Our Clemson Crew

I know say it all the time, but we are blessed. Blessed with some of the best friends in the entire world. Seriously. So many good memories. We made more of these memories last weekend at our Clemson Crew Lake Hartwell Fall Reunion Weekend!

Several of the Cast of Characters:

Katie & Aaron, The Soon-To-Be Shoultz

Me & Jay, The Hawkins :)

Brandon, Jarrod Carr, Adam May, and Will Anderson {being classic will}

Katie & her precious daughter Kamdyn Kelly

Nicole & Cody, the newlywed Simoneaux's

Brandon & Haley, The Blakes

Steve & Jaclyn, The Spanglers

John & Leigha, The Niemann's {and Tobey!}

What We Do:
We watch the boys [and Lauren} play with fire.
It always happens. The most mature, and responsible of men get together and find a way to involve throwing flaming tennis balls or jumping over fire pits or throwing vases... the list really could go on forever...
We take lots of pictures.
.... and make the guys takes lots of pictures of us :) {we have tailgaiting photos / this same photo every year since freshman year}
We enjoy being outside and being together {and missing our good ole' college days}
And we eat lots, and lots, and lots of yummy food.

This is Our Clemson Crew and we're blessed to have such sweet, God ordained friendships.

A Two Year Celebration!

Jay and I were blessed to be able to get away for 4 days and celebrate our 2 year anniversary last week. It was wonderful to have time just to ourselves! We both love to travel and thrive on new experiences and on seeing new parts of God's creation. We knew this anniversary trip would have be a shorter one so we decided to drive down to the Outer Banks.
We rented a condo on the beach and it was perfect! This was our view off the porch.
We visited the wright brothers memorial and museum at Kitty Hawk. It was neat to see where the first flight took place and to think back on our engagement airplane flight :)
We climbed to the top of the Cape Hatteras Light House. Its the tallest lighthouse in the united states, and y'all that is 256 steps. Now, for this terrified of hights girl it was a big accomplishment. We got inside the lighthouse and climbed about 5 steps and I looked at Jay and said no way in heck I am making it to the top. The stairs were not enclosed and you could look over the railing straight to the bottom. My sweet, encouraging, and oh so practical husband says. "Katherine, we paid $7 and i will walk behind you and you will make it to the top."
And we did make it to the top and the view as gorgeous. The far point if the actual Cape Hatteras.

We had fun remising on the many joys and challenges and accomplishments of the past 2 years. We both agreed that there is no way that we would have ever imagined our lives to have turned out quite like they have... but thats the fun in the adventure, and the security in knowing that God is in control of our every step.
We took lots of sunset pictures and enjoyed being outside. The beach in the fall is the best.

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" -Jeremiah 29:11

This is my favorite picture from our trip. I love this sweet man that I chose to walk beside for the rest of my life. Marriage is a challenge for sure, but I love my Husband, and I love my God more, and my heart desires to honor and please them both. God has prospered our lives and our marriage. He has promised a hope and a future and we are excited to see what that future holds together. So bring on the adventures! We have lots more memories to make as we continue our little journey into year three.

A Quote.

I found a quote today that I had written down a long time ago and I felt like I should share...

"The will of God will never take you where the grace of God will not protect you."

I don't know who said this or where I heard it. All I know is that I read it again today and was reflecting over the past couple of years of my life, and I realized how true it really is. God's will for our lives is to walk with him through the joys and the pain, and the mountains and the valleys. And His grace is enough to provide and to comfort and to protect. And when we're walking with Him we can't escape His loving grace. So simple I know, but for some reason I needed to hear it again this week. And for the millionth and one time again God provided grace and truth.

Happy tangibly grace filled weekend!

Mom's visit & a little touch of fall to our home!

I LOVE fall. Definitely my favorite season. I love the colors and the changing leaves. I love that I married my sweet husband in the fall. And I love college football, and apples and apple pie! And my list could go on and on, and on... with that said, i just had to do a little bit of fall decorating to our home. To be honest we have invested very little in the decoration of our town home. We have been in Virginia for 4 1/2 months so far and decorating our rental property has simply not been the focus. I keep telling myself one day soon we will have rooms with walls that belong to us that I can paint! And paint them orange if my heart desires ;)

For now I am content decorating my little mantle for fall. My sweet mama bought me a few cute fall decorations and helped me mix them with a few things I already had.




Mom and Jay and I also went to a pumpkin patch out in Nelly's Ford, VA. as you may have originally guessed, this pretty little pumpkin house is about the only thing in Nelly's Ford. They had lots of pumpkins and lots of beautiful mums. I did lots of wishful thinking about a garden and a yard and then I remembered God that again God is teaching me patience and contentment though not yet being a home owner. A few of our great finds and they are all straight from God's creation. Each one is so different. And here is where they now reside as a center piece for our kitchen table. (now all that kitchen table needs is a fresh, hot apple pie... my simple, delicious recipe will be posted in the coming days!)
And my sweet mama. I love our times together! She is so wonderful, and I feel blessed to have her support and to have her only a few hours away! Thanks for coming for a visit mama :)

How are you enjoying fall?

Psalm 19:1

"The heavens declare the Glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His Hands." -Psalm 19:1

I saw this rainbow when I pulled into chick-fil-a after 12 hours of work at the hospital. I snapped this photo with my phone so the quality isn't great, but hey thats life. It had just rained and God brought a huge smile to my face and reminded me that He is huge, and beautiful, and in control.

Football & Family

It is staring to feel like fall! Bella and I are loving the cool weather for our morning walks/runs. If only fall could stay forever and the weather would never change into the cold, miserable, freezing, never want to leave the house season that we call winter. God must have a reason for that season, so for now we are enjoying the beginning of Fall... and FOOTBALL! Football is huge in our family.... Jay and I are even competing on a fantasy football team! It was kinda bittersweet to not be in Death Valley last weekend for the opening Clemson game. My #78 is a senior this year and I am going to try and make the journey from our new virginia home down to as many games as I can.

Since Jay and I were unable to make the first Clemson game, it meant we were able to make it to UVA vs. Richmond Spiders game. My cousin Wil is the kicker for Richmond, and they were playing only 30 minutes from good ol' Waynesboro! It was wonderful to see family and to see will make 2 field goals and 1 extra point and 2 kick - offs! Here is our #13 practicing before he made a 30 something yard field goal!

Lots of RED for the Spiders!


Jay and I also got to travel the James river on sunday for mom's side of the family's reunion. It was the 70th year! My sweet Grandfather was one of 7 kids, and so for 70 years all those kids and their families get together over labor day weekend.

It was a beautiful day to spend catching up with family!

a much needed update from w'boro

Its been awhile. We've been busy... I know we have b/c our fridge is empty and I just finished 5 loads of laundry this morning that had been staring at me for about 3 weeks. I am thinking back over why we have been so busy and it all seems blurry. Pretty sure our lives have been Chick-fil-A, Chick-fil-A, a little ER hospital nursing, Chick-fil-A, Bella girl, and oh yeah, more Chick-fil-A. Sounds pretty miserable probably to most, but hey, its our lives and we are loving every crazy minute of it.

Things at the Chick are going wonderfully! We are busy, and we are meeting lots of people in the community, and we have the most wonderful employees ever. I am biased I know, but they are really great, and they are ours, and I love all 70 of them.

We have been trying lots of new churches up here in our new home town and want to find one that fits us. There have been lots of really great ones but we want to feel like we try several and allow the Spirit to lead us to the right church family for us. We went to Church on the Hill last weekend... its really on a hill, and 2 our high school guys lead the worship band, and their Dad is the Pastor. We loved hearing our guys play guitar and worship, and their Dad is a great teacher. He referenced the following verse:

"Now He who supplies the seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion and your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God."
2 Corinthians 9:10 - 11

I love Corinthians and I love this verse. It doesn't really apply to us in the monetary sense, but it definitely does on a people basis. God has supplied us with the most amazing employees and friends to love on. Jay and I spent so much time praying over the people that we would have in our store and God has blessed us with increase! Our heart is to grow our people, to love them, and serve alongside them, to support them in life, to challenge them to be better, and to provide a work environment that is enjoyable to come to. We are in the growing people business and we'll leave the growing the business and all that other stuff up to the Lord. I truly believe that the Lord blesses His children with increase so that as believers we can be a blessing to others with a spirit of generosity and joy all for the glory of our God.

That is my prayer today... that the Lord would give me a continued spirit of generosity and joy in daily life and in every obstacle I and sure to be faced with. How has God blessed you with increase?

I have an increase in laundry now that I known a very large cow suit that needs frequent washing! Off to make my sweaty cow smell clean and fresh :) Happy Friday!

extra spicy homemade salsa!

So back in May I decided to try my very first ever tiny garden in pots. Back in May I was rather doubtful that I would be able to avoid over watering my herbs and jalapenos, but I said a little prayer and God answered... and I grew lots and lots of jalapenos!

With my plentiful harvest of little green jalapenos I decided to make up a recipe for homemade salsa:
1 can whole Tomatoes
2 cans Rotel
1/4 cup Onion, chopped
1 whole Lime juiced
2 Jalapeno Peppers, sliced very thin
1/2 tsp Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Cumin
2 cloves Garlic, minced
Lots of Cilantro!

Throw it all in a food processor and pulse about 10 times

Then let your sweet husband have a try...

And then he will probably make faces like this and say "why do you think you its a good idea to take pictures of me while I eat?"

Stuffed & Baked Tomatoes!

If you don't like tomatoes, don't stop reading! My sweet husband isn't a fan of tomatoes, but we both love this yummy summer side dish....

Select 2 ripe, but firm tomatoes and cut in half
1/4 cup crushed croutons
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
fresh, shredded parsley
salt & pepper to taste
4 Tbl melted butter
shredded cheddar cheese

Mix croutons, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and parsley in a small bowl. Melt butter and pour over over crushed crouton mix. Scoop out inside of tomato halves. (Leave lots of the juicy good stuff too!) Fill the inside of the tomatoes with crouton mix and top with shredded cheddar cheese.
Bake in a greased dish for 20 - 30 minutes until bubbly and the cheese is melted!

We usually make 4 tomato halves but you can obviously double or cut in half. I also sometimes mix in dried italian seasonings too! Hope you enjoy :) Happy weekend!

the many blessings of july.

Its the last day of July isn't it? wow... this month has flown by in our little hawksnest! We have had many exciting celebrations with the engagement of my brother benny to his bride-to-be Stella, and my sweet, dear best friend Kate to Jeff! We also opened the Chick-fil-A! It has been such a fun month, and I don't feel like I have stopped for more than 5 minutes. Good thing we enjoy being crazy busy! And, we feel so blessed to be right smack in the middle of where God has us.

We are blessed to have a brand new store that in our opinion couldn't be in a more beautiful location.

We continue to feel humbled as we pull into the parking lot that this is ours.

Blessed to have had 255 people here to camp out in the parking lot before the opening...

Blessed to have these sweet friends here from the Clemson Chick-fil-A to help with organizing the store and training our new employees. They were an incredible amount of help, and so much fun spend time with. Lots of laughs and "family dinners."

Blessed to have our sweet Bethany! Our Marketing and Events girl... and she has been an immeasurable amount of help. We are thrilled she is in this Chick-fil-A of Waynesboro journey with us. It amazing to have others working along side us who also want to make a positive impact on our community.

Blessed to have Ben and Stella here to celebrate and support us in the opening. I am excited to have a new soon to be sister and we couldn't be happier for Ben and Stella as they begin to walk through engagement and plan their wedding! They also attempted to eat a whole strip tray and tons of fries... but it was a bit much for even big ben!

Blessed to have had the support of our parents throughout our lives, and throughout every minute of this Chick-fil-A adventure. Jay and I wouldn't be the people we are today without their love and continual encouragement. It was special to have them here during the grand opening to celebrate the many successes together.
Blessed to have a brothers and sisters :)
Blessed to have Mr. Herb to teach us, grow us into better people, support us, and most of all to challenge us to do more and be more. It was wonderful to have him here throughout the week. We would not be where we are in Chick-fil-A without the many difficult lessons we learned from him.

Blessed to have had this moment. It is an awful picture, but I remember how I felt at the exact moment this picture was taken. It was a moment of realization that I love my husband so incredibly much. And a moment when I realized that I couldn't be more proud to be his wife. A moment when all the adventures and sacrifices we have made made perfect sense. A moment when I was thankful for an amazing father in law who can pray for us in front of others, but who also is committed to praying for us daily. A moment when I realized that I didn't want to be anywhere else because God was tangibly present in that moment.
Blessed to have these 70 people in our lives. Blessed to have prayed for these people for the past several months and to see their faces and to be privileged enough to work along side them everyday. We are blessed to be able to love on them.