Just us

December 2011

2011-12-31T15:59:00.003-05:00

That brings us to December....we celebrated my birthday and Jessica's. Christmas celebrations went on all month.

This year has been a roller coaster for us. We have been blessed with the greatest friends, family, and husband I could ever ask for. As difficult as this year has been some good has come from it. I have realized more than ever who my true support system is. Thank you to everyone who called, sent flowers, cards, and words of encouragement. It has meant more than you will know.
We close out this year with a grateful heart and excitement about the year ahead. Josh and I are expecting great things out of 2012.

November 2011

2011-12-31T15:50:00.004-05:00

The kitchen is my favorite room in the house. It is the most transformed room. Josh built this table.

The living room furniture I ordered arrived. The house is finally starting to feel like a home. I am still waiting on my curtains to be finished and searching for art work.

October

2011-12-31T15:49:00.003-05:00

We went away to the mountains for a few days. It was a nice getaway. We didn't work on the house at all during September or October.

We went away to the mountains for a few days

September 2011

2011-12-31T15:45:00.003-05:00

We celebrated 80 wonderful years of life to both my grandma and grandpa King. We threw them a surprise birthday party.

Josh and I also celebrated 7 years of marriage. I can't believe it has been that long. Time flies when you are in love.

We also sold Dad's house after being on the market for 1 week. It was bitter sweet to sell it but a blessing to sell it so fast.

August 2011

2011-12-31T15:36:00.003-05:00

We meet everyone at the Myrtle Beach for a few days. Heath, Paige, the girls, Tony, Lisa, Brandon, Grandma, Grandpa, Kristi, Josh, and me.

July 2011

2011-12-31T15:24:00.006-05:00

Looks like a completely different house.

Here's the final exterior changes.

Added a porch to the front.

We had the outside painted.

June 2011

2011-12-31T15:02:00.002-05:00

We went to Topsoil Beach for the night to see Mike and Connie.

After Dad died the work on the house stopped for a while. We were constantly going back to Rocky Mount to handle business and get his house prepared to sell.

Will life ever be the same?

2011-12-31T13:52:00.010-05:00

Here's a few pictures from the funeral and the memorial site.

After the funeral we all went back to Dad's one last time.

Heath built a memorial where Dad died.

May 2011

2011-12-31T13:42:00.004-05:00

Flooring is complete downstairs.

We added these french doors going into the downstairs bedroom.

Josh built this one night when I went home to see my mom and dad. Little did I know this bed swing was going to become my dwelling place.

Yard of the Month...after a lot of trimming, cutting down, and sewing sod we are.

More from April 2011

2011-12-31T13:32:00.003-05:00

This was one of my last visits with my dad before he died. He came in for Easter and stayed all weekend. I hadn't planned on working on the house while he was here but he wanted to help. Before he left we planted this garden. It lived all summer and produced beyond what I expected. The day I had to pull it up was very emotional.

He helped Josh put in our microwave. As he was helping he managed to dent my brand new stove. I didn't get upset because I knew over the years I had messed up a lot of his stuff....it was just pay back. He was going to order me a new plate but I told him not too. I'm so thankful because everytime I cook and see the dent I think of this weekend we spent together.

Trying to get the dent out.

April 2011

2011-12-31T13:25:00.004-05:00

We put the tile backsplash in.

The kitchen is almost complete.

Finally finished after a day of back breaking labor.

The process of putting the flooring in for the kitchen.

Flooring for the kitchen

March 2011

2011-12-31T13:12:00.003-05:00

March was very productive for us. Looking back on these days makes me so thankful for flooring. This is how we watched tv for awhile.

We put the railing in

The ceiling in the kitchen is getting close to being finished.

We closed in the pantry and put shelving in.

Moving right along

2011-02-05T14:54:00.009-05:00

The porch on the house was weird so to maximize space we pushed the front porch out to make it even with the front of the house. It added about 12 feet to the inside of the house. We needed this extra footage for a foyer. Before you walked straight into the steps that go upstairs. This spring we are going to add a real front porch and paint the outside.

The inside after the porch was moved out.

We also busted out the wall that went into one of the bedroom downstairs. We are going to put french doors in and use it as a office. The old entrance to the bedroom was off the kitchen.

ceilings

2011-02-05T14:48:00.001-05:00

Here is a picture of the cofferd ceilings Josh has built in the kitchen. I will get an updated one of them finished.

2010-11-20T07:57:00.004-05:00

As you can see we have been living in a mess! Here we had to remove the sliding glass doors (which we were planning on doing any way just not when we did) we found out that the header across the back side of the house was completely rottening through. So Josh removed it and replaced it. We also removed the fireplace because it was no longer in the center of the room after we moved the living room wall.
We replaced the sliding glass doors with french doors.

Here is the kitchen and dining room.

Kitchen

2010-11-20T07:45:00.008-05:00

We have been busy trying to get the house finished. We are almost there. All the hard work is being finished this week. We hope to have paint on the walls and floors down by the end of the month. I love the kitchen! We have to tile the backsplash but other than that the kitchen is almost finished. Not having a kitchen for almost 2 months was pretty hard. Glad those days are behind us!

The old kitchen was awful!

What have we gotten ourselves into?

We moved the old kitchen cabinets into the garage.

Remodel update

2010-10-16T20:11:00.005-05:00

Josh put in new windows.

Opening up the staircase

Herb helped us move the wall in the dining room to make a bigger living room. See that big pile of trash behind him? We did all this the week we got 22 inches of rain and Waste Industries couldn't deliver our dumpster. We didn't let that keep us from working! I will post more pictures because we have done a lot more to the house.

Family Effort

2010-09-30T23:10:00.004-05:00

Macy and Ollie..enough said

Kristi and I taking the carpet off the staircase

Jared has been very helpful and encouraging through out this entire process.

Now the fun begins

2010-09-30T22:31:00.005-05:00

We are doing some remodeling to our new house. We started with our bedroom. I just realized I don't have any pictures of it. I will post those later. The more settled we are getting the more I am realizing how big this house is. I find myself starting some thing in one room, walking to another room to get some thing, starting some thing in that room, and never returning to what I started in the first place. I love it! Here are a few pictures of what we started this week.

Josh and Jared taking out the ceiling. You will see why we did this later.

Chaia and I knocking out the wall between the living room and the dining room. We are getting rid of the dining room to make a bigger kitchen and living room. The wall is gone. The closet to the left has been removed too. The Kitchen was really small for a house this size and the living room was oddly shaped. Getting rid of that wall is going to make the space more usable.

Moving

2010-09-30T21:50:00.008-05:00

We were supposed to close almost two weeks prior to when we closed. Our plans were to use those two weeks to do some remodeling to the house before we moved our stuff in. Things didn't go according to plan. We ended up closing at 4pm on the day we had to be out of our apartment. Thank God for great friends. When we got back from signing our wonderful friends had moved every thing out of our top floor apartment. Josh and I were both shocked and grateful! All we had to do was clean and move stuff into our house.

Tommy supervising

Chaia made sure every thing was going smoothly while we were gone. She is a God send!

We can't even begin to express our gratitude to every one who helped move. We know it was no fun, hot, and tiring.

Taking a break and enjoying some Buffalo Wild Wings.

FINALLY

2010-09-30T21:42:00.003-05:00

We finally signed on the house last Thursday. We could write a book about our loan process. It was crazy. Things are definitely different than they were four and a half years ago when we bought our house in Wilson. It will be a very long time if then before we buy another house. Thank you God it is over with!

Our new house

2010-08-06T13:33:00.010-05:00

Our new house! We came across this foreclosure just in time. It has been bank owned since January. We put in our offer Wednesday afternoon and had to participate in an online auction that evening. We won the highest bid! The bank approved our offer on Thursday and we are closing in less than three weeks! The MLS listing has been removed and the signs in the front yard (thanks to Josh). We are still taking it all in. Sorry, couldn't get all the house in the picture. To the right is a two car attached garage.

The house is in a great neighborhood! It has 6 bedrooms, 3 and half baths. HUGE!! It is almost 4,000 square feet. The MLS listing says 3,000 but apparently they finished in a few extra rooms with out a builiding permit. It needs a little tlc but nothing major. Just paint and carpet. The best part is we got this house for the price of a condo in Wilmington. It is 2 and a half times bigger than our house in Wilson and we are paying almost the say amount a month for this house. That's how we know it was completely God! Josh and I were shocked when they took our offer because it was so low for the size and location of the house. That's how God works!

We took pictures while we were having a builder give us price quotes on a few minor things that need to be fixed. This is the master bedroom. It has its own private sitting area down the stairs.

Sitting area in the master bedroom

The dining room

The living room

We are so excited! We have been praying and fasting for a while about buying a home in Wilmington. When God opened the door, He opened it wide! We have a few hurdles to jump in the next three weeks but we know God is more than able to handle them!

LIfe at the Beach

2010-07-06T22:13:00.000-05:00

Kristi's Graduation

2010-07-06T21:14:00.001-05:00

Kristi is the new addition to our family. She worked hard this last semester of school and graduated on June 12th. We are so proud of her and we know she has a huge future a head of her!

Mrs. Anne and Kristi

Kristi, Mrs. Anne, and Pastor Daniel

Kristi and Me

2010-04-12T21:09:00.003-05:00

Saturday Sanctuary Kids had its annual Talent Show. We were raising money for new puppets. I was thrilled with the amount of support we had! We are going to be able to buy more puppets than I initially thought!

Some funny videos Josh has done....

2010-04-12T21:06:00.002-05:00

WOW..

2010-04-12T20:04:00.009-05:00

I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted! Here is a quick update.....on our life!

We started clearing land last week. So exciting!

Spring is finally here! The weather has been beautiful. We have been able to go to the beach several times. Traffic has increased and Walmart is to be avoided due to all the tourists.....which is the down side to living so close to the beach. I can live with that a few months out of the year!

In March my aunt Leta passed away. We traveled to High Point to attend the funeral. She was a mighty woman of God and will be greatly missed by all who knew her. Danny, Samuel, and Matthew are in our prayers daily!!

In February our church purchased 10 acres of land less than a mile from our current location. We are very excited about our new building. We are really growing in our current location and desperately need to move to a bigger facility. This phase will be a temporary sanctuary but the permanent children's facility. I am really excited about being a part of the design of the children's department.

We also got 4-5 inches of snow! It was beautiful coming down but it didn't stay around long. Life went on as usual!

Preview of the Christmas Production Josh and I wrote. It was a huge success! We had so much fun writing it, building the set, getting the dances together, etc..

Christmas Production

2009-11-30T10:37:00.002-05:00

Josh and I wrote our Christmas Production this year. He rewrote all the songs and we did the script together. Its for the entire family. So if you are in the area you should check it out!!!

Our Thanksgiving was pretty quiet this year. We went to Dunn for a few hours on Thursday. It was great to see Josh's side of the family. We didn't make it to Rocky Mount this year. Every one was eating at the same time so we decided to go back to Wilmington. We had our first Thanksgiving meal with just us!! I fixed all the traditional food. We stayed in and watched movies and finished decorating the Christmas tree.

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T19:29:00.005-05:00

Last night we had our first annual Fall Festival. I had a great team of people that helped me put it together. We had a ton of games, candy, pony ride, inflatables. It was so much fun! We had a great turn out.

I was a tooth fairy and Piper was Minnie Mouse....Josh was.......

A tooth
Pony Ride

Hot Dog eating contest....Pastor Daniel was the winner. He ate 6 hot dogs in 1 minute.

Pastor Appreciation Video

2009-10-26T09:42:00.001-05:00

This weekend we celebrated our Pastors! We made a few videos for the service. I thought I would share some with you!

Uneventful Weekend!

2009-10-18T19:09:00.002-05:00

This weekend I was supposed to go home for Leah's First birthday and go to the State Fair.....that didn't happen!! I was too sick to do any thing! I had been battling a sinus infection that only got worse as the week went on. By Friday I was in the bed with a fever and lots of coughing. Josh took good care of me. He rented us movies and we hung out at the house. I am much better today! Next week we have lots going on so I will have a more interesting post!!

Trip Home

2009-10-11T20:31:00.011-05:00

Mom fixed breakfast Saturday morning. Josh was able to join us. Leah and him had fun playing! After breakfast we had to photograph a wedding. The last one we will ever do! We just don't have time to do wedding any more!!

Mom fixed dinner Friday night. We ate and caught up on all the things I have missed since I was home last.

Leah......I believe she is going to be loads of fun, excitment, and is going to get herself in to some trouble.

Mom and Leah

We decorated pumpkins....Leah's is on top, Anna's is the one on the left, and Kara's is the one on the right.

The finished product

Decorating them wasn't as easy as you think!

Anna and I getting ready to decorate pumpkins. Friday, I picked them up after school. We went to Pizza Inn....one of my favorite places to eat. We don't have one in Wilmington. We met Dad for lunch.

Dad and Kara at Texas Steakhouse

Watch me cheer

When I came in town on Thursday I met Dad, Heath, Paige, and the girls at Texas Steakhouse. I wasn't feeling that great! I have been battling a sinus infection all weekend!

Lunch

2009-10-09T16:38:00.003-05:00

Last Saturday I went to eat with my good friend Tina and her 4 month old Maddie. We ate at Pita Delight. One of my favorite spots in Wilmington. We had a great time catching up!

Ice Skating

2009-09-27T22:22:00.000-05:00

Update

2009-09-07T09:21:00.004-05:00

I am sure that every one can tell our life has been nothing but busy!! I haven't been home to visit since Father's Day! The beach life has attracted a lot of visitors this summer!!

This summer if I wasn't out at the church I could be found at the beach or the pool. Josh was rarely at the beach! I took advantage of the time he was at work and went to my special spot! I will miss that spot for the next six months! I am actually ready for fall!

We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary a few weeks ago! It is so hard to believe we have been married for 5 years! I love Josh more today than I did the day we said "I do!" He is my best friend. I am blessed and honored that God chose me to be his soulmate! We took a mini-vacation to Myrtle Beach to celebrate! It was so nice to get away and it be just us! We are planning a cruise soon!!

Church...is going great! Where we are on the building?? Well long story short....New Hanover County would not zone the building for a commercial business. Although, we were told in the beginning (before we decided to move)that it was already zoned for commercial businesses. God has HUGE plans for us!! That being said...we are having to go to two services due to our growth. We are going to have a Saturday night and Sunday morning service! We are really excited about adding the new service and the growth of our church. Sanctuary Kids is growing each week. I have a great group of kids!! Josh has written some new songs. Did I mention that someone gave the church a baby grand piano. They didn't use it and wanted to give it to a church. Josh is in heaven! They have remodeled the sanctuary and made a place for it on stage!

I am anxious to go home for a visit!! The girls started school and love it!! Kara called and told me she did not like me living at the beach anymore!! I miss them so much!! I am going to be going home a lot in October! Leah will be 1 next month! It is so hard to believe!

I have some pictures to post...I will have to do that tomorrow!

Update

2009-07-03T10:00:00.004-05:00

In the past two weeks we have had 26 people give their life to Christ!! Last week we had 26 Baptized and 8 will be Baptized this week. We are so excited about what God has been doing in our church and in our lives! God is so good!!

2009-06-26T23:31:00.004-05:00

Sunday we met the Clark's for Sunday lunch. Again, I didn't bring the camera because we left as soon as we finished church. We had a great lunch and time honoring Josh's dad for Father's Day. They spent the week at Topsoil beach. They picked a beautiful week to vacation!!

Birthday Party

2009-06-26T23:28:00.002-05:00

I forgot to bring the camera to Anna and Kara's birthday party. I was so upset!! :( They had a great time. It was at the Mini-putt. We played games, ate, and opened presents! Josh and I got the girls matching scooters. They loved them. They rode them all around the foyer at the Mini-putt.

Trip home

2009-06-26T23:22:00.006-05:00

I went home to go to Anna and Kara's birthday party and to celebrate Father's Day. We had good food and fun fellowship. We got him a bike for Father's Day.
Dad and Leah...she sneezed as I took the picture.

We were trying to all squeeze into the picture.

Super Star

2009-06-26T23:19:00.001-05:00

My "SuperStar" pose

Beach Pictures

2009-06-26T23:04:00.007-05:00

Here are a few pictures we took at the beach a couple weeks ago. My favorite.
I almost fell

See............

2009-06-26T22:56:00.003-05:00

Josh took formal pictures during Black Tie and Graduation. Jared came out to help!! I helped too but also got to play with Piper during graduation. She is our Pastors daughter. We had a great time playing together!! She is Miss personality!

NCCT Graduation

2009-06-26T22:21:00.005-05:00

The beginning of June we attended North Carolina College of Theology graduation. Josh received his Doctorate in Music. Graduation was awesome! I loved being at graduation because it was all God centered!! Much different than our graduations from high school and college. Josh is on the second row talking! (ha ha) and Pastor Daniel is on the front row looking at the camera.
He was created to worship!

Thursday night was Black Tie night.....it was fun getting dressed up.

This was our second Black tie and Graduation. Next year it will be at Myrtle Beach!! I can't wait!

Happy One Year Anniversary!

2009-05-24T16:22:00.003-05:00

May 26th marks 1 year Josh and I have been at the Sanctuary of Wilmington! Today they honored us with a reception. We are so thankful for where God has sent us!! We have grown and changed so much since moving to Wilmington. God has done a lot in us and through us! We are grateful for wonderful Pastors and a great church family!!

I get emotional thinking about every thing God brought us through last year!! Every part of our life was tested and stretched but God showed himself to us more than ever! I am thankful for every test and stretching experience we have gone through. It is during those times we grow to go to another level. God is faithful!!

Clark visit

2009-05-24T16:18:00.002-05:00

Last weekend The Clark's came in for lunch to celebrate Josh's birthday, his dad's birthday, and Mother's day. Josh took them to see the new church and I went to do someone's makeup for the prom. We had a busy but fun day!

Our new friend

2009-05-24T16:08:00.002-05:00

Josh was walking Macy the other day and noticed a new resident in our neighborhood. We named him Simon. He was a baby...I say was because he is no longer with us. Simon kept eating the cats in our neighborhood and some were not to happy. We liked watching him from a distance!

Happy Birthday to Josh

2009-05-24T15:58:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday to Josh!! We celebrated his birthday with a nice dinner and a great movie!! We watched "Taken." He didn't want a birthday cake. he wanted a doughnut cake with all his favorite doughnuts. For his birthday he got a new high tech laptop.

Now if I can get him to get me a new phone!!! I am having the worst issues with my phone. I keep losing calls, voicemails, and texts or it freezes up and deletes my contacts. The worst thing is that I don't have any contacts stored in my brain memory. ISSUES!! We keep going rounds with customer service but it ends up messing up every time.

Quick Visit

2009-05-24T15:40:00.007-05:00

I went home for a extremely short visit two weeks ago. I went to have dinner with mom and grandma for Mother's Day. I also got my hair cut and colored.

Heath and his pimped out golf cart. The battery died halfway around the block. Jessica and I pushed it back to their house. Got my work out in that day!

They are getting so big

Leah is the cutest little one!

Mom and grandma watching all the action from the porch.

Happy Mother's Day!

Life at the beach

2009-05-03T21:29:00.004-05:00

We live a few minutes away from the beach and take advantage of it as much as possible. Especially when the weather is nice. I went yesterday for a few hours. God was so good to us when he moved us to Wilmington!! I love love love the summer months.

We went to the north end and let Macy run. She is a great running partner. She always stays close by.

We are still trying to get her in the water. She will not go close to it.

New Church Building

2009-05-03T17:18:00.006-05:00

I know every post I say how busy we are ...... I have come to the conclusion that our life is busy! We love it and wouldn't know what to do if we weren't!! As of Thursday we are officially moving our church location!! We have grown so much that we have ran out of room. Josh came across a property listing in Wilmington and he and Pastor Daniel went and looked at it . Instantly they knew it was the place for us. The location and layout are perfect. Over the next few months we will be working to transform the warehouse into a church. We are really excited! My new Kids Church is going to be 4,000 square feet! I am working on the design of it now. I promise to keep you updated! After church we took the congregation to see the new building. I didn't take pictures until the end. I was talking and failed to do my job!

Hallelujah we got this awesome building!

I know it is hard to tell but the building is huge! It will not be long and it will be filled up!

Josh finishing up the last of the paperwork! I have the best husband! He is so gifted in so many areas! God has truly blessed me!

Spa Night

2009-05-03T16:58:00.008-05:00

Friday night I had a spa night for the girls in Sanctuary Kids. The guys went fishing and camping on the beach. We had a great time! pedicures

they had facials

manicures

lots of goodies to eat

Baby Shower

2009-05-03T16:54:00.002-05:00

Two weeks ago we had a baby shower for Tina. She is expecting a little girl in May. I am so excited to meet little Maddie! Tina and I became good friends last year. We spent a lot of time on the beach last summer.

Happy Easter!!

2009-04-12T17:33:00.006-05:00

For Easter I had a Easter Egg hunt after church today. We had lots of food, games, eggs, prizes, and much more. It was so much fun planning it and then seeing the kids having fun.

Before the egg hunt we had our normal Kids service. We had 47 Kids in Sanctuary kids!! God is moving and we are growing!!

The girls in this picture are 5, 6, and 7 years old. I love seeing the kids praising and worshiping God.

Me and Aislynn

We had face painting and a bunch of other games.

Blow ups.

I didn't get any pictures of the egg hunts. We had four different ones going on so it was a little hard to take pictures.

Soccer Game

2009-04-12T17:11:00.002-05:00

Aislynn and I at her soccer game.
Aislynn is one of my kids in Sanctuary Kids. She is a talented young lady. She is so sweet and has a heart for God! She makes me so proud!

Almost beach season!

2009-04-12T17:02:00.003-05:00

Josh and I decided to go to the beach and figured Macy would love coming with us. Macy wasn't exactly thrilled about being on the beach! I think the seagulls started getting on her nerves! She kept barking at the people beside us because they were feeding the seagulls. She hide behind my chair for most of the time we were out there.
Josh took her down the beach

She got a bath when she got home!!

Josh's Crazy New Church Video Announcement

2009-03-15T20:53:00.001-05:00

Sanctuary Kids Talent Show

2009-03-15T19:26:00.019-05:00

This weekend we put on a talent show for the kids in the church. We have been practicing for 3 weeks on performances. The kids did an amazing job. I was so proud of them. I have a talented group of kids! We served lasagna, salad, and dessert. Mrs. Jessica helped me get things together. I had a picture of us but it was blurry.Josh running sound and the camera. He is an amazing man!!

Art table
A few pictures of the centerpieces I made.

Dressup table

Straw table

Bug table

Lego table

They are ready to perform

Ms. Carysa helped was a huge help!!

Mrs. Barbara and Mrs. Betty helped me get all the food together. They did a fantastic job!! The talent show would not have been a success with out them!!

We served dinner

Air guitar

Comedy Routine

Several Skits were done by our drama team

A Performance by Alvin and the Chipmunks

A Recorder Performance.

Dance done to the song "Be Still"

Macy

2009-03-15T19:20:00.003-05:00

I was cleaning up one day this week and found her fast asleep on Josh's favorite blanket. Note....her bed is next to her. I washed it so she wouldn't get in trouble from Josh!

Wedding Pictures

2009-03-06T20:48:00.003-05:00

I will post some of the wedding pictures later. Josh was the photographer for Shannon's wedding so the bride has to seem them first!!

We have been moving ALL week. I finally finished unpacking today. I will post pictures of our new place and furniture.

Breakfast

2009-03-06T20:42:00.002-05:00

Saturday morning mom fixed breakfast for us. It was much needed fuel for me. The day ahead with going to be busy. I wasn't able to stay and visit because I had to head to the church to help Shannon get ready. The short amount I saw every one was great!! We are coming back to visit soon to visit!!!

Leah

Rehearsal

2009-03-06T20:13:00.012-05:00

Last Friday Josh and I started moving into our new home!! We moved for a few hours before heading to Rocky Mount for Shannon and Paul's rehearsal dinner. We had a great time at the rehearsal dinner. It was fun catching up with every one! Paul and Shannon

Jeff practicing

I just thought this picture was funny....

Cutting the cake

The Addington's

Josh and I enjoyed getting the chance to talk to Billie Jo and Ernest.

Volunteer Appreciation

2009-02-22T22:35:00.008-05:00

This month was Volunteer Appreciation Month. We wanted to dedicate the entire month to honor every person that serves in a ministry . Tonight we had a banquet in honor of our volunteers. We wanted every volunteer to know how much we appreciate them. I am very thankful for every person that volunteers in the Kids Department!! We have the best church family!!Ms. Julie is one of my Sanctuary Kids workers. She was honored tonight because she drives a hour and 20 minutes to church each way. She lives in Jacksonville. She is always early and is at church every time the doors are open. She is a HUGE help in Sanctuary Kids. She has been a big encouragement to me. I love working with her. We honored her with a $200 gas card.

Pastor Robert was honored tonight. He helps clean the church every week. That is not all he does. He is a HUGE servant. Any thing you need he is there to do it. He serves selflessly every week. He was honored with a $1000 shopping spree.

Mr. and Mrs. Griggs were honored tonight as the man and woman of the year. They are HUGE servants as well. They serve in many areas in the church. They always have an encouraging word to say and are extremely supportive. They are a HUGE blessing to our church. When we were in the process of moving they made sure we were doing ok every week. Their hugs and encouraging words is one of the things that helped us get through that process. They were honored with a plaque.

Shannon's bridal luncheon

2009-02-22T21:59:00.006-05:00

Friday we went to Rocky Mount. We ate dinner with Dad at Pizza Inn. We forgot to take the camera in to Pizza Inn. Saturday morning mom fixed a big breakfast. We played with the girls for a while until I had to go to the luncheon. Josh went to eat with his parents to celebrate his mom's, grandma's, grandpa's, aunt Rachel, and uncle Corbin's birthdays! I hate I wasn't able to celebrate. I hope every one had a great day! Josh didn't take the other camera with him. It was a quick visit and we managed to pack in a LOT!!

All the bridesmaids

Me and Tonya

WE ARE BACK!!

2009-02-15T18:06:00.008-05:00

Here are a few pictures from the last time I went home to visit. I think it was the end of January. I was only there for a few hours. Long enough to get my hair done, see the girls, and attend one of Shannon's showers.

All three beautiful girls!

Hope you didn't give up on our blog!!! Life has been overwhelmingly busy!! Here is a update for the past few months. The holidays were great but way to quick!! We were in town for a very short amount of time. The time we were there was great!!

What's been going on in Wilmington? Josh and I are doing great!! Church is going great!! Sanctuary Kids is growing each week. I just finished writing the new curriculum we are starting in three weeks. It is going to be really cool. You will have to church out our church website for more updates on the curriculum God told me to write. The church is growing and God is moving like never before.

We have officially been in Wilmington for a year. What a year!!! I can't find one word that describes 2008 for Josh and I. Here are a few words that come to mind....pruning, restoration, pressing, building, depending on, digging, shaking, standing, moving, believing, loving, etc. The words that describe this year have nothing to do with our natural life but our spiritual life. This year like never before God showed us who he is!! He showed us that the important thing is not that we got here but HOW we got here. The process is what is important! For those that know the details you know exactly what I am talking about. We were talking the other day about how thankful we are for the past year because it has defined us! I will never forget the year 2008!

Don't forget to check out our church website. Josh is always updating it!
www.sanctuaryofwilmington.com

We are coming to Rocky Mount this weekend and next weekend. Lots of wedding festivities going on in the next two weeks. We will be taking lots of pictures!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-12-27T14:12:00.005-05:00

We celebrated Thanksgiving in Dunn. We had a great time seeing everyone and eating!!! The food was so good!!
The Brothers

Newly engaged couple!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO SAM AND TIMOTHY!

2008-11-22T23:45:00.002-05:00

Sam is getting married too!! Friday night before I came home I went to a bridal party for her. For Sam's sake no pictures were taken by me!! I had a great time!! I am so excited and happy for Sam and Timothy! They are getting married on December 27th, 2009. It was great to see everyone and catch up. It was a Planet Rock girls reunion this week!!

CONGRATULATIONS SHANNON AND PAUL!!

2008-11-22T23:26:00.004-05:00

Shannon's engaged!!! Josh and I are so excited and happy for Shannon and Paul. Shannon and I along with many others have prayed for her future husband for years. As of last Sunday she is officially engaged!! The wedding is set for February 28th, 2009. The wedding is about 14 weeks away. While I was in town Shannon, Jennifer, Tonya, Joan, and her aunt Ann went on the hunt for her wedding dress. She fell in love with the second one she put on...we also ordered our dresses. It was a very productive day. I loved getting to see everyone and catching up!! Congratulations to Jennifer and Jeffrey they are expecting their first child in April.

Jennifer, Shannon, and Me

Me and Tonya.....Sorry but I had to cut Shannon and Jennifer out...didn't want to share the first picture of Shannon in her beautiful wedding gown.

Fun Day

2008-11-22T23:06:00.010-05:00

We made Christmas cookies with LOTS of sprinkles!! Last time we made a big mess....we were more careful this time.

They love sprinkles

Leah was a little disgusted with the girls for licking their fingers.

Thursday night we went to eat with dad at La Mama's.

Dad and Leah

Anna, Leah, and Dad

Proud Pawpaw

Thanksgiving Play

2008-11-22T22:54:00.006-05:00

I drove to Nash County on Wednesday to see Anna and Kara's Thanksgiving play at school. It was very cute.

Unfortunately, they separated Anna and Kara. Anna is in the far right corner on the first row and Kara is on the second row in the left corner...

Kara

Anna

Block Party

2008-11-22T22:05:00.006-05:00

The start of the day......Last Saturday The Sanctuary hosted a block party in a local neighborhood. As we pulled out to go set up...Josh got the van stuck in the sand. In a few of the men were able to pull it out and we were headed to our destination!!

We had a great turn out. All the kids had a blast and the adults did too. Thank you to everyone who made that day possible. It was a great day!!!

Bowling

2008-11-22T21:27:00.005-05:00

Last Friday night we went bowling with our church. We had a great time. It was a fun night of fellowship.

Pastor Tim....I heard they had good grilled cheese sandwiches

Me and Josh

Pastor James and Mrs. Jessica

We are a happy group

Fall Festival

2008-11-22T21:11:00.014-05:00

While I was in town I went to the girl's Fall Festival. We had a great time playing games, eating, and riding the hay ride.Strawberry Shortcake and Blueberry Muffin

Aren't they so cute

Josh and me

Dad, me, and Heath

The girls

Mommy and her girls

Pawpaw and his girls

Candy Corn

Uncle Josh with Leah

Uncle Josh with the girls. We had a lot of fun!!

Happy Birthday Mom

2008-11-22T20:57:00.006-05:00

We celebrated Mom's birthday a couple weeks ago. Megan, Dani, and Grandma came to visit. It was good to see everyone!!!! We hope mom had a wonderful birthday!!

That was good cake

Leah ~ 9 days old.

Megan and Leah

GO VOTE......

2008-10-28T23:26:00.002-05:00

Josh and I voted today!! We waited in line for almost two hours to vote. We weren't prepared for the "high tech electronic" voting either. In Nash County you still have to go into the booth and fill in the circles COMPLETELY!! We are big city people now!! Did I mention we waited in line for almost two hours and it was pretty cold outside!!! I highly recommend early voting!!! I don't want to imagine what the polls are going to be like on November 4th!! GO VOTE!!

Pastor Appreciation

2008-10-26T22:45:00.007-05:00

We are getting ready to start building our new church!!! We are extremely excited!

Today was Pastor Appreciation day for Pastors Daniel and Anne. We had a special service honoring them. Our Pastors are awesome. They are a gift from God. Josh and I are so thankful to be able to serve under them. We love them so much!! To honor them the church blessed them with a cruise or a vacation in Charleston.

Me and Miss Piper. She is the most adorable baby ever.

It was a great day!!!

Decorations

2008-10-26T22:25:00.004-05:00

After Mike's Farm we came back to decorate for Pastor Appreciation. Someone had a sweet 16 party Saturday night at the church so we had to wait until the party was over to decorate.

Mike's Farm

2008-10-26T21:56:00.004-05:00

Saturday night we went to Jacksonville to eat at Mike's Farm. We went with a big group of people from the church. We had a great time of fellowship and the food was GREAT!! The restaurant was in the middle of now where!! The picture above of the firetruck is for real..it is really called Back Swamp. This restaurant/farm was super busy. There was a two hour wait to eat. They have hay rides, country store with the best apple cider, and much more. We were not able to stay for the hay ride. We had to get back to decorate for our Pastor Appreciation service.

It was worth the wait to eat!!! Trust me you have to try this place once!!

A new King is born!!

2008-10-24T22:39:00.046-05:00

Last picture of Paige before she went into the hospital to have Leah. She is absolutely beautiful!!

Almost time.

Daddy and Mommy posing for one last picture

It was time for Heath to go back to the delivery room. He had to go to the bathroom one last time.

Off we go!

Leah Elizabeth King was born on October 20th at 8:13am. She weighed 7 pounds and 14 ounces.

I am a daddy for the third time.

Daddy giving Leah some love

Daddy, Nana, and Leah.

Hi everybody!!

Josh and I took care of the girls while Paige was in the hospital. They were so much fun!! I love them so much!! I enjoyed every minute we were together. They wore their big sister shirts to school. They were proud and super excited about their new sister.

I took them to school. Afterwards we took them to Pizza Inn for lunch and then headed to Greenville to see Mommy and Leah.

The first time they saw Leah.

They are going to be the best big sisters!

So cute

We played outside after we got back from the hospital. It was a beautiful day!

Picture says it all!

They were racing

Josh was trying to catch Kara

Kara took this picture of Josh and I. She did a great job

Josh had a lot of fun playing with them. I have a video of a game they came up with that I will put up here. It is really funny

We made Christmas cookies.

They decorated them with sprinkles.

Sisterly love.

Heath making some kind of sign. Who knows??

Talking to mommy before going to bed.

This was day Two of Paige being in the hospital. I took them to lunch and then to the hospital. Josh went back to Wilmington to get ready for Pastor Appreciation. The girls really missed him when he left. Josh is great at making up games.

Mommy and Leah

Isn't she beautiful!!

All the girls

Kara holding Leah

Aunt Amber finally got to hold her!! The girls

Papaw came over to help me get them ready for bed. He had a good time playing with them and was a big help. I am not sure who was more tired the girls or Papaw by the time they finished playing.

Anna was really tired!!

Kara loving on Papaw. They are crazy about their Papaw

The first time they rode in the mini.

First family portrait!!

Leah in her outfit Grandma Edith bought her to come in.

She is beautiful!!

Welcome to this world!!

2008-10-21T12:34:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we welcomed Leah Elizabeth King into the world. She was born at 8:13am weighing 7 pounds 14 ounces and was 20 inches long!! She is absolutely beautiful!! Paige is doing well!! Anna and Kara are super excited about being big sisters!!! This is the best picture I could get yesterday. I will get more today. I have a lot to post!! Stay tuned...........

Caught in the act!

2008-09-13T08:44:00.002-05:00

Here is the proof.....Jared loves Macy!! She is not allowed on the furniture but Jared couldn't resist that cute face!!

4 years ago......

2008-09-04T13:19:00.003-05:00

Can't believe Josh and I have been married for 4 years!! The past 4 years have been amazing!! We are so blessed to have each other!!

2008-09-02T21:26:00.002-05:00

Pastors Daniel and Anne Cook

I haven't had the chance to post anything about our new church! The Sanctuary of Wilmington is awesome!! Pastors Daniel and Anne are amazing! Words can not describe the gift they are. It is a blessing and a true honor to have them as our Pastors. We have been blessed with a great church family.

We have seen lives changed and souls saved since starting at The Sanctuary of Wilmington. On Sunday we had 18 people give their hearts to the Lord. Praise God!!

Sorry!

2008-09-02T18:32:00.005-05:00

Sorry we haven't been on top of posting lately! We have been busy and overwhelmed with things going on!! Things are settling down! We promise to do better at posting!!

What has Macy been up to?

2008-09-02T18:13:00.006-05:00

NOT BARKING!! These sticky notes were posted on the post as you walk up the stairs to the condo. Josh and I laughed at them. We decided to post one too. Macy rarely barks unless Jared tells her to. She basically sleeps, eats, and watches Animal Planet.

She thinks she is going to get one of Josh's doughnuts

Guests

2008-09-02T18:06:00.004-05:00

Shannon came to visit. It was good to see her. She has been a faithful friend through the years. I thank God for her everyday!!

Richard Ricks came to visit. Jared is always giving me a hard time about my mini stair climber. Richard decided to join in with him. I am glad I have it for days when I can't exercise outside. I am planning on joining the gym in a few weeks. I can't figure out which one to join!!

Fellowship

2008-09-02T17:55:00.004-05:00

The 5th Sunday of the month we have a fellowship night. This is from this past Sunday night. We had a great turn out, good fellowship, and lots of food.

Back 2 School

2008-09-02T17:49:00.002-05:00

The Sanctuary did a Back 2 School school supply give away. Our church collected book bags and school supplies. We went around to local neighborhoods and handed them out. It was a great outreach!!

Visit from the Fam

2008-09-02T17:31:00.005-05:00

Mike and Connie came for the day. We enjoyed visiting with them. Macy was glad to see her grandparents. What's up?

Can you tell we stay at the beach a lot??

Anna and Kara

2008-09-02T11:10:00.008-05:00

These pictures are from a while ago. I think Paige is 28 weeks here?? She doesn't have much longer...October 20th is the day!! We can't wait to meet Baby King!

Anna and Kara are pretty excited about meeting Baby King too!!

Kara took this picture of Anna.

Moving

2008-07-21T21:02:00.002-05:00

Sorry for no updates lately!!! I have lots to add to the blog but not today.....we are in the middle of moving out of the house. We sold it!! YAY!!! Praise God!!! We can't wait to turn the keys over to its new owner!!! We will keep you posted!!!

Our little friend

2008-07-06T23:25:00.003-05:00

This weekend was more than your average fourth of July for us. We had the opportunity to spend time with my little friend Connor. I have known his family for almost two years. He and his family are very special to me. Connor has Mitochondrial Disease.

Josh and I had a great time hanging out with them. His family is very uplifting and full of life. I have often said that Connor is one of my heroes. Let me explain, Connor is the most loving and happy child I have ever meet. He always greets you with a smile that makes eveything in life go away!! He has faced some huge mountains in his tiny life but you would never know it. I look at him and see God's love, peace, and joy. It is easy for him to have that because he knows his natural parents are taking care of him. As Christians we should have more joy and peace knowing that God is going to take care of us. No matter how big our mountains are.

Tammy, his mom is working on a big fundraiser in September for the Mitochondrial Foundation. This was Connor's first time at the beach. Words cannot describe the joy of watching him crawl on the sand and the water hit his feet. We also had the honor of taking their first family portraits. He loves the camera!!
He knows he holds a key to my heart!!

To read more about Connor visit
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/connorarmstrong

Happy Birthday Anna and Kara

2008-07-04T08:47:00.018-05:00

Happy 4th Birthday to Anna and Kara. It is hard to believe they are four!! I remember the long hot night at the hospital anticipating their birth. They make family gatherings loads of fun!! We hope they had a wonderful birthday!!

Birthday Girls

Sweetness

Happy 4th Birthday!!

Presents for me

Josh and I looked high and low for Strawberry shortcake dolls..they are hard to find. I don't remember strawberry having that many friends!! I got all the ones we could find. We had everyone looking for them. Anna requested I get the rest once they come out!! :)

Baby King was excited about the party too!

Everybody doing the strawberry shake

Doing the strawberry shake

Josh had the Old Maid

Mommy with her girls

Mommy with Anna

Fake smile??

Uncle Josh (photo by Kara)

Silliness

Just us girls

Self portrait

Macy

2008-06-30T21:16:00.004-05:00

I finally have my own camera..Watch out blog world...Macy hadn't had much blog time so I used her as my first post. So her she is...not much as changed... She still loves to eat and be rubbed!!

Her little corner.

We love Macy but she can be strange!! This is how we find Macy a lot...in the corner and with her head hung down. Especially since Josh has been commuting from Wilmington. When he is away she sits at the door like this..a bit strange but that's Macy!!

Update

2008-06-25T17:20:00.002-05:00

Sorry, no pictures. Josh and I are back and forth so much from Wilmington and Wilson that one of always forgets the camera. Last weekend I used a cheap one but the pictures did not turn out good at all. We are so spoiled having the nice cameras for photography.

Update on us....I have been living on the beach!! If Josh can't find me he knows my little spot at Carolina Beach!! It is so peaceful. Yes, I am wearing sunscreen!!! Church is amazing!! We are so honored to be under Pastor Daniel and Anne! They are amazing people of God. The church family is great and extremely welcoming!! Just in a month we have grown so much! It has been awesome to sit back and watch God do a work in Josh. He is definitely doing what God has called him to do!! We are excited about this new chapter in our life!!!! I am enjoying being in services but can't wait to get involved!!

Our little friend

2008-06-18T22:27:00.002-05:00

Here is a article about our little friend. Connor has always been very special to me. I have often told him that he is my hero. I have never seen him without a smile on his face!! No matter how bad he feels he will always give you a big smile!! Please keep this family in your prayers!!

http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/search/content/features/stories/2008/06/17/MothersStory.html

Weekend happenings

2008-06-15T16:37:00.008-05:00

This weekend was full of activity!! We have been busy litte bees especially the past month!! We stayed home this weekend and celebrated Father's Day with our dads.

Saturday night we ate with my dad at the local mexican resturant. We had a great time with dad!! After swimming all day this is what you get~
Anna, Kara, and Paige

Dad with the girls

Heath showing off his new set of teeth

Saturday morning Josh went to breakfast with his dad, brother, granddad. He wanted to do a men's breakfast this year. They had a great time of eating (at Bojangles) and fellowship.

This week, my grandmother has been in town...so I have been hanging out with mom and her a some this week. Josh and I went to the pool Friday. We didn't stay long due to all the smoke in the air. It was still a relaxing time!! We also celebrated Father's Day with John Friday night. We had a good time eating and hanging out. I also went to mom's Saturday to see Aunt Debbie, Megan, and Jaden. They came in Friday night to get my grandma. We had a good time playing in the pool all day.

Still got it after 80 years!!

Update on the Clark's

2008-06-10T16:00:00.003-05:00

I have gotten really slack about taking pictures. I guess every blogger goes through it!! HeHe. Actually, Josh and I have been on the go to much for me to remember the camera. I promise to get better. Pretty much every weekend we are living it up beach style!! No bites on our house YET!! We know God is sending the right buyer to our neighborhood any day!! Church is going great!! Work is great!! Life is moving right a long!! I have been sick this week. I had strep throat!! No time is a good time to get sick but this heat has made it rough. Sorry for the short update. It is to hot to write, think, move, or do much of anything!! Hope everyone is doing great!

A good man!!

2008-05-16T10:13:00.004-05:00

Today I woke up to this picture!!

We have several people coming to look at the house this weekend and Josh decided to get a head start on cleaning. He is a good man. I don't know what I did to deserve him!! I am so thankful to have a wonderful husband and best friend.

I can not wait for the day our house sells. I get sick of having to keep everything SUPER clean. My mom and Josh's dad have often said they don't understand why we clean so much or that we should have the cleanest house. I think we have become a little OCD about it. Maybe I should say I have become a little OCD.

Happy Birthday Josh!!

2008-05-16T10:03:00.003-05:00

Monday was Josh's Birthday. We celebrated with family last weekend. I picked up his favorite dinner and had him a chocolate cake made. We enjoyed celebrating together. He had a specific request for his birthday present. A slushy machine. I searched everywhere for a good one that would do the job. I finally found one at Target that did more than the job!! He drank cherry slushes all night while enjoying a movie!!

Happy Mother's Day #2

2008-05-11T21:57:00.004-05:00

Josh and I hosted Mother's Day for my mom at our house. All the kids teamed up and cooked dinner for her. It was a nice time. It was a very long day for Josh and I but it was worth it!!

This picture was taken of Anna and Kara in our bed playing....they found the mask I wear at night and pretended to go to sleep with it. It was pretty entertaining!! Happy Mother's Day!!

Enjoying the meal

Josh and John decided to hang out in the kitchen. They had their own little spread going on!!