Community Fun Festival 2010

Date: 2010.03.17 | Category: Church, Glory Academy | Response: 1

Every year Rock Church hosts a Community Fun Festival with amazing Free Rides, local bands and dancers on the entertainments stage, some killer food and so much fun it should be illegal! This year was our best year yet and I just want to say thank you to the 100+ volunteers from Rock Church and GAFA for making the day run so smoothly! There were over 2000 people there and we raised $5000 for the non profit, free tuition fine arts school, Glory Academy of Fine Arts. If you would like to find out more about becoming a sponsor of GAFA, check us out online or shoot me an email at abbye@rockwilmington.com. Here are a few other pictures of this amazing day!

Broken

Date: 2010.03.16 | Category: Evolution, Uncategorized, random thoughts | Response: 2

“My all-surrounding Father, how my soul is tempted to search for the meaning of my life in the love of others; to look for security in money and possessions; to strive for acceptance in service and good works. Now I see how these things can be temptations, open doors through which my spirit slips out from within your Self in order to trust in my own strengths. I close these doors right now, and place my soul inside your tender might. Here, alone with you, I draw together all my concerns…all my responsibilities…all that is broken and scattered and needy…My soul is fed and medicined with goodness from Your hand!” St. Augustine

Something happened to me at cre:ate this year. Something significant…mystical even. I’ve been having trouble finding the words, but they are coming to the surface more and more each day. I am a complicated person, as most of us are. My husband would say I am more complicated than is necessary but God made me this way and I’m trying to find the peace that entangles itself in my craziness. Things that have been laying dormant for years are being stirred up – some really good things and some nasty, ugly, terrifying things. I have to admit that I am scared, I am broken and I am determined that this place I find myself in will not be my end. It is a freakishly beautiful beginning of sorts.

I am grateful for the wonderful people in my life. The past few weeks have caused me to run into their arms more than once and I love that God has prepared a safe place for me at just the right time. You know who you are…thank you.

Glory Academy Dinner Theater & Auction

Date: 2009.11.03 | Category: Uncategorized | Response: 0

Have you heard???

Glory Academy became a Tuition Free Fine Art’s School this year – offering classes in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Pointe, Modern, Hip  Hop, Praise Dance, Art, and Theater to ages 2-adult! We have over 175 students representing 25+ churches and many who do not attend church anywhere! It has been an exciting year to say the least. (I just had a meeting with another staffer to figure out where to put our over 400 costumes for the May Production while they are being altered…ahhhh!)

So – how do we have a tuition free school and still pay our bills? Glad you asked…

We have raised over $30,000 so far from corporate and private sponsors – people in our community who believe in the arts and believe in how the art’s should be represented in the church. Amazing!!! We also have a few key fundraisers throughout the year – and THIS FRIDAY is one of them!

GAFA will hold a Dinner Theater, Art Show and Auction this Friday, November 6th at 6:30. Tickets are only $10 and include a fabulous dinner, incredible entertainment from our staff and students and a fun evening with some amazing auction items. Some of the items include:

• Fine Jewelry from Perry’s Emporium
• A Weekend Getaway at Wrightsville Beach, NC
• Photography packages from Millie Holloman Photography and MRay Photography
• Art work, jewelry and pottery from some incredible local artists
• A big ol’ flat screen TV!!
• TONS of other fantastic items that you will want to bid on!!!!

Tickets are almost sold out, so call us NOW to reserve your spot! 910.602.5302 info@gloryfinearts.com

Long Overdue Brain Dump

Date: 2009.07.15 | Category: Glory Academy, Uncategorized, Worship, family is everything, random thoughts | Response: 2

It’s been so long since I’ve blogged I may or may not have forgotten how… I’ve been trying to figure out what happened that suddenly halted the desire to write, but I don’t know if it really matters. What DOES matter is that I’m still here – and I just may be ready to jump back in. I hope there are some of you still around to actually read this…

I need to just get somethings out and then I’ll get to the more serious postings later -

• My baby girl turned 1! I can hardly believe it – but on June 28th, we celebrated Rylee Lyric’s birthday! We had a wonderful time with some amazing friends, a GORGEOUS cake and a pretty darn good photographer…
• We sold our house! YAY! We are so thankful for a quick sale – only on the market for a month and we got a great price for it and a relatively smooth transaction. Shane and Christie Register will Coldwell Banker did a fantastic job selling it for us – thanks, guys! I am a firm believer in STAGING YOUR HOUSE before you list it for sale. I think we have personally proven that this works (our last home sold in 7 days without a realtor!). I promise I will do a separate post on my tips and tricks for a quick sale. Anyway…we move into our amazing new home next week! I am obsessed with Hagood Homes – this is our 2nd home built by this wonderful company and let me just say that they have been unbelievably and uncommonly wonderful to work with. Every detail is attented to with such care and they have truly gone above and beyond in the customer service department. (thanks, Andrea!) I’ll have more to say about them later, too… I can’t wait to post some pics of the new place and to have some super fun parties!
• I went back to work! When Rylee was born, I decided to take an extended maternity leave and it has been just what I needed. I have really enjoyed taking time away to be with my children and I know that they are my first priority and my first ministry responsiblity. I cherish every moment I have with them and Don and have felt so blessed to have been able to take this time. But – I know that the Lord has been leading me back to work and I am really excited about what He has planned. Last week, I went back to the office two days a week to work in the creative art’s department at Rock Church again. Because I have been and will still be leading GAFA, I know that I can not feasibly do both full time on a permanant basis. Both jobs deserve and require more time than I will be able to give to them. So we will see who the Lord leads us, but for now…. I’m back!
• GAFA is rocking and rolling! Last Spring, we made the decision to turn Glory Academy into a “free tuition” Fine Art’s school. What a HUGE step of faith for us, but God is proving Himself faithful and the response has been so amazing! We are still in the process of securing a large portion of our yearly budget, but the community response has been so wonderful – classes are filling up and we are hearing from so many how this will be their ONLY opportunity to give their families quality education in the arts and I am so honored to be able to offer this to our community. We are going to have an incredible year! If you want to partner with us as a financial contributor please let us know! All contributions are tax deductible. Just give us a call at 910-602-5302 or e-mail us at info@gloryfinearts.com. That’s all for now – there is a TON more I need to blog about – trying to not be afraid to open the floodgates again… !

An Amazing Weekend

Date: 2009.05.19 | Category: Glory Academy, Uncategorized, creativity | Response: 1

This past weekend was GAFA’s production of “Psalms”. Sooooooooo much work went into putting this together and everything was just perfect! I seriously have the best staff on the planet and I am so proud of them for all of their HOURS of hard work. They are not only a great staff, they are my dear friends and I am blessed to have them in my life. I will post pics of the show as soon as Matthew gets some edited for us. But before I do that, I wanted to take this post just to let these amazing women know how much I adore and love them! You ladies are the best and I am so thrilled to have you on board with what God is doing at GAFA!.

How Did This Happen?

Date: 2009.04.30 | Category: Uncategorized, random thoughts | Response: 3

I just realized how long it’s been since I’ve posted anything new or even perused all the amazing blogs that I had frequented for so long – how did that happen? I know I probably don’t have anyone still stopping by here anymore and so I’m wondering why I’m even writing this right now. <sigh> A blog is such a huge commitment – and I’ve just not wanted to be sucked in very much lately….

But – SO much has been going on and I just need to dump – so here goes!

• Reagan is almost 4! I can’t believe it – he’s so handsome and perfect and I feel so blessed to have such an amazing little man. 
• Rylee is 10 months old already. She is such a sweet baby and I am having so much fun with her! A couple of weeks ago, she was dedicated at our church and my mom made her amazing dress. She took apart her wedding dress to make Rylee the most beautiful dedication dress I’ve ever seen!
• GAFA has been busy busy busy! Our Spring production, “Psalms” is coming up in just a couple of weeks. You don’t want to miss this – get your tickets from any GAFA student, staff or from the office!
• In other exciting news, GAFA has announced that we are becoming a TUITION FREE school beginning in September! We are so thrilled to offer our community excellence in arts education withouth any financial barriors to stand in their way! We will offer classes in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern, Pointe, Hip Hop, Praise Dance, Art, Theater and Music! We are curretly applying for various grants and looking for corporate/personal sponsors to make tax deductible contributions to make our budget. For more info or to become a contributor, call our offices! 910-602-5302
• UPDATE!!!!! I’ve lost about 20 lbs since January! YAY!!!! Pilates has changed my life…. (Thanks, Cynthia!)

What I’ve Been Up To

Date: 2009.03.04 | Category: family is everything | Response: 1

It’s been a crazy week. My father sent me a text last week to tell me that my grandfather wasn’t doing well. He’s been very sick for a very long time and now has some new complications that were putting him back into the hospital. My grandparents have never met my children and I have really regretted that over the last three years. Sooooo….I booked flights for me and the babies to go to Panama City on Thursday to spend some time with the family and some great friends before it was too late. We had a great time!

Mawmaw and her grands

Reagan and his Pawpaw working out

My and Rylee with my best friend, Stephanie

Saving Money

Date: 2009.02.22 | Category: Saving Money | Response: 5

Hey, everyone! It’s been too long since I’ve posted – my brain has been in too many places lately. But I wanted to take a minute and share some things I’ve been doing lately to save money. When Rylee was born almost 8 months ago, I made the decision to resign my position as Creative Arts Director of Rock Church and become a (mostly) stay at home mom. Don and I had already downsized from our large new home to a very small home to cut our budget and make this move possible, but it has still proven to be difficult to make things work with one income. Now – those of you who know me know that I am nowhere near being a naturally frugal person and I LOVE to shop so it has been difficult for me. Here are a few things that I have done to try and help our budget out…

• I got an account at www.mint.com and got the app for my IPhone. It has helped me keep track of what I am spending – some days I like it and some days I want to chuck my phone in the toilet when it beeps at me saying I’ve spent too much money at Starbucks this week….
• I started working out – I know that sounds weird, but I don’t spend as much time at Target if I work out everyday!
• I started using Coupons. I have never been able to do this successfully but I have found some great resources: did you know that there are sites that scour the coupon inserts and all of the grocery store/drugstore sales and give you a list of how you can use coupons on items that already on sale? AND there are sites where you can order complete coupon inserts or individual coupons for pennies and it saves SO much time and money! I am so excited to see how much I can save. Sooooo… go here, here, here and here and start saving some green yourself!

What have you done to help save your family some cash? Come on, now – I need more ideas!

Josh Wilson

Date: 2009.02.05 | Category: Creative Crazies, creativity | Response: 1

Amazing….

9 Months…

Date: 2009.01.27 | Category: Baby Weight, Health, food | Response: 3

In 9 months, Don and I will celebrate our 10th aniversary. I can’t believe it….where did all of that time go? I’m so excited to celebrate this miletsone – I have the best husand ever. He is such a wonderful friend and an amazing father to Reagan and Rylee. We are planning to take a trip somewhere to celebrate. (any suggestions? It can’t cost a fortune cause we definitely don’t have one)

So anyway, I have a goal – I want to get back to my pre-Reagan weight before October rolls around. That means I have to lose about 25 pounds. ugghhhh… Here are some things that I am doing to try and get my you-know-what back in shape:

• No Sweet Tea or Coffee (this is huge for me, I’m an addict – but I haven’t had any since Christmas!)
• Water, Water, Water!
• Avoid sugar during the week (after the Daniel Fast is over, I plan to allow sugar in moderation on the weekends)
• No fried foods – at all
• Add lots of fresh veggies and salad
• I put milled flax seed in everything – it’s so good for you – and it’s easy to incorporate into your diet since you really can’t taste it in other foods)
• No red meat – we are eating chicken, turkey and fish only except for special occasions
• Whole wheat products only
• Starting to add workouts into my routine – this has been difficult during the week with the babies but I’m trying! The Biggest Loser Small Group at church is helping with this one – it’s pretty much kicking my butt.

So – it’s not really a resolution, because I suck at those – but it is a goal that I feel is necessary and attainable. So, what about you? Do you have any health goals and what have you done to try and meet them?