Long Overdue Brain Dump

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… !