Reunion!

As most of you know, I have been a cheerleader like my whole life.  I started doing "all stars" in third grade and never turned back.  When I decided to go to PC I was really unsure if I wanted to keep cheering because it was pretty stressful in high school (I know most of you are laughing right now, but I am not lying...).  We were really good in high school and practiced like every day and had football games, competitions, and basketball games, etc.   So I thought I wanted to kinda take a break from all that and just enjoy college.  Well I will have to say my mom made me at least try and out and we would just see what happens.  Well long story short, I made it, I decided to give it a try, and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.  Some of my absolute favorite memories from college are from games or road trips or pep ralleys or whatever else they made us do!  I met some of my very best friends and would not trade ONE MINUTE of cheering in college.  Were the best cheerleaders in the south east? absolute not.  Were we the best in our conference... maybe.. but truth be told, we really didn't care.  We were there to mostly just have fun and that was the best part. 

All this to say that this weekend we have a little cheerleading reunion of sorts.  It is only our graduating class and the one below us.. not to say we don't like everyone else, but we had a certain fondness for eachother :)  Well I am SO PUMPED and cannot wait to see some girls that I haven't seen in forever.  It promises to be a super fun weekend.  Here are some pictures from my old cheerleading days....

Of course I had to put up a picture of the one time I was ever a flyer :)

Tiger meets Scout

Ryan and Anna got a chocolate lab a few weeks and ago and he looks like Tiger's mini-me.  We took Tiger over to meet Scout the other day and they are just best friends already :)  

V-Day

For Valentine's Day for the past two years we have had some very fun plans.  Our newlywed class teachers host a romantic valentine's 4-course dinner at "river oaks" aka their amazingly beautiful home on the river. This year 17 couples came, but there was a twist.  Due to the snow, the Caldwell's (our hosts) had no power since Friday night.  They had to scramble and prepare a 4 course meal for 34 with no power the previous 26 hours!  They could have cancelled, but they are such troopers- they carried on! Well it turned out even better than last year and the food was just as delicious!  

This is one of the table settings.  They seat everyone is smaller groups (4-6) so that it is a little more intimate for valentine's day.  After all, we are all newlyweds :)

Our host coming around to show us our dessert selections.  Everyone at our table had the chocolate decadence, but I had the lemon tort.  It was very delicious :)

Thats a nice look, Ryan...

This is my favorite picture of the night.  Right when we were got in the very back seat (our third row seat in our car, which is a little tight) Anna and I try to take a picture with our roses and Anna realizes "Wheres my camera!?!"  HAHA!

LET IT SNOW!

We pretty much got a blizzard of snow Friday night... in Charleston!  The news was saying it was the most Charleston had seen since 1989!  Of course we ventured out last night and it was crazy how much snow there was.  The pictures don't quite do it justice.

This is right when we first went out, it probably snowed another 1.5 inches after this!

Matt barely made it back from a conference in Columbia in time.  I almost thought I had to enjoy the snow alone! Good thing he had his truck!

Emma and Stephen came out and brought sleds...well a skim board and a tupperware box lid :)

I kept sledding and my sled didn't...haha.  I had so much snow in my jacket and gloves at this point that I had to call it quits and go warm up!

This is my car covered in snow!! It was like 2 inches deep on it!

Snow is so beautiful, but I am glad we live in SC and don't have to deal with this everyday.  It is pretty for a while but nice to be back to normal a couple days later :)

Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest

Is a faithful messenger to those who send him,

For he refreshes the soul of his masters.

Prov 25:13

A Good Ol' Fashion Hymn

We normally go to the contemporary service on Sundays, but since Matt's dad was in town we went to the later service and it was really refreshing to hear a few hymns mixed in with the normal praise and worship.  Well we sung my all-time favorite hymn and every time I hear it, God always reveals something new to me.  It just reminds me how much I need Jesus and of the promise He gives us to spend eternity with Him.  I know you have all probably sang it before, but reading the words can just add a whole new meaning.  So enjoy :)

Come, thou Fount of every blessing, 
tune my heart to sing thy grace; 
streams of mercy, never ceasing, 
call for songs of loudest praise. 
Teach me some melodious sonnet, 
sung by flaming tongues above. 
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it, 
mount of thy redeeming love. 

Here I raise mine Ebenezer; 
hither by thy help I'm come; 
and I hope, by thy good pleasure, 
safely to arrive at home. 
Jesus sought me when a stranger, 
wandering from the fold of God; 
he, to rescue me from danger, 
interposed his precious blood. 

O to grace how great a debtor 
daily I'm constrained to be! 
Let thy goodness, like a fetter, 
bind my wandering heart to thee. 
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, 
prone to leave the God I love; 
here's my heart, O take and seal it, 
seal it for thy courts above. 

Kate's Baby Shower

On Saturday night my sister hosted a baby shower for Kate.  Kate is Lauren's best friend from med school and she now lives with her husband in Ohio and they are expecting their first baby in April!  It turned out so fun and Kate got tons of cute stuff for baby Addison.  Going to a baby shower was a nice change-up from all the wedding showers I have been going to lately :)

Lauren did such a good job with the decorations!

Kate at 31 weeks, such a cute baby belly!

We played the game where everyone gets a roll of toilet paper and guesses how big kate's belly was.  Some people guessed just a little too big :)

We also played the game where you put candy bars in diapers and melt them.  Then everyone guesses what candy bar it is.  It was really fun!

This is the quilt that my sister made for baby Addison 

Kate's sister Mary Foster painted this for Addison.  The theme of her nursery is Noah's ark so it should be very cute!

Congratulations Kate and Adam, I can't wait to meet Addison Rebecca soon!