Abs of Steel

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!.

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!)

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

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!

Amazing….

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?

It NEVER snows in Wilmington - we’re a beach town for Pete’s sake! But - today it did and it was magnificent! I love, love, love snow - when it comes for a day and then goes away…

We had a great time - here are a few pics from the morning!

Molly was in heaven!

Reagan was so excited to make a snow angel!

Reagan and Nana

throwing snowballs at me!

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks - as you can see from my two earlier posts, we took some of the students from GAFA to an incredible conference in Durham. We had a great time. Don and the kids came with me. Since I’m still nursing Rylee, this was the only way that I would have been able to go. It was our first trip with the girlie and I was a little nervous about the two hour car ride and two nights with all of us in the same room. But we did great - so fun!

Reagan started showing signs of having a cold on the trip back home. Sooooo….this week we’ve been dealing with ear infections in both kids and nasty colds. Rylee actually lost her voice by Wednesday - it was so sad to see her open up her mouth to squeel or laugh and nothing would come out!

I finally got Reagan one of THESE. The Leap Frog “Tag” is an amazing little gadget that has ignited such joy and amazement in Reagan. He is IN LOVE with it and I have really enjoyed seeing him have so much fun learning new things! If you have kids age 3-8 this is a great investment. The initial kit is $50 and includes the Tag “pen” and one book. Additional books are $14 at Target but I found them on line at Toys R Us for $9.99 each! So far he has the Kung Fu Panda, Olivia, and Cars books as well as the alphabet board and a set of land and sea animal cards.

Our church is observing a 21 day fast this month. It’s been exciting to see how many people have gotten on board and are trusting God for breakthroughs in our personaly lives and in the life of our church. My brother has been posting some great devos during the fast - go check them out! I have decided to fast caffeine, sugar, dairy products and all processed/fast foods.

I’ve been feeling secluded lately - being a stay at home mom is such an wonderful privaledge and I do not second guess my decision for one second. I do, however, realize that stay at home moms MUST make significant efforts to maintain friendships, generate new ones, and remain faithful to pursue your passions. It’s so much harder than I thought it was going to be - and infinitely more rewarding than I could have ever imagined!

I hate laundry.

Gonna tackle my closet tomorrow - it’s a scary thought and I’ve been avoiding it for months - but it’s gotta be done. Yuck…

Do you Twitter? Let me know so I can follow you!

I can not adequately express how proud I am of my incredible staff and students at GloryFineArts. They work tirelessy to hone their skills so that we can offer the Lord something excellent. We know that this is not about us - not about others seeing us and how “great” we are. This is about using the gifts God has given us to spread His love and fame across this nation and the world.

We have some amazing families who are a part of this academy - I am so honored to work with some wonderful moms and dads and so humbled that they would allow us to have a part in the lives of their children.

Saturday night at Dance Revolution, Mrs. Casey and our Company 2 and 3 girls participated in their annual showcase and they did an awesome job. Here are few pictures from the evening.

Wow - I didn’t realize how long it had been since I posted anything. Shame on me….

We are in Durham, NC with some of our dancers from Glory Fine Arts at the Dance Revolution Conference. This is an amazing event for our students - they leave exhausted, but they work so hard and are encouraged and ministered to by some incredibly talented and anointed dancers. It’s a crazy weekend, but so worth it. Here are a few pictures from last night and this morning…

Junior/Senior Audition Class

Denae transforming into Cindy LooHoo for the Dance Party

Mrs. Casey and Jessica ready for the Dance Party

"Alternate Angle"

"Blockbuster Bash Dance Party"

Melanie in the Instructors Class This Morning