Jesus Draw Me Close

Jesus draw me close,

Closer Lord to you.

Let the world around me fade away.

Jesus draw me close,

Closer Lord to 

you,

For I desire to worship and obey.

These were the words we sang this morning during our service, and God spoke to my heart. I mentioned the other day that I was struggling with some changes at work, and would be praying Psalms 91 as I work through these changes. This weekend I praised God, even through these trials, and I felt his presence.

I am partnering with another fellow blogger in an effort to focus on praying for the next 40 days. If this is something you also struggle with and want to learn more about, I encourage to join us.

I hope you all have a great week!

Blessings!

Paige

One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Treasure

There was a buzz at my end of the townhouse complex today. I kept seeing people walking back to their homes carrying furniture, pillows, curtains, etc. I was a little baffled at first and wondered if someone in the neighborhood was having a yard sale. Much to my dismay, this is what I saw when I looked out the window...

Apparently, a family moved and left a lot of things behind that they either a) didn't need or want or b) that they could not take with them. Whatever the reason, there trash became another man's treasure today!

Hope you and your family had a great weekend!

Blessings!

Paige

P.S. The grunting noises in the background is my 4-week old nephew Cooper who I was holding!

The end of the week..

It has been such a long week, even though we only had four work days. There are some changes going on at work, and although I think change is a good thing in life, these changes are making me a little nervous and uneasy. A dear friend reminded me of Psalms 91 today and told me to read it and pray it this weekend! I know my God is in control, and that he will take care of me and guide me. Please pray that I will be still and listen.

My grandmother loves to garden (and I did not inherit that gene). Last weekend while we were at the farm, I took several photos of the beauty that surrounds her house. It was pure bliss to me in this place and to spend some time on the farm. I hope you enjoy these photos.

Have a great weekend!

Blessings!

Paige

Going to Grandma's (or in my case Mamaw's)

I went home this weekend for Memorial Day. We spent Sunday afternoon at my Mamaw's in the country. She lives in the house she was born in seventy-eight years ago. Amazing! My cousin and his wife own the house and land now, but she lives there as they are not ready to retire and move to the country just yet. I took photos of the many flowers she has around and will post more of those this week. For now, here is a tour of the buildings on the land.

Here is the original house...

Here is the house where my great-aunt Pearle lived before she passed away... It is now used as a storage house...

Here is the old barn...

Here is the old chicken house... When I was a little girl, I used to help gather the eggs in the mornings for breakfast... Behind the chicken house is the muscadine vines as well...

Here is the old shed that sits in the yard... This is where we now store all of Mamaw's gardening tools...

And here is the old well that sits on the property... It has been closed up for years, but it used to be a working well...

"And I'm proud to be an American,

Where at least I know I'm free.

And I won't forget the men who died,

Who gave that right to me."

Love you Papaw and Granddick! Thank you for your service to our country and for providing the freedom I live in each day. 

I hope each of you have a great week! 

Blessings,

Paige

Terrific Thursday!

I wondered what I would watch tonight since both Private Practice and Grey's Anatomy have finished for this season. I was so excited to turn on the TV and see that So You Think You Can Dance is back on. Yay!! That is one of my secret desires - to be a great dancer! I admit, I definitely got the white-girl gene when it comes to dancing. I have always wanted to be a great dancer! But, I will have to live vicariously through these amazing men and women who can dance. *Sigh*

I got the chance today to spend some time with a very special young lady. Jessica is a student at Auburn and is one of the most well-rounded individuals I know. She painted this awesome picture that now hangs in my office.

Here we are at Auburn's Homecoming football game last year. (Yes, I know I am an Alabama fan! I pulled my Tide through later in the day to beat LSU.. on the campus of AU! What an awesome day!)

Tomorrow is graduation day! It will be a busy day, but such a rewarding day for the students I interact with each day. They will now become the alumni that I work with each year. I thought back to my graduation day, and how nervous, excited, sad and surreal I felt. I use to think "if only I knew this... or if I had done this...", but today I realized that if I knew the path I would have taken in college and and then in my career, I wouldn't be where I am today because I would have been too scared to try. I am so thankful that I get to work with students, and that they teach me on a daily basis. I am truly blessed!

 I am off to my parents for Memorial Day weekend on Saturday. 

Blessings!

Paige

Recitals, Rehearsals and Relief

What a busy week this has been so far! We are getting ready for graduation and finishing up the end of the year with exams, planning for next year and inventory. 

Last weekend I went to the dance recital of four of our senior girls. At the end of their recital, I gave them each sunflowers. Here is a photo with them that one of their sweet moms sent me today.

Today we had rehearsal for graduation on Friday. We will graduate 32 seniors this year (only 31 are pictured because one of their classmates has chicken pox! Bless his heart.) As a part of graduation rehearsal today, our alumni association president came and presented each student with a t-shirt from the college they plan to attend. I thought this was a great shot of our seniors representing their colleges and universities!

I am so excited (and relieved) that Kris Allen is our next American Idol. Way to represent the South! I bet the town of Conway, Arkansas is rocking right now! Adam has a great voice, but was a little too edgy for me. Kris fits the persona of an American Idol. They will both have great careers.

Enjoy the rest of your week! I am looking forward to a long weekend.

Blessings!

Paige

Playing Catch-Up!

It has been a long time since an update! I have to admit that when I started this blog, I planned to update at least four to five times a week. This past week, I had every intention to update but life just kept getting in the way!

So here is a recap of the last week or so...

• Celebrated my 31st birthday with my family! My family gave me two new chairs for my little porch, money, and I got a Pandora bracelet.
• Celebrated Mother's Day with my mom and sister. 
• Attended a graduation party for a family friend.
• Went home to Montgomery and coordinated the wedding of my cousin Casey and her fiance Lance! They were married in a beautiful ceremony this past weekend.

This week is another busy week as we finish up exams at school and get ready to graduate our Seniors on Friday! 

Sorry for no pictures in this post! My camera battery died and I have not been able to find the charger. I took a few with my iPhone, but have not downloaded them yet. 

Blessings!

Paige

Happy Mothers Day!

Blessings!

Paige

Happy Birthday to me... and Happy Cinco de Mayo to you!

Happy Birthday to me! Well, not quite yet. I arrived at 4:50 a.m. on May 5, 1978 after being two and a half weeks late!

And while I am celebrating another birthday, I want to wish you all a Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Have a great day!

Blessings!

Paige

Graduation Gifts

We have several friends who have daughters that will be graduating from high school this year. Mom and I were trying to come up with a "frugal" gift for all these girls. We, so far, have six gifts to give and one of my cousins will be graduating from law school. I love stationary, and I know that I used a lot my first year in college keeping in touch with my family and writing thank-you notes for those unexpected care packages I received in the mail.

I tried to find some inexpensive notecards on line that were monogrammed with their initials in a fun, but classic font. We looked at several options, but were looking to spend about $100.00 on six sets. That is not a lot when you split it two ways, but it is a lot when you add shipping and tax, and you plan to add a couple of other little items to the gift as well.

The other day in Target, I came across some notecards that were the perfect size. And, they were on clearance for $7.49.  Yes! Fifty notecards with envelopes for $7.49.. $0.15 a piece! There were two boxes so I bought them both. The only problem.. there was no monogram on the front of them. 

So last night, I downloaded a new font that I really liked, and attempted to print the notecards myself! I am really happy with how they turned out, and hope the girls like them. I am looking for some other sizes for future gifts.

Here is a closer shot of the notecards...

And of course, I had to print some for myself in fun colors!

We are currently under a severe weather warning, and have been since about 2:00 p.m. The storm is now moving out of Alabama, so hopefully we will not be under any other warnings this weekend. We spent late yesterday afternoon under severe weather warnings as well. I love spring weather in Sweet Home Alabama!

Hope each of you have a great week!

Blessings!

Paige