Triple A Day!

ADRI'S AWESOME ARRIVAL!!

Adrienne (Adri) Rebecca Patterson arrived around 12:30 today, by C-section, at a healthy 8lbs 7oz and 20 inches long. She is a beautiful baby girl and Natalie is doing well. I will post more pictures as I can!

island pictures!

Swimming with the sting rays! Driving on the right side of the car and the left side of the road...
Sunset on the beach...
The wind was crazy and the waves were crashing hard...

I really wanted to bring her home with me and call her Daisy...

White beaches and beautiful colors!!Of course there were palm trees everywhere :)

i'm driving on the wrong side of the road!

Yep, you read that right... for the past 24 hours I have been driving on the LEFT side of the road. And no, you will be happy to hear, I haven't hurt or killed anyone. "How is that possible?" you may ask? Well, because everyone here drives on the left side of the road... in Grand Cayman that is :) I got here yesterday to visit an incredible church, First Baptist, who is now four weeks into their second Upward season. I knew from the first time I talked with them on the phone that if anyone in a seemingly difficult situation could do Upward, they could. Their hearts are in tune with God's and they are striving to make this something their kids and parents will value for a lifetime. And from what I've heard over the past two years and from what I've seen over the past 24 hours, they are doing exactly what God set out for them to do... reach these children and this island for Christ.

A quick blurb before I head upstairs to my room to look at pictures and video from the day:

• Driving on the left side of the road (and steering from the right side of the car) has more hazards than you may think... I've hit my RIGHT elbow on the "passenger's side" door more times than I can count (I'll let you figure that out)
• Wearing shorts in February is a beautiful thing :)
• Seeing basketball coaches wearing the national Cayman shoe (flip flops) to games is also a beautiful thing!
• Swimming with sting rays definitely freaked me out, but they are just one of a gagillion or so reasons why God is such an amazing God.

That's all for now... I'll post pictures when I return home.
Much love from the islands!

Valentine's at Upward

First, Melissa brought me a chicken biscuit from Chick-fil-A where they were making heart shaped biscuits this morning! YUM!



Then, later on in the morning, Neva - I mean, the Queen of Hearts - came around to deliver our Valentine's and some candy! Isn't she cute? :)



I hope that, regardless of whether you are single or married, dating someone or engaged to "the one", that you somehow SEE, HEAR, or FEEL the love that Christ has for you.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Shout Out!

I would like to dedicate this shout out to Jenni Backes. She always makes me laugh and I love her smile! Besides, she told me she loves coming to my blog so she can see my beautiful face... how can you not love this woman?!?

"you are caller #9!"

... is what i heard when they picked up the other end of the line at B93.7 today! Holy cow! I really won! So what did I win, you ask? A $40 gift certificate to Day Spa in the West End! How cool is that?? I've had pedicures and manicures and I've even had massages but to actually go to a spa and have my choice of something? Well, of course I'm going to have to splurge at least a little... I mean, I do have $40 off here. Suggestions anyone?!?

baby shower for Adri

Two weeks ago we had a shower for Natalie and baby Adri here at the house. After talking to Jill today I realized that I've been really slack in getting some pictures up! So, here is some evidence that it really did happen :) It was a lot of fun and Adri got a lot of fun stuff!

Brooke and Natalie

Adri has no choice in being a baby Tiger! :)

Yay for fun baby stuff!

Kayla, Crystal, Angie, Turner and Stephanie
Natalie's youth from Piedmont


Kelly, Lindsay and me

Clemson stroller!


Me, Natalie, Brooke and Leslie.

It was a really fun night! And Adri will be here in just 3 weeks... I'm so excited about getting to meet her... and spoil her as much as possible :)

snow!

There's finally snow in South Carolina and the roads are too bad to drive on, so the day is being enjoyed at home!

AI in MS

So I flew down to Mississippi today for work and will be here until Saturday. I'm actually staying with a co-worker who is a good friend of mine. We've been out of the country together a couple of times and in those situations you usually end up loving or hating the person. Lucky for me it's not the latter! ha!

Anyway, we went to the gym tonight so I could rack up some more steps. Oh, and get some exercise. :) Anyway, we ran back by the house after a worship service at church before going to the gym to pick up some extra head phones b/c according to rumor, this gym had tvs attached to each treadmill, stairmaster, eliptical machine and bike. I was thinking, ok, this will be good b/c I'm used to watching tv while I run/work out after work. Well, it's Wednesday people, and I'm going to admit something... I'm an American Idol junkie. I know, some of you who know me find this very hard to believe, but it's true. So, you can imagine my elation when we get to the gym, I find that the rumor about the tvs IS true and then I realize what time it is when I see someone already watching AI! WOOHOO! Struck gold on this one, I did.

Let's just say that a few wonderful voices and a few snarky comments from the lovely Simon Cowell helped me get through the 49 minutes on the treadmill today. Thanks, AI! hahahaha!

Weekend in DC

First of all... it snowed today!! I know, you're jealous. People were slipping and sliding all over the roads and I saw more firetrucks and ambulances and heard more sirens today than I have in a long time. Scary. Anyway, I enjoyed the snow :) especially since I wasn't driving in it.

This is my grandparent's house. My great-grandfather bought this 1929 house in 1934 for $4,000! I'll let you imagine how much it's worth now...!

View from my mom's apartment balcony. Yay snow!

This morning at church my mom was ordained as a deacon. She is such a servant and loves people, so this is a perfect way for her to live out her faith. I'm so proud of her!

She sings in the choir... hence the robe :)

Today was my cousin Karlyn's 2nd birthday, so we celebrated with cake and ice cream and Tinker Bell. Check her out...

Finally, I got to see my other baby cousin, Alejandro. You know, it really stinks that the kids in my family aren't cute... ;)