smokies winter magic

last week, my family and i took a nine day vacation to the great smoky mountains.

the past few months have been a stressful time for the four of us.

my mom is still adjusting to her new job.

dad is always being pulled in different directions with work.

grace quit basketball.

and i have experienced heartbreak.

needless to say, this trip was a nice retreat to get away from all of the chaos of home, and spend some quality time together. i realize trips like these will not always be possible, and i thank God for them.

 

the smokies is absolutely one of my favorite places in the world. it's so nice to be up in the mountains with no cell service (yep..i just said that), and just enjoy God's creation. i am learning more and more everyday how glorious He is. how perfect.

here's a few pictures...

dollywood with my sis

dad--just can't manage to get him to take a serious picture

beautiful sis

we fell in love with this little coffee shop by the old mill.
if you're every up there, go check it out!

what do you think? ;)



we went to candlelight christmas at the biltmore.
it. was. magical.





they enjoyed ice cream at the biltmore.
i went for the coffee
come on people...it's 30 degrees outside, who needs ice cream?


 



in the gardens at the biltmore.
we want to go back when the flowers are in full bloom.
it was kind of dreary in november

we enjoyed a fun day of racing with our good friends.
had a little friendly competition.
for a day, we were all ten years old again. ha!



late night snack after another long day in dollywood.
my hair is the result of one too many roller coasters.



soo...we were attempting to do a jumping shot..probably couldn't tell, huh?
it looks like a rockstar move gone wrong. haha.
we did actually get a very good jumping shot, if you're wondering.
sadly, it's on the other camera :(

the girls--cades cove

the girls & dad

friday night @ mellow mushroom.
please keep in mind we shopped ALL night Thursday night, and ALL day Friday.

last night in Gatlinburg.
enjoying walking the strip.

i would love to share with you my dad's birthday pictures, but he would probably kill me. we all went to bubba gumps to celebrate his big 50th.
they made him shake his booty.
if you know my dad, you probably can't believe he did it!

this song come on this morning on my way to work. it usually doesn't have such a powerful affect on me, but this morning...it hit me hard.

this line...it was as if God himself whispered into my ear.

"what if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy?"

i have known disappointment and trials in my life. but it hasn't been until recently that i have known disappointment with every fiber in my body.
sometimes, we just need to be reminded...no one or no thing could ever satisfy us the way the Messiah does.

just a thought....

HAVE A FABULOUS DAY!



recent happenings.

Hi friends! I wish I could report to you that my lack of blogging is due to my fall being filled with lots of bonfires, cozy foods, good reads, and chick flicks, but sadly that isn't the case. Gosh, I wish it were...that would be the life, huh?  Instead, I've been drowning in papers, tests, fundraisers, work, etc. Sometimes I wish life would just slow down a bit, and give me time to actually do those things which I love. My to-do lists get so overwhelming at times I don't even know where to begin, and unfortunately I never make it past the yucky tasks to make it to the fun things like Christmas decorating. Don't tell me you haven't already considered dragging out the red and green.

Thankfully, my family and I will be taking a break in 12 days (yes, I am counting) to venture off to the Great Smokies. I think the four of us are in much needed of a getaway. I'll give more details on the upcoming trip soon :)

Here's a few pictures of recent days just in case you don't follow me on Instagram (which you definitely should!)

We had a 5K run this past Saturday to raise money for our orphanage, Rosemary's Home of Hope. The first five of the pictures are of the event. I will hopefully be sharing more about that and my upcoming trip to the Philippines in a few days. If you would like more information about supporting me (which I would be so extremely grateful for), please just email me!




dad and sis. they did awesome!




one of my best friends came out to help me for the day.
such a blessing!



sister love. grace came in fourth overall. awesome!



dad won his division. we were all pretty impressed!



the winners of the more mature division



i got this in a text over the weekend. soph told her mom she was going to meme's house.
kinda made my day.



little brady boy. he's presh.

Fireflies & Carriage Rides

As you already know, my family and I recently got back from our annual family vacation to the Great Smoky Mountains.  It was a wonderful trip filled with many exciting activities! We went to Dollywood a total of three days, and Gracie and I were able to break our record of how many times in one day we could ride the Thunderhead! In just one of those days we rode it five times.  We will gradually have a huge record ;) We also hiked up Clingman's Dome, went to see the fireflies, played putt putt golf three times, walked the streets of Gatlinburg, shopped the outlets, rode through Cades Cove, went on a carriage ride, and ate very very well, including the wonderful fried snickers (amazing!).

Below are some pictures of our fun happenings.  Some of the things we did such as Dollywood and putt putt won't be shown, because I didn't take any pictures with my camera.  Those activities are either on my phone, Gracie's camera, or my mom's. I also plan to put up some pictures, and tell you about the trip to Florida. I'll be working on it :) Enjoy!






                                                              Top of the Smokies=beautiful. 


                                                               Absolutely, totally worth it!                          


                                                           Taking a little break!
  

                                                   Clingman's Dome...we're almost there!!



                                             Taking a small break before heading up the tower!


Beautiful view! See those bare trees? Some European bug has taken over man of the trees in the forrest. Very sad.



                                                                              Breath taking... 





                                                                        love my sis! 


Dad & Gracie on the way back down!



BFF (Beautiful Fat Feet) made it to Clingman's Dome! Nothing these Filipino trained feet can't handle :)


                                                                  She's so beautiful! 


                                                        She made it! YOU GO MOM :)


                                    This was at the church in Cades Cove...it's very beautiful!


Cades Cove



                                                  Our friend, Crystal, told us about this little water hole. Of course, we had to stop and try it out! It was wonderful!



  

                                                               Our flashlights for the fireflies.
We had to go to Sugarland Vistors Center, stand in line for about three hours, catch a trolley, ride 20 minutes to Elkmont campground, hike 15 minutes up a trail, and then pick a spot in the woods. All to wait on some fireflies. Some may call it crazy, but I call it beautiful.  At about 9:00 the fireflies began synchronizing lighting up. There were millions of them. It was incredible. This only happens in the Smokies, and in Japan. They do this for a couple of weeks each spring during their mating.  I wish so badly I could have taken pictures, but any kind of light throws them completely off.  That's why we have our flashlights wrapped in the pretty red paper.  For some reason red and blue lights don't bother them!
 


I love this little church..perfect wedding location..or maybe even the field nearby. Just saying.. :)


            I love this little church..perfect wedding location..or maybe even the field nearby. Just saying.. :)


                                                      Gracie enjoyed filling up our bottles


          Happy Anniversary to my mom and dad! They also rode a carriage ride in Pigeon Forge for their anniversary! I'll try and get a hold of those pictures and get those on here :) Presh!




                                                    It might have only been half a mile, but whew...I could feel the burn!

**For some reason the pictures REFUSED to stay in the order I put them in. I hope you can figure it all out :)

Much love <3

God Thing

Ever have one of those things that happens to you, and all of the explanation you can give is it was just a "God thing?" Within the past week my family and I have experienced a few of these. I feel like these moments happen whenever we are least expecting them.  When we have our hearts open, and God decides to really blow our minds. I don't know about you, but I love those moments, and I want to share one of the recent ones with you!

Each year my family and I take a vacation to the Great Smoky Mountains.  It's one of my favorite places on earth.  Being there is such a sweet reminder of my loving Savior.  The way the mountains are formed.  The serene sound of the creek flowing. I just love it. Almost every visit we stay at the same hotel. This particular hotel offers special deals with one of the pancake houses in the Smokies.  I absolutely love pancake houses! I can even make myself get up a little extra early just to go :) Last year, we went enough times that we become familiar with one of the waitresses in there.  She was our server almost every time, and even though she saw many people come in and out, she began to recognize us too. However, we never really got to know her well, and had somewhat forgot about our encounters with this young lady until we walked back into that same pancake house last Monday! We immediately recognized her, and even got to sit in her section.  We told her that we remembered her from last year, and although she didn't exactly remember us she was very pleased to have been remembered.  From one Monday to the next Monday we become very close to Crystal. She told us bits of her story, and how life was growing up in the Smokies. Before the week was over she knew to bring me a coffee, water, and those delicious chocolate chip pancakes. Every since I was a small child I have been very intrigued by people who grow up there, and have always thought it would be the coolest to have a friend from there.  We were only fortunate enough to get to talk to Crystal on a few mornings for only brief amounts of time.  I am very thankful the Lord brought her into our lives, and allowed us to get to know her.  I hope and pray our friendship with her will continue to grow although we are back home. 

As you all know, I absolutely love telling stories from the Philippines. The majority of my blog is filled with things about the Philippines, and I love it that way.  However, while I am back in the states I want to share with you all things going on in my life here.  I want to tell you about all of the things the Lord continues to do in my life, but I'm not willing to stop sharing the Philippines with you....so here's what I'm going to do.  Once a week I want to share with you a story and pictures from one of the trips in the past four years.  I think it will be fun to bring back some of those wonderful memories to share with you. I look forward to sharing more and more with you in the future. Much love!