through another work week. It seems like I am ALWAYS counting down to the weekend. What about y'all? Unfortunately, I do not have Monday off for Memorial Day. It's quite annoying when it seems like EVERYONE around you is off, but you have to come into work. Every year I am annoyed by this fact. Yes, the university does take the day from us to put it at Christmas. So, at Christmas, I get almost 2 weeks off. However, I'd probably take that time as annual leave anyway. I WANT MY MEMORIAL DAY! Wah, wah, wah.

Moving on. I need a new vacuum cleaner. Ours has taken to spitting out dust in large clumps while I am vacuuming. Gross. I changed the bag, but no dice. Same thing happens. However, I am not looking to spend an astronomical amount on a vacuum cleaner, although I would like something that is pretty decent. Any suggestions of a great vacuum cleaner for a reasonable price? I would love to hear them!

In other news, we are FINALLY finished with wedding season! 5 weddings down, none to go (for a while, that is). We love all of our friends who got married, but, sheesh, it is exhausting and expensive to go to so many weddings. By the time you throw parties for people, buy gifts, pay for accommodations if the wedding is out of town, and outfit yourself, you've spent a pretty penny. I can only imagine the costs that go into your own wedding- yikes!

Also, don't forget to read my review of On Folly Beach in my previous post, and enter for a chance to win the book. So far only one person has entered, and I'm giving away two copies. That's good odds to win a really great book!

Finally, my Gamecocks need to get it together in the SEC tournament. We're currently losing to Ole Miss. We are rarely very good in the tournament. Perhaps we are saving ourselves for the regionals of the NCAA tournament. Here's hoping that's the case! We didn't throw our ace this game, but Ole Miss did.....and their ace was SEC Pitcher of the Year. Yeah, not looking good for us.

Anyway, enough rambling. Only 46 more days until vacation..... Maybe after that I will be able to put together a cohesive post.

The big W....

I'm a worrier. Always have been, but hopefully won't always be one. I try to let go of some things that cause me worry, but in the end, it eats at me. A few months ago I went to a women's retreat and the speaker told us the parable of the soils. She told us that women are often like the seeds choked out by vines. Those vines, including worry, are what keep us from being in the good soil and growing and relishing in God's word. She told us that worry is a sin. And if that's the case, which I know it is, then I sin a lot because I tend to worry a lot.

If WEG goes out with friends, I worry about him. Not about what he's doing because I trust him, but about his safety. I worry that he'll make it home okay. I can't fall asleep until he's home. It's a worry that's totally out of my control, but one I obsess about, nevertheless.

I worry about money...all the time. I was not very smart with credit cards in college, and I am paying off debt. Sometimes when it gets to the end of the month, I worry that I won't have enough. I am constantly budgeting...adding up what I have left to pay for in the month minus what I currently have. I hate to go under a certain amount in my checking account because I feel like I need that for emergencies. I've got a little money in a savings account, but not a lot, so I worry. (As a side note- in December, I will have the credit card debt paid off, so hopefully this will be less of a worry)

I worry about my job security and the future of my job. I'm pretty sure I'm safe, but the reality is the cost of living keeps going up, and there is just no money for raises. So, I don't know if or when I'll get a raise. And that worries me. Because if prices of gas, groceries, and clothing continue to rise, yet my pay does not, what will I do? Yet another worry.

I worry about something happening to my parents. I'm an only child so the sole responsibility for dealing with it would fall on me. It's a nagging thought in the back of my mind all the time. Certainly not something I can control, but still something that worries me.

See, I told you I was a worrier. I also worry about small day-to-day things. It may be why I always take the reins when something is being planned because I worry that they won't be done right if I don't. Okay, so maybe you could also call me a control-freak, but that sounds too harsh.

So, what should I do about this constant worrying? I know the answer. It's as clear as day, and it was reiterated to me upon reading the Proverbs 31 devotion of the day today. I should give all my worries over to God. In fact, it says in Matthew 6:27: "And who of you, by being worried, can add a single hour to his life?" So true. My worrying doesn't get me anywhere. It just puts my stomach in knots and stresses me out. It doesn't matter how much I worry about a situation, God has it in his hands and will have it turn out just as he has planned. Wow, what a revelation. But not so much a revelation as something I have known all my life. So, why do I continue to worry?

I need to work on it, no doubt, and show Satan who is boss because, clearly, that's who is sneaking into my life when I worry. If it were January 1st, I'd make this my New Year's Resolution, but it's not, so how about I just make it a life change? It's going to take a lot of prayers to let go and let God have control of my worry, but I think I'm up to the challenge.

What about you? Do you worry? Have you let go of worry? Was it easy or hard? How did you do it and succeed?

It's official!!

In just short of two months we will be heading to Fripp Island for a week-long vacation. I can't wait! My annual leave is approved and I am ready to go. This will be the first time I have ever been to the beach for vacation for an ENTIRE WEEK. Yes, you read that correctly. My family just wasn't the week-long beach vacation type. My dad doesn't like the beach all that much. He was a farmer at one time in his life and has suffered a heat stroke while working on a farm in the hot South Carolina summer sun. So, his idea of fun was not to go sit on a beach. He much preferred the mountains or other types of trips. So, my mom and I would go for short periods of time to Hilton Head where her college roommate lived, but never for an entire week.

There's sure to be lots of this:

and this*:

And this**:

Hurry up, July!!

* The deer are quite tame on Fripp Island. This is not out of the ordinary.

** I'm pretty sure we were playing flip cup or chandeliers. Either way, fun!

Help! Wedding planning question.

And no, I'm not getting married.

I need some advice for WEG's sister. She's engaged but doesn't know where to start with her planning. I thought it would be nice to get her a planning book that will help her get started and go through the process of planning a wedding.

Knowing that so many of my blog friends have planned a wedding, I immediately knew who to come to for help. I would like to get her a book that starts at the beginning and helps her with all aspects. It would be a bonus if it had pages that she could use to write information about vendors, etc.

So, ladies, what books did you use when planning your weddings? Which were your favorite? Which had the most comprehensive information? If you, like WEG's sister, were completely baffled at where to start, what did you find to be the most helpful?

Thank y'all so much in advance for your answers!

On Folly Beach

TLC Book Tours has once again asked me to participate in a book tour for another of Karen White's books, On Folly Beach. It is very fitting that I am posting this today, as I spent the weekend at Folly Beach and saw many of the places mentioned in the book.

I must say, Karen has done it again with her new book, On Folly Beach. Like her past books, The House on Tradd Street and The Girl on Legare Street, Karen weaves a tale that brings the past together with the future. A tale that leaves you yearning for more when you are forced to put down the book to attend to other matters....like work, sleep or household chores. Believe me, if I could have chosen to keep reading instead of those things, I would have! I loved this book.

A little background on the book. It is set in both the early 1940's during World War II, and present-day in Folly Beach, South Carolina. The main character is Emmy Hamilton, a widow to soldier Ben, who died in Afghanistan. Unable to let go of her loss and move on, Emmy is convinced by her mother to buy a bookstore in Folly Beach and move from her safe haven of Indiana. Some of the books Emmy finds at her new bookstore, Folly's Finds, are tied to the past and to a secret that only Lulu O'Shea knows. Lulu is the sister of former Folly's Finds owner, Maggie Reynolds, and also an avid bottle tree maker. Emmy is forced to break through Lulu's tough shell to find the meaning of notes that she finds in the margins of books that she knows could only have been written between Maggie and an unidentified man. Emmy is joined by a delightful cast of characters both in the present-day setting and the setting of 1942, and each character comes alive in the book.

On Folly Beach forces the reader to think about the past while examining the present and the relationships which bind us to both. Sometimes we find it hard to let go of the people and places we love, until we are forced to evaluate the situation- often by an unlikely source.

Karen White's book is sure to please, and if you don't believe me just from reading my review, TLC Book Tours is offering to give two of my readers a copy of the book. All you need to do is comment on this post and you'll be entered to win. The giveaway will close on Friday, May 28th at noon EST.