Lighthouses

I just love lighthouses, don't you? When I was in college I spent one summer working at a camp on Oak Island. I spent every night of that summer in a room in an old building that served as the barracks for Ft. Caswell, a fort dating back to the Civil War. The warm ocean breeze lulled me to sleep every night, as did the constant flashing of the Oak Island Lighthouse. With four flashes followed by six seconds of darkness, its consistency became a rather soothing presence in an otherwise dark room.

Since 1958 this lighthouse has been guiding ships safely through the night off the shores of North Carolina.

Even though I have been vacationing on Oak Island for over 20 years, I had never climbed to the top of the lighthouse until this summer. My lovely daughter, Catie, volunteered as a tour guide while working a summer job as a waitress on the island. This gave me the perfect excuse to visit. (Isn't she one of the prettiest guides you have ever seen?)

The climb to the top was not an easy one. The lighthouse has 131 ship's ladder steps making the trip to the top quite laborious. However, the view at the end of the journey is well worth the labor.

It was a little overcast on the day that I visited, however, Catie said that on a clear day one could see all the way to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.

Although the view of the vast ocean is amazing; I love the view of the intercoastal waterway and the marsh surrounding it.

After my visit to the lighthouse I was thinking about why I am so drawn to this structure. It finally dawned on me that, in a world where nothing ever stays the same, this lighthouse continues to give the same guidance that it has for many years. The same consistent four flashes and six second darkness that eased me to sleep every night over twenty years ago still continues today. Thankfully, I serve a God who is consistent in a world that is continuously changing.


Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8

Where Did the Summer Go?

This summer has gone by too quickly. Between getting Catie ready to go off to college and taking Carson to her singing gigs, there hasn't been much time for just relaxing. However, I'm not complaining. Spending these summer days enjoying my girls is exactly how I want it. I know that all too soon they will both be grown up and gone. I wish somebody had told me how fast time goes when they were babies. Maybe someone did, but I was too young to understand. Oh well, I must change the subject before I am in tears.

On a happier note, Catie is excited about going to college and Carson is excited about having two of her songs on Itunes. Both girls seem to know exactly what they want to do. Maybe I haven't made too many mistakes along the way. Thankfully, the ones I have made have been covered by an awesome God!



Carson has been working really hard on her music and is trying very hard to get some more followers on her music sites. If any of you have some free time and like country/pop music. Please check her out. I'm sure she would love it!

Carson's website
Youtube channel
Itunes

I hope each of you have had a summer filled with love and laughter! Remember to enjoy every moment.

Happy Birthday, Catie!

Eighteen years ago today God gave us one of the most precious gifts. Happy Birthday to our Catie! Daddy, Carson, and I love you very much. We are so proud of the young lady you have grown up to be. No matter how old you get, you will always be our little girl.


Catie at four holding Carson. One of my favorite pictures.

Catie's Senior Prom!

Spring has sprung here in North Carolina! As I am writing this post the birds' sweet songs are drifting through the morning air. After a very busy weekend full of activities...prom...photo shoot...art show performance...and...Easter cantata...it is nice to have a quiet morning to just sit and reflect. I am reminded of how incredibly blessed my family is.

Catie and her friends enjoyed their Senior prom this weekend. The weather was perfect! In fact, it was so nice that she and a friend sat on the pier at the end of the night and enjoyed the warm breeze.

It's hard to believe that she is graduating in just a couple of months. Where did the time go? It seems that just yesterday she was a curly headed little girl playing with toys.



Even though they sometimes argue, you can tell that they really love each other.



As pretty as they are, the azaleas can't hold a candle to Catie.



This child has always loved trees. When she was little, she used to run up and wrap her arms around them.



Every year her prom pictures have to include a tree!



I always like the pictures with the water in the background.



Can you believe that this was the first dress that she tried on?



It fit perfectly! No alterations at all.



I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to take care of this darling girl for the last 17 (almost 18) years. I guess it's almost time for her to spread her wings and fly. I'm sure she is ready...I just don't think that I am!

Chaos and Country Living

The last couple of weeks have been really busy around here. Even though our life gets a little chaotic at times, we always seem to be able to balance the chaos with some simple country living.



Carson spent to first part of the week in the studio recording the final vocals for her songs "Run" and "Missing You." I didn't realize how much work went into recording until this experience. It gives me a new respect for artists and all of the people that work in the music industry. As you can see...she enjoyed every minute of it.



Catie even got into the act and helped record a little of the background vocals!



Of course none of this would have been possibe without the help of some great people. Mark Lassiter introduced us to her producer, Brad Smith. We now consider them both great friends. We couldn't have asked for anyone better to work with Carson. Brad's work is amazing! We cant wait to get the final mix.



It wasn't quite all work and no play. Brad stayed with us in our home and we managed to do a little grilling and fishing...country life at its best!

The Waiting Is Over....Or Is It?

Well it is official. Catie is a Carolina Tarheel! She made her decision last night. We are so proud of her. Now we will be able to start planning and buying the things that she will need to go off to school in the fall. This is such a bittersweet time for us. We are excited for her highschool graduation and the events that are to come; however, it just seemed to come along way too soon! I don't know if she will ever know what joy she brings to my life on a daily basis. Am I ready to let her go away??



Oh, well...on another note...Spring has been playing tricks on us around here. After a couple of weeks of very warm weather, it seems that this last week has taken us back to winter. It has been cold and rainy, so there is not much to report in the garden. Hopefully, warmer weather will return soon. I guess we are always waiting for something aren't we?

Great News!

Some of you know that we have been waiting for a couple of months on some college admissions letters for my oldest daughter, Catie. Well, thank goodness, this weekend brought some great news...she received her acceptance letter from UNC-Chapel Hill! We are so excited! Even though we are still waiting on letters from two more schools, it seems the pressure has been lifted since this is one of her top choices.


She is such a hardworking student and her dad and I are very proud of the young lady she is becoming. She hopes to be a college professor some day. I think any student would be lucky to be in her class!

On another note, Carson's full band production is almost finished. Her producer has done a great job finding excellent musicians to record her music. It sounds great! He is flying in sometime next week to record her final vocals. She is so excited to finally get to work with him in person.



He will be staying with us in our home. Since we don't have very many out of town guest, I need some suggestions from all of you bloggers out there who frequently have house guests. Feel free to give me some of your best hosting tips!

As you can see, the next week or so will be really busy around here and my blogging may be limited. However, I will stop by to see what each of you have going on in order to avoid withdrawals. I hope you all have a blessed first week of spring!

Weekend in Nashville

We had a great time in Nashville this past weekend! Our trip was pretty much centered around Carson's love for country music and her dream to be a singer someday. I thought that I might just give a few highlights today and post a little more detail each day about the places we visited and the people that we met.

We splurged a little on this trip and stayed in the Gaylord Opryland Resort. What fun! I'll have to do a whole post on the resort to share some more pictures of the conservatory gardens in the hotel.


One of the highlights of my weekend was meeting Tina from In A Garden. She and her family drove over an hour to come to the hotel to meet us. She even brought me some plants for my garden. How sweet is that!! She is the first of my blogging friends that I have had the chance to meet in person. I'll certainly have to blog about that later in the week.


One of Catie and Carson's highlights was meeting Neil from The Band Perry in the hotel lobby. He was really sweet to stop and have a picture made with them.


Of course Carson had to see The Bluebird Cafe. It was not at all what we expected. She wants to sing there the next time she is in Nashville.


This is the Ryman...the first home to the Grand Ole Opry.


We enjoyed a show and backstage tour of the current Grand Ole Opry. Carson enjoyed standing on the hallowed circle where all of the great country music stars have stood. Could this be a future star here?


We have never seen so many big guitars!






We all loved Nashville! It is such a lively city with so much to do. Two days were not enough to see all that we would have liked. I think a longer trip will be in our future.


The weekend was warm in Nashville and at home. This morning I was greeted by a few surprises in my own little corner of the world.


No matter how far I roam, there's no place like home! Hope your weekend was filled with joy!

Should I Change My Name?

I'm beginning to think that I should change the name of my blog. What do you think? When I started this blog a little less than a year ago, I wanted to focus on my life in the country and the wonderful, simple pleasures that go along with it. Little did I know that my life would become so busy that it would take me away from that focus. Having two teen aged girls has made my life wonderfully, hectic instead. When they were smaller it was easier to keep life simple. However, they are growing up and their activities are very important to them. Instead of quietly sitting in the sunroom watching the winter birds feasting at the feeders, I am spending more time on the road. We have been busy with many different activities such as....


...cheering Carson on as she records her first demo CD,



...hosting Christmas parties for a bunch of cool, young adults,


... and enjoying Catie's show choir performing their Christmas tunes.

All of these activities have been keeping us busy during this wonderful Christmas season, and my blog has taken a slight detour from its original purpose; however, I hope you all don't mind tagging along. I'm sure that before I know it my life will slow down enough to stop and watch the birds again, but I'm not quite sure that I am ready for that moment to arrive. For now, I am enjoying my beautifully, busy life! May you all find joy in your life in whatever stage you happen to be. To everything there is a season!

O Christmas Tree!

We are slowly but surely getting up all of our Christmas decorations. Last night we put up our live tree in the living room. This has always been one of my favorite Christmas traditions. John and I always put the tree up and get the lights on it, then the girls decorate while I bake cookies. After the tree is finished we eat our treats and enjoy the tree.



This tree is always our 'fun' tree that has decorations that we have had for years. Some of them are decorations that I have had since my childhood; others are ones that the girls have made over the years.



This year is a little bittersweet because we know that Catie will most likely be away at college next year when we trim the tree.



Although they have their sisterly moments (a.k.a. arguments), I know that they will miss each other.



Don't they look like angels?



After eating their cookies they danced...



...and danced...



...and danced.



Then came the star!



They used to argue over who got to put on the star. This year they didn't. I think they are growing up. Bittersweet!

My Thankfulness Continues!

Wow! What a busy week! When you have teenagers life is never dull. This week I have been extremely busy with the girls. Catie is working hard to turn in all of her college applications and most of them require a separate scholarship application. Carson has been busy getting ready to record several of her original songs (part of her Christmas present). It feels as though time is passing by at breakneck speed. My simple country life is not quite as simple as I would like for it to be. However, as I was cleaning this morning to prepare for the live tree that John and Carson have gone to pick up, I just took a moment to stop and thank God for blessing me with these precious girls who bring such life into our home. I would be lost without them.

With all of that said, I need to make a confession. As I stroll through all of your blogs, I am very jealous of the beautiful Christmas decorations that I see. I have only managed to hang a couple of wreaths and put up the tree in the sunroom. Everything else is still in boxes. I must get busy!



I have always enjoyed putting a wreath on the courtyard wall...but this year the wreath blends in with the creeping fig that has started growing rapidly. Thank goodness the wreath has lights so that I can see it!



This morning was very cold and we actually had a little sleet. I was very thankful for one of my blogging friends who so graciously hosted a giveaway that I won. Denise at Den's Daily Life sent me the most wonderful things. I spent the morning drinking some of the hot chocolate that she sent while curled up under this beautiful red throw that was also part of the prize.



She also sent me this great Christmas stationary...



...the Snoopy mug, candles and Christmas pretties that will soon become part of an arrangement of greenery!

There were even some gift tags, gift bags, tea, cocoa, and coffee. What more could I want??? It was my first time to receive a gift from one of my blogging friends. When the mail lady delivered the package, I felt like Santa had been. Thank you, Denise, from the bottom of my heart. Every time I wrap up in my soft, Christmas throw, I will think of your kindness! I thank God for all of my blogging friends! May He fill your houses with love and happiness this Christmas season!