Without a doubt, one of the best outcomes of moving back to the Triangle area is being able to once again be involved with the NC TriAngels — the Pi Beta Phi Alumnae Club for the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill areas.  I was pretty involved in 2008 and 2009 right after I graduated from undergrad, but when I moved back east I couldn’t really attend any events and after moving to Savannah, I ended up joining the club down there.

Last night I went to my first Triangle alum event since 2009ish at the Raleigh Wine & Design.  There were a few familiar faces and lovely new faces as well.  I re-connected with two sisters from my own chapter and met several sweet new girls.  Everyone was so welcoming and it was like picking right back up where we left off.  I love those types of friendships.

Aside from getting to see everyone again, I was SO excited for this event specifically because I have been wanting to go to Wine & Design for soooo long!!  In what seems like a former life now, I actually once loved to paint, draw and had a special gift with chalk pastels.  In high school, I spent hours in art class and took every class imaginable.  Anyway, it was my escape and I loved it and I was fairly good at it.  But ever since starting college, I haven’t had the chance to hone my skill or even just let go and paint a little.  Aside from the random silly craft, I just sort of let that hobby go.  I was really looking forward to holding a brush for the first time in far too long.

In the end it was a fantastic night of catching up with old friends, good wine and some pretty decent painting if I do say so myself.

Happy to be back, Raleigh!

This is an important post because what is about to be presented has never happened before.  I am not really known for my ability to keep plants alive.  In fact I’m probably more well known for my ability to kill plants.  When I saw these cute little plant growing kits all I could think about is how adorable they would be on my windowsill. I didn’t decide to actually purchase the kit until I read the words “Guaranteed to grow!”  After that I figured what the heck, and grabbed the grass growing egg and a purple pansy egg.

So here is the “Before” shot of my growing grass egg.

Next I tried to plant the pansy and this is what happened after attempting the very first instruction to “tap the top of the egg with a spoon and lightly crack open.”

So I gave up on that one.  But this minor setback did not deter my grass growing efforts.  And apparently all my hard work and natural born grass growing ability paid off because this little guy seems much happier with some “hair.”

Adorable. :)

I’m not sure where the entire month of March went, but I’m sure we were packing or unpacking a box during it.  What an adventure this time has been — from learning of our fast approaching move-out date, to finding somewhere to live, to being excited to leave Savannah, to being sad to leave Savannah, to losing a beloved member of the family, to making the six hour move back to my old stomping grounds.  Throw in our One Year Anniversary and my head is basically spinning.  What a roller coaster life can be at times.  Fortunately, with the right person beside you, each passing second is more brilliant than the last.  One of the best parts about moving back home to NC would have to be that we are finally a family of three with my sweet Riley Bear back at home with us.  He hasn’t lived with me since 2009 but my parents have been great enough to keep him for me at his “country home.” He is a rescue puppy from the  animal shelter and when I got him in 2005 the vet estimated him to be 3-5 years old.  So now he is an elderly puppy and has some special needs and is a greeeat reminder of how long we have to wait before we welcome more “puppies” to our home. Side note: The second morning Riley was with us he got sick and threw up in the kitchen, probably from the stress of moving (which I can understand).  My loving, wonderful husband woke up early and when he saw the throw up, he decided to cover it with a towel and went back to bed.       I.Kid.You.Not.    We have had a lot of fun conversations about that incident… :) But Riley really is the best puppy EVER and Dustin, fortunately, loves him as much as I do (probably a little more…)  I love my little family and it is good to be Home.

“To a new chapter of our wonderful lives…  Happy (Holly) Spring(s)”  :)

My “Happy Spring” flowers from the Tar Heel

I LOVE our Red Door!!

Roses blooming like ca-razy!

Literally one of the two things on any of our walls in the entire house right now… but we’ll get there!

My two boys :)

I truly believe the saddest days on earth are some of the happiest days in Heaven.  The celebration that awaits us when we finally go Home is something I have always imagined to be simply amazing.  I don’t know if the celebration is any bigger for some than others, but if that is the case then let me tell you, Heaven is a hopping place right now welcoming in it’s newest angel, Mr. Tim Ballance.  Mr. Tim is my sweet Tar Heel’s step-father and an incredible man.

We only had the pleasure of knowing Mr. Tim for a brief period of time, but in that time he has managed to make a lasting impression on each of us in a profound way.  His strength, courage and incredible compassion and wonderful sense of humor is what we will all remember about him.  I remember last January, just a couple of months before our wedding, I was lucky enough to hitch a ride down to Savannah from NC with Mr. Tim and Mrs. Kay (the Tar Heel’s mother).  It was their first trip down to Savannah to visit our house and the city, and that trip will always be one of my happiest memories.

Mr. Tim and Mrs. Kay made me listen to 70s on 7 the entire five hour trip which actually took around 6.5 hours because Mr. Tim didn’t really like to drive over 60mph on the interstate :)  Once we (finally) got to Savannah, the Tar Heel wore a sweater vest in honor of Mr. Tim.  Mr. Tim was known for his love of sweater vests so the Tar Heel thought it would be “cute” if he wore one too. We toured the Tar Heel’s school buildings at SCAD, and I was most excited for showing off our house to Mr. Tim and Mrs. Kay (even though I wasn’t technically a resident there until two months later).  We ate at our favorite restaurants in town like Soho Cafe and The Shrimp Factory.

The best part of the entire trip occurred entirely by happenstance.  The Tar Heel was driving us around Savannah since he was the most familiar with the area at that point, and for some reason I was reprimanding him on his driving and getting a little worked up.  He pulled the car over and looked at me and made a funny hand gesture and said mostly playful and partially serious, “Take it eeeasssy.”  After about 5 seconds of complete silence, Mr. Tim ERUPTED in laughter which created the most hilarious domino effect you can imagine.  Mrs. Kay started cracking up at him laughing so hard, and soon Dustin and I joined in.  SO there we were, on the side of the road, packed into one car and laughing so hard we all had tears in our eyes.  It was so spontaneous, perfectly imperfect, and hardly recognizable for the gift that it truly was.  The best things in life often turn out that way.

Even when you expect it, you think you can prepare yourself for this feeling, but you can’t.  Living in Savannah, the Tar Heel and I have been distant from facing the pain and reality of the situation.  I think we kept thinking we would come home to visit and things would be back to normal.  But I knew last weekend when I went to see Mr. Tim in the hospital that things could never be that way again.  I also knew at that time that we would be selfish to want Mr. Tim to stay with us down here when he was suffering so badly.  He is so, so much better off in Heaven with our Lord and all the angels.  But it doesn’t make things any easier on those of us he had to leave behind.  We love you, Mr. Tim and can’t wait to see you again.  Keep a good eye on us until then.

All my love,

We have been blessed with crazy wonderful changes happening in the very near future.  My sweet Tar Heel has accepted a position in NC and he starts (drumroll please) …  APRIL 1st!

So we are boxing up our life in Savannah, room by room, and trying to figure this whole thing out day by day… Yes this is sooner than we expected, yes this is making me a little crazy with all we have to do in the coming days, but YES  I am so excited for this Blessing!!

The LORD is providing for us in a big way — we are excited to see how we can use this provision to further His Kingdom!  The adorable little yellow house above is where we will be moving in less than three weeks.  SO adorable, SO exciting, SO HAPPY!!  Congratulations to my husband for this amazing job opportunity — I am so proud to be married to such a wonderful man!  Thank you LORD!

Psalm 37:4-5

⁴ Delight yourself in the LORD;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
⁵ Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.