The App Beahms

Catch Up

2011-10-30T20:50:00.001-04:00

I apologize if anyone out there still reads this blog (besides our devoted family) because I've been a slacker, yet again. But maybe this post of adorable Cooper pictures will make up for it.

Cooper has been such a joy for us; we were just commenting today how we love the new things he does everyday. Today, he noticed his feet for the first time and hasn't stopped staring at them. He grabbed them once, but I'm sure he'll be back at them soon. He's going to meet his 7 week old cousin Caleb next weekend, and we're waiting the arrival of 3 more new cousins this year and in January! (Baby Girl Beahm, Baby Hammond, Baby Ruggieri). We just can't wait. Cooper will be one of NINE grandchildren on the Beahm side (by December) and he's the first on the Ruggieri side, with the next two to follow shortly. I've absolutely adored watching Cooper with his Daddy...it makes me fall in love with both of them all over again each day.

So, here's my attempt for making up my slackness:

Cooper loves to read already!

Reading with Daddy

Reading the Sunday morning paper with Pops

I am so strong!

I love my Mimi.

Throwing his cards in.

3 generations: Opa, Daddy, Cooper.

All Star!

My cute bath baby

3 months old...and 4 months old on November 11

Michael carving our first pumpkin...ASU

He is definitely the cutest little pumpkin in the pumpkin patch! (Please see the little pumpkin Michael got that is in Cooper's lap)

Happy Halloween!

Cooper called it!

2011-10-30T20:47:00.000-04:00

We made this video before the first World Series game started...and look at Cooper's prediction. He's a pro already!

Pizza and a Food Blog

2011-10-02T19:54:00.001-04:00

I know I have been extremely slack on this blog. I knew that would happen. It's hard to balance life with work and a baby...but it will get easier, I know. In the meantime to fill the gap since I last posted, here's a link to my food blog that I share with dear friends from college. I just posted an Apple, Goat Cheese and Pecan Pizza that I made last week....delicious! Try it out: http://fivefoodiefriends.blogspot.com/

And of course, a cute picture of my App baby who is 12 weeks old tomorrow!

Running

2011-09-10T21:00:00.002-04:00

I love running. I love the endorphins a run can produce, as well as sore muscles and a clear mind. I love how running can really take your mind off of something and help you feel like you're taking care of your body. But I haven't run in 9 months. Although I ran one of my best 5K's in years when I was 6 weeks pregnant with Cooper, I had to stop running when I was 8 weeks pregnant. Unfortunately the doctor put me on moderate bedrest because I started bleeding, but thankfully it stopped around week 12. By then I hadn't run in 4 weeks, and I thought it would be too much on my body to get back into it. So I stuck with walking, swimming and lifting weights to stay in shape while I was pregnant. I loved doing each of those things, but I really did miss running. I was looking forward to getting back into it after Cooper was born.

That's why I was disappointed at my 6-week postpartum check up when my doctor told me I had a few more weeks to heal. Running was going to be delayed. Thankfully those few weeks have passed and I am finally feeling that my body is strong enough to start running. I've slowly eased back into it, but I am loving every step! I've signed up for the Komen 5K Race in Charleston on October 15, but I'll likely be walking with my sister Jenny who will be 6 months preggo (Michael and her husband Josh will be running in it). I plan to attack the Greensboro Gobbler 5K with only one goal to finish while running the entire time.

Bottom line: I am ready to get this post-baby body back in shape!

(And a blog wouldn't be complete with a weekly picture of Cooper. Here he is at 2 months!)

Cousins, Aunts, Uncles Oh My!

2011-09-05T20:28:00.000-04:00

Today Cooper turns 2 months old and I can hardly believe it! I know I write this with every post, but time really does fly by. It's so fun to watch Cooper grow literally before our eyes. One of my favorite things is his smile and laughs. They can make any tough day better.

We've had the fun pleasure of hosting almost all of our family members over the past 2 months. Most recently, our 2 brothers and their families have joined us in Charleston to meet Cooper! A few weeks back, Chris, Melissa, Lucy, and Baby #2 traveled from Apex to spend time with us. Lucy is currently obsessed with "baby" and loved on Cooper every moment she had!

They couldn't be brothers, could they?!

Sweet boy

Lucy wasn't feeling Cooper at this time.

And this weekend, we enjoyed a wonderful holiday weekend with my brother Joe and sister-in-law Kerry, with Baby #1 in tow (from NYC)!! We are so excited for their first bundle of joy to enter the world in January!! Over the weekend, Cooper made his first trip to the beach! He's such a trooper- it was a hot one.

Not enjoying the ocean water, but we're hopeful he will in the future.

Playing with Uncle Joe, before he spit up on his head :)


Kerry and Baby Ruggieri at 19 weeks!

Beach Family!


Last week's photo...what a ham!

Daddy and Me

2011-08-26T21:54:00.007-04:00

Michael is an incredibly involved new dad, especially with how young Cooper is. He loves coming home to him, playing the guitar to him, running with him, putting him to bed, giving him baths, making him smile, and just playing with him. And Cooper absolutely adores his daddy! It's such a joy for me to watch them together. I've grabbed a few snapshots and videos of the two of them to share. I can't wait to see this bond grow closer over the years! Cooper is a lucky guy to have Michael as his Daddy. Enjoy!

Twins! Handsome like Daddy

Following Hurricane Irene together

Cooper joins us for dinner

Can't forget the weekly photo. He'll be 7 weeks on Monday!

Caught on Camera

2011-08-16T13:43:00.001-04:00

Cooper is smiling a lot more these days, but still probably not based off of things we do to make him smile. Although he loves when Michael plays with him. We caught this little smile accidentally one night. He is so darn cute!

5 Weeks

2011-08-16T13:42:00.000-04:00

We had a last minute visit from Cooper's Nana and Pops this weekend! It was such a special treat. Nana just couldn't go any longer without holding Cooper. I wouldn't have been able to either! This weekend, Cooper gets to meet his cousin, Lucy, and his uncle Chris and aunt Melissa!

Nana helped Cooper find his thumb!

He's such a little mover!

I've been trying to upload some videos, but I can't seem to get them to work. Maybe eventually!

Happy 1 Month Birthday!

2011-08-11T13:49:00.000-04:00

Today, our little Cooper turns 1 month old! It's hard to believe it's already been that long. I am ready for time to stop! I've heard it gets worse the older they get. Cooper is changing and growing everyday! Below are just a few pictures.

I love his face in this one!

On another note, I need to put a plug in for a cool website, www.TakeThemAMeal.com. One of our friends here in Charleston had this set up for us once my Mom left...we've had a meal delivered to us by friends or coworkers every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for 4 weeks. What a blessing! Please use this for your friends who need help with meals. It's so easy to use!

Take Ten

2011-08-07T22:07:00.000-04:00

I can't believe tomorrow Cooper will be 4 weeks old. How have 4 weeks already passed since he entered this world? Time has really flown by. Each day is filled with fun new "firsts", and I am so excited to see the many more Cooper will have in the coming weeks and months. Although I don't like to think about it, I am going back to work in 2 weeks. Hopefully between Michael and I, we'll be able to keep this blog going weekly.

Last week I struggled to get Cooper's 3 week photo, but then realized it would be fun to show the process of capturing the photo. So, here are the many takes!

Love

2011-07-30T17:55:00.000-04:00

I've always heard that it's hard to experience what loving someone really means until you have a child of your own. I mean, I love the Lord, am in love with my husband, and love my family and friends. How could I love more? It wasn't until that final push when I saw Cooper for the first time did I understand this. Instantly I was lovestruck. I could barely breathe while this surge of love, thankfulness, and adoration came over me. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. Three weeks later, not much has changed. I stare at Cooper all day long. I watch him while he eats, while he sleeps, while he cries. I want to protect him and spoil him at the same time. I want him to be strong and a world changer. All of these emotions in just 3 short weeks. There's not a moment when I am not entranced by Cooper (except maybe in the middle of the night :) ). Michael and I are head over heels in love with our new son. And interestingly enough, this new type of love has deepened my love for the rest- the Lord, my husband, and family and friends. I am so excited to watch Cooper grow up and share some of our moments with you. Thanks for being a part of our lives!

We've enjoyed so many visitors who have come by to love on our little Cooper, including my Mom who stayed for 2 weeks, and Michael's mom who stayed for a week. We're so thankful for all of you!

Here are some pictures from the last 2 weeks:

First sponge bath

I mean, seriously, could he get any cuter?!!

Nana loving on Cooper!

Uncle Mike was a natural!

Pops enjoying some cuddle time with Cooper.

Enjoying the carrier Michael's sister, Jenny, made for us. Thanks Jenny, we love it (and the sling!) Cooper slept so well in it. I can tell it's going to be one of his favorites.

Cooper meeting his cousins, Josiah and Rachel! We can't wait for him to meet his 4 other cousins and 4 soon-to-be cousins in the next few months!

Oops, Cooper had his first accident on his name sake (middle name), Roger Lee Beahm (aka, his Opa...grandfather).

He loves being on his tummy- he is so strong already!

Cooper - Week 1

2011-07-24T14:22:00.000-04:00

With Cooper being 2 weeks old tomorrow, we thought we'd post some pics on the blog to document his growth. He literally puts on about an ounce a day at this point, so it's exciting to see him grow in front of our eyes. He is a constant mover and kicker, and thankfully has been eating well and sleeping good chunks at a time! More pics to come over the next few weeks!

Showered With Love

2011-07-04T11:18:00.000-04:00

Michael and I have been tremendously blessed during this pregnancy by family and friends who have thrown us showers for little Cooper. We've had a total of 5- five! And we did not even ask for a single one! One of them was thrown by my mom, sister, and sister-in-law in Greensboro for family and family friends, and the other 4 were all in Charleston. We were incredibly humbled by the people who offered to shower us with love here. We have realized that although we don't have family in Charleston, our friends have treated us like family and made us feel at home. It's hard to believe I am going into my 5th year living in Charleston, and Michael his 3rd. Time sure does fly!

Here are a few pictures from our showers!

My sweet mom and mother-in-law!

Priscilla, Sarah and Rachel

Our small group shower at a park. Look at all those kiddos!

This cute baby carriage was made out of a watermelon!

The ladies from my job- Water Missions International. They rock!

Also thought I would throw in 2 pictures from our maternity photo shoot. One of Michael's friends from work asked us if she could take these for FREE for her portfolio!

*Unfortunately I don't have any photos from my first shower in Charleston, which was thrown with some girlfriends in Charleston. And then Michael's co-workers also threw us a shower too. Talk about being blessed!

We're on the countdown to Cooper's arrival. I am at 37.5 weeks so he could come any day now! We'll try and keep you posted on here.

Pregnancy Funnies

2011-06-17T13:08:00.000-04:00

It’s so hard to believe we’re only 5 weeks away (or sooner!) from meeting our little angel. Although I have felt prett good for the majority of my pregnancy, the last trimester has made for some funny moments. I thought it would be fun to share:

· “You’re so small” or “You’re only xx weeks?” statements take on their own anxiety-ridden feelings.

· Your belly (your whole body, for that matter!) is no longer your own. You have a swimmer, kicker and puncher to keep you entertained all day long.

· Speaking of kicks and punches, my ribs have gotten their share of the pregnancy beating.

· Sleeping is a pastime. Perhaps I’m getting prepared for not sleeping at all with a newborn.

· You don’t have a bladder. It just doesn’t exist anymore!

· Walking is limited to 20 minutes, coupled with the sensation of a baby making its way out into the world!

· Mood swings are a regularity.

· Bending down to paint toe nails is now a risk hazard – I can’t breathe!

· I dream of the day when I can sit, stand, and lay down comfortably.

· Swimming is one of God’s greatest gifts to a pregnant woman- it’s the only time she’ll feel “light” during those 9 months and be able to move around freely!

· I’m hungry every hour, but can only eat ¼ of what I used to. I guess it evens out!

In reality, these are so minor compared to the joy we are about to receive. I would do this all over again for the blessing of a healthy, baby boy. We just cannot wait to meet little Cooper Lee Beahm. He is so adored already!

Celebrating Michael

2011-06-10T13:42:00.000-04:00

Last weekend, we celebrated another year of Michael's life...all weekend long! With a Sunday birthday, we turned the whole weekend into a birthday celebration and it was completely worth it! We did nothing work related, baby related, cleaning related, etc. We just played...all weekend long! I know that in a few weeks we won't get to do that for a long time, so we wanted to make the most of one of our last baby-free weekends!

We hopped around Charleston to eat at some different restaurants, enjoyed some outdoor activity, hung out with some friends, and relaxed as much as we could.

Dinner on Friday night consisted of Jack's Cosmic Dogs, a famous hot dog joint that was featured in Diners, Drive-ins and Dives!

After a nice morning workout, we headed to Village Bakery, a quaint coffee shop/bakery in the Old Village of Mount Pleasant. This is one of our favorite spots.

We took a long walk along the Pitt Street Bridge where you can see the COOPER River Bridge, Downtown Charleston, Sullivan's Island, and Isle of Palms. This is a secret gem of Mount Pleasant!

Michael took a bunch of pictures of me and the belly, so I wanted to add 2 of them to show just how big I'm getting!

We then met some friends for lunch at Vespa on Daniel Island, afterwards heading to the new Westbrook Brewery in Mount Pleasant. We made it just before the tasting room closed, but unfortunately missed the last tour. We also discovered that we left the camera at home, so we didn't get a chance to capture Michael and his friend Bob trying the different brews.

We finished that off with some frozen yogurt and then were so full that we didn't even make it out for a birthday dinner!

On Sunday (birthday day), I made Michael a birthday breakfast made for champions. Biscuits and gravy with scrambled eggs, fruit and coffee. My husband is definitely a breakfast guy!

We relaxed for the afternoon at the pool and then grilled out steaks with our friend Josh. Michael requested pecan pie for dessert so I tried my hand at it for the first time...not too bad! Paula Deen didn't let me down!

Overall it was a fun weekend celebrating the best person I know, who is also the best husband I know and soon to be the best dad I know. I love this man more with each day, and I am so excited to see how he is going to love our son.

We're back to organizing, preparing, and cleaning this weekend, which I hope this nesting doesn't mean I'll be in labor next week! 34 weeks today, and we're so ready for our little Cooper to join our family!

DIY and a baby shower

2011-05-14T16:28:00.004-04:00

As I mentioned in my last post, my biggest dad duty the past few weeks has been working on the baby room. Last week I did some brainstorming on what to put on the walls and almost pulled the trigger on some cool handmade artwork off the website Etsy, but after being inspired by a co-worker, decided to make some artwork myself! I feel extremely accomplished after pulling this off considering I was thinking of a plan B during every brush stroke in case it didn't turn out! Sticking with the soccer and basketball theme, here is a pic of the finished product. It's acrylic paint on 12x16 canvases.

While I was putting the finishing touches on the art for the baby room, Lynn was at a baby shower which was put on by a good friend of ours she used to work with at Arcadia. Carrying a baby tub and a wreath made of diapers, I realized that things are about to get a little different around here... :)

I think I have the same shirt except about 20x bigger.

All kidding aside Lynn had a great time at her shower, got some great tips and handy supplies for the upcoming months. Often times we miss not living closer to family, but with so many of our friends loving on us and Cooper, it makes me confident we will have a great community here in Charleston for him to be born in to!

Baby to BEahm

2011-05-08T13:22:00.000-04:00

As most of you probably know, Lynn and I are expecting a baby boy (Cooper) on July 22. Lynn is feeling (and looking) great these days and we are overjoyed about being only a couple months (11 weeks to be exact) away from the due date now. With Lamaze and prep for parenting classes in full swing this week, I'm realizing just how close we are to Cooper being here, so naturally I've focused all of my attention on getting his room ready. Last weekend we bought some block letters and I painted them green to hang over the crib.

My gracious parents let us have a dresser/changing table they used with us growing up, and my brother and I refurbished it over Easter weekend in Raleigh. Chris polished up the hardware and extended the changing table a couple inches to fit a new changing pad. It turned out better than we could've expected! My dad also definitely wins "Opa" of the year for driving it all the way down to Charleston this weekend!

While we are definitely anxious for July to be here, we are trying to soak up all these experiences that come along with expecting your first baby and we really appreciate everyone's encouragement, generosity and wisdom along the way! (MB)

Beahm Weekend!

2010-09-26T13:57:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we got to spend with ALL of Michael's family! Jenny, Alex and the girls are home from China for a few months, so ALL 16 of us met at Pawley's Island for a reunion weekend. I can't believe there are that many of us, including 6 little ones! We finally got to meet little Geneva, and the Swems got to meet little Lucy!

We loved every second of being aunt and uncle to these little bundles of joy. And not to mention the quality time we got with all of the adults, too. Here are a few shots from our weekend together!

Lucy was helping Michael and Melissa play corn hole!

The newest ones, Lucy and Geneva!

Sweet Geneva was a little unhappy!

We also got to celebrate Rachel's 3rd birthday! What a big girl!

~Lynn
(thanks Chris for letting me use your photos!!)

Big Sis Gets Married!

2010-09-07T20:27:00.000-04:00

First of all, I must apologize for the lack of blogging. I have a few excuses and no excuses at all. But, here they are anyway!

*The Haiti posts were hard to follow up on. That trip meant so much to us and we wanted our trip to be read about, especially to those who supported us. It was hard to write another post that would go on top of that one!

*We've been pretty busy this summer. We moved the week we got back from Haiti and are finally feeling settled after a few trips to see family and friends.

*I've had writer's block. I really just haven't felt like blogging, or maybe there wasn't much going on that I felt I could blog about...until now!

My big sister got married last weekend! She married the love of her life, Josh, who is an incredible guy and a perfect match for her. Besides my own wedding, I've never felt so involved and invested in a wedding weekend as I did for hers. Jenny is my heart, and to see her so happy meant everything. It was almost surreal being able to stand up beside her and publicly declare that I will support her and their marriage. I truly felt honored to be her matron of honor. It was obvious the whole weekend how their lives had brought them to this moment- to become one and be united partners for life.

We had a lot of fun blessing her at the bridal luncheon and being with girls all day...

The whole weekend was a complete blast- being with family always is! You could feel the joy from everyone at the rehearsal dinner, sharing stories and laughter about Jenny and Josh. Not only do they deeply love each other, but it's obvious that lots of people deeply love them.

Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of pictures from the ceremony and reception, but I did manage to get one of the newleyweds. They were so sweet!

Congrats Jenny and Josh! I love you both!!

~And a shoutout to my friends Becky and Mike that got married on the same day. I hear it was wonderful guys! So sorry we missed it!

Haiti Part III: Thoughts and Videos

2010-07-15T21:36:00.001-04:00

CNN has been running multiple specials this week on Haiti: 6 Months Later. I've been captivated at the TV listening to Anderson Cooper, Larry King, Sean Penn and others tell America about the state of Haiti now. The scenes that scroll across the screen are exactly what we saw, and floods of emotions have risen. My heart breaks yet again, being reminded of the desolation the Haitians feel right now. I appreciated the honesty reporting that AC did, showing Americans just what the government isn't doing over there. I learned a whole lot more: that their main hospital, General Hospital, is on its way to closing. And that relief supplies are still being blocked and taxed at the port. And that there are warehouses full of food going nowhere, and orphanages with starving children needing food.
It's hard to believe it's already been 6 months; and yet it feels and looks like there it happened only a month ago. Keep praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are in need of Hope.

One of our teammates on the trip, Laura Grady, took a few videos that we wanted to share.

Haitian school children playing with bubbles
I can listen to their laughter over, and over, and over again! I hope this brings joy to you. Remember the small things in life are the most precious.

Our Haitian friends learning "Mighty to Save"
Some of the lyrics go like this:\

Savior, He can move the mountains
Our God is mighty to save,
He is mighty to save.

Forever, author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.

Michael took this video; it's of our Haitian friends teaching us a new song: "Alpha, Omega" (disclaimer: don't mind me taking cement out of my ear during the video!)

This sweet, simple song goes like this:

You are Alpha, and Omega
We worship you our Lord.
You are worthy to be praised.

We give you all the glory
We worship you our Lord.
You are worthy to be praised.

And lastly, we just wanted to share some pictures of the people who impacted us:

This is Jeff Burkhart. Jeff was the leader Seacoast sent down to Haiti to live for 3 months and act as our contact "on the ground." God (and Seacoast) could not have chosen a better person. Jeff lives for God and God alone, and is one of the most spirit-led, prayerful people we have ever met. Jeff's spirit is contagious and he has this all-consuming love of Christ inside of him. He radiates love and compassion. We were blessed to have been led by Jeff all week.

Sitting down against the wall is Mrs. Louis. This woman is the strongest, most determined woman of God we have ever met. What this woman has endured is unimaginable. Among many things, her husband was murdered on March 12, exactly 2 months after the earthquake. She and her family (left by her husband) run the churches, schools, and orphanage we worked at. Her strength and unwaivering faith in God is truly inspiring. Never did she waste a minute in her Bible or praying quitely with God throughout the day. But she was at every site and even seen with a shovel in hand. She is a remarkable woman.

This is "Uncle Leo." He is Mrs. Louis's brother, and was essentially our interpreter and driver for the week. He was also the pastor on Sunday and the welder/cement stirrer during the week. Uncle Leo has a spirit so contagious you can't help but laugh and smile while around him. His English continued to get better, and his heart for people is unconditional. I loved just sitting and talking to Leo; Leo is an incredible soldier for Christ.

This is Wesley , Mrs. Louis' oldest son. Wes had been living in the US on and off for 20 years and swore he would never return to Haiti (where he was born and raised) unless God stripped everything away from him. When he got the call that his father was murdered, he had recently lost his job and KNEW the Lord was sending him to his home, Haiti. Wes is now helping his mother run the orphanage-school-church organizations and is a true testimony of redemption and healing. Wes is also a great story teller and we learned much about what Haiti was life before the earthquake from him!

We met this mean while we were at the beach. He makes bracelets with words on them and made one with HOPE for Michael's mom. His story is amazing- he lost both of his parents in the quake and lives under a tin roof in Port-au-Prince with his 3 children. He knows 5 languages and comes to the beach to sell bracelets and share the gospel. We had a great time talking with him.

These are the neighborhood boys who came up to the school/work site everyday. They were in their 20's and either out of school or had no school to go to. We had a blast with these guys. They were self-taught English and loved learning from the Bible. They were willing to help us with cement, too, even though they didn't get paid. I think they just wanted sit with us and talk. They were so hungry for enouragement and knowledge. The funny thing is that in trying to teach them about Truth and Christ, they were teaching us! It's so humbling how little they had but how big their faith us. We taught them a few songs and they taught us one too. The day we left them was hard for me. I don't think they understood that we wouldn't be back the next day, which brought tears to my eyes- they were going to walk up the hill- like the days before- and we would be gone.

Our time in Haiti was truly unforgettable. It was life-changing without realizing it was life-changing. There's many things we don't know, but Michael and I know we'll be back.

And remember, don't stop praying for our Haitian brothers and sisters.

Pardon the Interruption

2010-06-30T21:05:00.009-04:00

We pardon this interruption of Haiti recaps to share with you some pictures from our successful surprise party for my parents' 60th birthdays. We've been scheming for a few months, and about 30 of my parents friends could make it. The ploy was that they were meeting Joe's in-laws (Kerry's parents) for brunch, and Joe did a great job throwing them off. They were absolutely floored! Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz7ddI6Ob4M

We all helped with the planning, but Jenny really took on most of it. She did an awesome job and I think Mom and Dad are still shocked from it all! It was a great afternoon celebrating them.

Part II: Break my heart for what breaks Yours

2010-06-24T14:14:00.012-04:00

“Break my heart for what breaks Yours; Open up my eyes to the things unseen. Show me how to love like You have loved me.” ~Hosanna, Hillsong United

These words were in my prayer as we flew into Haiti’s airport. I knew I wasn’t ready for what I would experience, but I wanted God to show me His people through His eyes. I desired to really see the pain but also the joy; the sorrow but also the hope. As I mentioned in the last post, the way people lived was hard to see; they were living to survive. It was difficult to witness and discouraging for the state of the city. But, once we got to interact with the kids, everything changed.

The first place we worked at was a school; Mrs. Louis wanted us to finish building the security wall (almost every building is behind security walls in a “compound”)for the school and put up a water cistern. She also wanted us to remove a heavy addition that she was afraid would crush the church in the event of another earthquake. When we got to the school on Monday morning, we could see the children in the open-air classrooms; they were reciting French words. It was like music to me! At about 10:00, they got their break. First the little kids poured out, and then the older ones. {I think this school only went to 6th grade.} Of course the kids ran to these new white people who they were peering at during class. I’ve really never seen so much excitement!

The younger kids were in precious yellow uniforms, while the order ones were in white and green uniforms. The uniforms made them that much cuter! Once we got to interact with the kids, we started pulling out the things we brought: bubbles, chalk, soccer balls. The kids absolutely loved the chalk. It’s incredible how naturally artistic many of the Haitians are! One of my favorite moments was sitting on the ground with the kids dangling over me, watching me draw simple pictures of a star, flower, smiley face and heart. They would then replicate the image until they perfected it. You could see the beam of pride pour out of them once the pictures were finished. Their smiles will never fade in my mind.

The kids also loved to play hand-clapping games. They knew some and they loved learning ours. What a simple thing! And bubbles, they would scream and run around trying to catch a bubble…this never got old.

And one of my favorite things I got to do is something Michael and I often do with our nieces and nephew: play chase. This was by far the best thing I did with the little kids. They loved to hide and play chase. I don’t think I had smiled and laughed so hard! They would run and laugh and it warmed every part of my heart. I wish I had that sound on a recorder!

Michael and I both also got to play soccer with the younger and older kids, as well as the neighborhood boys (more on those neighborhood boys in the next post). Michael didn’t get to play with the kids as much since he was on the roof most of the time, but he did take a break to play soccer which he loved. So many of the kids have exceptional talent…and they play on concrete- not grass!

A few more shots of the cutest kids!

Hopefully you got to see the joy that these children brought to us. Their innocence and happiness were sighs in my soul for the Haitian people. These kids, even though they’ve seen more in their short lives than most of us have, have the heart of God. These sweet little kids are what give me hope for Haiti. More updates later!

~LB

Haiti Part I: The State of it All

2010-06-13T21:41:00.005-04:00

It’s the first 24 hours since we’ve arrived home, and I’ve had a sad day. I’ve been surprised with how emotional I’ve been. I think it’s because 1) I’m coming down from a high from the team unity; 2) the trip we’ve anticipated for 3 months is now over; and 3) I feel like the people of Haiti have been abandoned and although I was able to leave, they had to stay. This trip has forever changed me (and Michael too), and because of its impact we wanted to share our trip in a few separate blogs. Here is the first of a few different posts.

When thinking of how I can describe our trip, I have many words and no words at the same time. How do I put into words what we saw, felt and experienced? As soon as we got out of the airport and into the streets, I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing…people living in some sort of chaos. Survival- not living. Tents are everywhere. For a city built for 300,000 and the size of Charleston, there are now 2.5 million people in Port-au-Prince, most of them living in tents. Even if their houses made it, they live in fear of a future earthquake and won’t sleep in their homes. Rape, kidnapping, robbing, sexual promiscuity, etc have become rampant. People from the country have moved into the city so they could have a tent and receive free food and aid from relief organizations. From what we’ve been told, the tent cities are communities within themselves- they have a leader and oftentimes it’s better than the way they were living. This astonishes me. I was so choked up driving around with the way people live, that it’s so hard for me to imagine that they like living this way. The city is filthy with rubble everywere. One building would be a crushed 4-story pancake, and the one right beside it wouldn’t have been touched. The smell in the city I will never forget- it’s the smell of human waste, trash, and sadly, even decaying bodies under buildings that haven’t been dealt with yet.

I think what bothers me most about the state of the city is the way the government has handled this crisis. Haitians that we were with has described it as the rich in Haiti getting richer, and the poor getting poorer. The government officials are making money off of this tragic earthquake and have done nothing to help their people. There’s no military, a non-effective police force, and because of the cycle of handouts, a lot of people aren’t working. We drove past the country’s government palace (similar to our White House) and it was severely destroyed (below). And it looks like the building hasn’t been touched. Just across of it is a tent city of 60,000. 60,000!! That blows my mind. Apparently the president didn’t speak to his people for a month after the quake!

Organizations like Samaritan’s Purse, World Vision, US AID, American Red Cross, Shelter Box, Water Missions International, and others are making a difference. And it’s group like ours that are going to be the rebuilding factor for this city/country, not the government, sadly.

I’m worried it might get worse before it gets better. But I’m hoping that what has happened will make this country stronger and better. What we saw was really hard to watch, and although you might say it would be difficult to see hope there, I could see it. I could see it in the boys who shared their faith with us and who were sincerely interested in what we were doing. I could see it in the smiles of the people we talked to. I could see it in the church where people still praised and worshiped amongst tragedy. I could see it in the innocence of the children at the schools. I could see it in the Haitians we worked with. And I could truly feel God’s presence there. The Haitians are His people, and Haiti is His country.
Port-au-Price is a tough, increasingly dangerous capital of a country; but it’s also a beautiful city filled with hope.

Many more photos and stories to come later. Thanks for following!

This is our group at the airport with some of the Haitians we were with...what an awesome team!!

This is called a tap-tap. It is their "transportation system". They fill these cars up to the rim and then when someone is ready to get off, they "tap" the side of the car. I've never seen cars filled so tightly that it nearly drags on the ground while driving!

I have a lot more pictures of the kids...this is just one of many! They were so fun and adorable.

These are pictures of the palace.

Blog During our Trip

2010-06-04T08:14:00.003-04:00

We'll be taking a break from our blogging next week while we're in Haiti, but our team leader will be updating this blog, www.seacoastservinginhaiti.blogspot.com, with daily posts. Feel free to check in if you're interested!

Haiti Updates

2010-05-28T09:36:00.002-04:00

I know it’s been a while since we’ve update the blog, but so much has been going on… Sorry fellow blog readers!

We wanted to give you all a quick update on the Haiti trip. Since we’re now only a week and a half away from the day we leave, we finally have received some confirmations on what we’ll be doing while down there. The latest information we received is that we’ll be doing masonry work: helping rebuild a security wall and outdoor latrines at a local church/school/orphanage center. It’s an entire center run by the Lewis family. I believe we might also be working with Water Missions International on the outhouses, which is neat because they’re an organization based here in Charleston.

It sounds like we’ll leave our housing around 7am, arrive at the work site around 8:30am, and work until around 4pm. They want us to arrive back home before dusk to remain safe (you’ll appreciate hearing that, Mom Ruggieri and Beahm!). We’ll be outside all day, but they’re encouraging us to take breaks to play with the kids at the school, possibly teach some English, and spend time praying in the church for Haiti. I know Michael’s excited about the building aspect, and while I am too, I’m even more exciting to play with the kids!

In April, Seacoast sent someone down to Haiti to live for a few months and be our “contact on ground.” He’s been extremely helpful in being the liaison between the Haitians and our trips. We were able to Skype with him during out last meeting on Tuesday, and it really got us excited to get down there!! He’ll be picking us up from airport and taking the lead while down there.

Our flight leaves Saturday morning, June 5, at 7am. We connect in Miami and then arrive in Port Au Prince around 10:30 am their time, 11:30 am our time (they are 1 hour behind us). Hopefully that will give us some time to see the site on Saturday.

Probably the most exciting news is that with less than 2 weeks left, we have completed our fundraising goal! We’ve been absolutely blown away by the generosity of our friends and family in the past few weeks; it’s truly humbling. Thank you to each of you who have supporting us financially and with prayer. We hope we can serve our God well on behalf of you during our trip! Thank you for helping us make this happen.

That’s it for now…check back in before, during and after the trip for more updates!

-LB&MB

Back in the Day

2010-05-11T22:35:00.002-04:00

I was going through some of our photos on the computer and I came across these that I had scanned for the wedding. They are our parents...do you know who is who?!!

My, how times have changed!!

Family

2010-05-09T22:23:00.005-04:00

I love family. It just doesn't get better than spending time with family; it's something we don't get to do as often because we live farther than the rest of our gang (well, not as far as the Swems!). This weekend my sweet cousin Lindsey graduated from Charleston Southern. It's neat because she actually started the first year Kristen and I moved down here, and it was fun to see her end this chapter of her life. She's an amazing soccer player and I'm honored I got to see her play so many times.
My Aunt Betty and Uncle Mark have always been like second parents, and Kristen, Liz and Lindsey like sisters. This whole weekend we laughed, played and competed (cornhole) with each other and I really felt like a Trexler! Michael had a great time too. I'm started to see why Mark and Betty keep telling us we need to give my parents grandchildren...they LOVE being grandparents (and they're great at it!). Here are some pictures from the weekend...including some snaphots of those sweet little cousins of mine.

And lastly, you have to see this video of my cousin Liz's daughter. She is JUST like her Mom and had us rolling for about 30 minutes with her stage performance!

Moms and Pops Visit Charleston

2010-05-03T22:08:00.005-04:00

My parents, aka Moms and Pops Ruggieri, were in town this weekend to relax and visit us for the first time settled here in Charleston! They are great house guests, but really, who can be better than your own parents?! We walked, and walked, and walked. Did I mentioned we walked? We walked everywhere we went, but that's how we roll! The weather turned out great and Michael and I enjoyed playing tourists in our own town. Not too many pictures, but I thought I would share the few we did take!

Pops giving a thumbs down to the cold water...

...and Michael finally giving the cold water a try...

...and Pops taking a snooze on the beach (he was relaxed!)

We're ready for you to come back guys!!

~LB

2010-04-26T20:53:00.016-04:00

Last weekend Michael and I had a great "Charleston" time enjoying the area and what it has to offer. We went to the Family Circle Cup on Friday night and watched the US' Melanie Oudin. Although she didn't play very well, we had a great first time at the tennis center.

And then, on Sunday, we went to Boone Hall Plantation's Strawberry Festival and picked over 4 lbs of strawberries...and Michael enjoyed his homeade root beer!

This past weekend we had the great honor of being a part of CT and Hef's wedding weekend. We had an absolute blast with our friends, and it was incredible seeing how many people came to show their love for this couple. CT & Hef love people so well...and it definitely shows!

We then got to have lunch with some friends in Charlotte, and I finally got to spend some time with little Em...she is just the happiest and cutest little thing! I miss her already :)

~LB

Heart to God, Hand to Man

2010-04-18T10:53:00.003-04:00

I heard this saying a while ago, and it has really stuck with me. Am I doing that? Am I giving my whole heart to God and my service to others? Humbly, my answer is no. Most days I consider that I am living just for me, or the small surroundings I am in. But God has called us to live beyond ourselves. As a Christ follower, I have the honorable obligation to serve as the hands and feet of God. That means putting others first and myself second, all while serving my Maker.

This is tough to do, especially in a culture that is all about success, personal wealth, pleasures and material possessions. But the truth is, we already have so much more…freedom, water, resources, food, space, time, community…than most people in the world. We’re a spoiled bunch, really. I say this with complete transparency because I am not removed from this. I know God has given me way more than I could ever ask or imagine. So what am I doing with it? This is a challenge I’ve been faced with, and maybe you are to.

As most of you know, Michael and I will be traveling to Haiti June 5-12. This will be my first missions trip, and Michael’s 4^th or 5^th. Admittedly, I am pretty nervous. I’m nervous about going to a place so poor, so devastated and so in need. But more than that, I’m pretty excited for God to use me. I know Haiti is just one of many places that are calling for help. In fact, right here in Charleston there are many people going hungry, thirsty or who are utterly empty and lonely. They’re around every corner, every turn, in every country, city and neighborhood.

We’ve been honored to support some of our friends and family who are the hands and feet of God across the world. They are answering God’s call to serve. But God’s call isn’t just in other countries, but it’s everywhere. I think it’s simply moving beyond “me” to “we”.

Our team leader, our good friend Jason Surratt, actually went down to Haiti only 2 weeks after the devastation. He has traveled around the world as Seacoast’s missions pastor, but he said he’s never seen the types of things he saw while in Haiti. He has given us the caution that our hearts will be broken. He’s urged us to begin praying for and journaling so our hearts may in some way be prepared for what we are going to experience during our short trip. Because of this, I thought that in addition to my personal journal, Michael and I can share some of the things we are praying and learning about here on this blog.

"Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out the laborers into His harvest field." Matthew 9:38

~LB

Gregory packs

2010-04-07T22:53:00.004-04:00

10 years ago I got my first backpack of my own for the Philmont backpacking trip. My dad and I got it from Blue Ridge Mountain Sports, and it was a green Gregory backpack. Gregory has always been known for making durable, long-lasting backpacks, but now they can add one more characteristic to their brand and that is superior customer service. Somewhere in the last ten years I misplaced the top lid to my backpack, which is a pretty important piece in that it secures all your equipment inside your pack, keeps water and dirt out, and can also be unclipped to use for day hikes.
With my brother and I talking about a backpacking trip this coming fall, I decided it was time to try and do something about replacing this top lid so I emailed Gregory packs. Being ten years ago, the pack I have is no longer being produced, I didn't know the name of the pack since it was written on the top lid, but to my great surprise, I received a response back from George, a "product technical rep" saying that for a small fee and some pictures of my pack he could literally build me a brand new top lid. In a day and age where customer service usually falls by the wayside, Gregory proved to me that excellent customer service is still alive and well sometimes.
Well done, Gregory, and thanks for hooking me up! Ten years from now when I may need more than a new top lid, you all definitely have my business. You really can't put a price on good customer service!

- MB

Granola Bars

2010-04-07T13:58:00.003-04:00

My friend Carrie provided a great recipe for homeade granola bars over on her blog. I've tried making granola bars before but I was really pleased with the texture and taste of these bars. You should give them a shot!

Granola Bars:
2 cups organic oats
1 cup brown sugar (I used 1/2 cup)
1 cup whole wheat flour (I used 3/4 cup)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup honey (I used just a bit more)
Any dried fruit, nuts, seeds, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, etc. you may want to add. (I used walnuts and raisins).

Mix all ingredients and press into greased pan, 11 X 13. Dough will be very dry and crumbly, but press until dough forms with pan. Bake at 325 for 20 minutes or until edges are browned. Take out and let cool entirely. Cut into strips and store in airtight container.

NOTE: I added some 100% whey protein that Michael had around to add some extra protein...it won't hurt!

-LB

Running the Cooper

2010-04-01T19:53:00.007-04:00

Last weekend was the annual Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston. Michael and I had both run in the race before, but many of our friends who came down to do the race have never run it. I was so proud of my big sister and my friends Morgann and Brie who not only finished the race, but blew past their goals!Michael and I both beat our times from 3 and four years ago!After pedicures, this is what we came back to...and the boys didn't even run it!
Post-race dinner...lots of smiles after the race!
(this is from the fabulous beach day we had on Friday and I got to spend time with my old roommate, Katie Jo!)

Over the weekend (Thursday night through Sunday night), we had 11 different people staying with us...it was wonderful! Remember people, free place to stay at the beach!

We're Going to Haiti!

2010-03-31T08:27:00.006-04:00

It's official. I mentioned this in a few posts, but Michael and I are definitely going on a missions trip to Haiti this summer. We had our first meeting with the group we are going with last night, and I am really excited about what we're going to be doing while we are there. There's still so much to be done in Haiti and us being there will be just a small help, but hopefully the Lord can use us in big ways.

This will be Michael and I's first mission trip together (he's been on 3 other trips) and this will be my first missions trip ever. I am sure we will have more of this to talk about in future blogs!!

Dates are June 5-12. Prayers are welcome, too!

Lucy Girl

2010-03-23T12:20:00.005-04:00

We had a fun time home in Greensboro 2 weekends ago and got to spend some good quality time with the Flowers (we missed you Scott!) and the Beahms I (Chris Melissa and Lucy). Lucy is growing up so fast; its hard to believe she is already over 9 months old! She's scooting around and beginning to pull herself. Her little personality is pouring out!

Rachel is also getting SO big! I can't believe she is 2 1/2...I was in the hospital just hours after she was born!

Lisa is faithfully working out to P90X. I am so proud of her and am impressed because those are tough!! This is a cool shot of Bailey that Chris took with our camera! More pictures from the weekend home here.

-Lynn

The Sellers

2010-03-22T11:33:00.004-04:00

Well, this is 2 weeks late exactly, but our friends and neighbor, Justin and Brandi Sellers, had their sweet baby boy on Monday, March 8! Brandi was in labor for 27 hours with NO medicine, which is such an admirable feat that I don't think I'd ever be able to do! It's been fun travelling with them through the pregnancy from the beginning and now on to new parents. Their dog, Jabba, is also learning how to adjust!

Cyrus Their first family photo!
Congratulations Sellers fam!

-LB

Free to Be Me

2010-03-16T10:47:00.002-04:00

I just love the lyrics of this song Free to be Me by Francesca Battistelli- it’s from her My Paper Heart album. If you know me, you know I am clumsy, drop things, move too fast and get trapped by my horrible desire for perfection. God is perfection and I am not…I often need to be reminded of that and it actually is pretty freeing!

‘Cause I got a couple dents in my fender
Got a couple rips in my jeans
Try to fit the pieces together
But perfection is my enemy
On my own I'm so clumsy
But on Your shoulders I can see
I'm free to be me

When I was just a girl I thought I had it figured out
My life would turn out right, and I'd make it here somehow
But things don't always come that easy
And sometimes I would doubt

And you’re free to be you

Sometimes I believe that I can do anything
Yet other times I think I've got nothing good to bring
But You look at my heart and You tell me
That I've got all You seek
And it’s easy to believe

-LB

Party Turned Wedding

2010-03-11T13:49:00.004-05:00

Last Saturday night Michael and I headed to Charlotte for what was supposed to be an engagement party for Hillary and Philip. Little did we know that we’d be attending their wedding instead! Setting a date has been quite the struggle for the couple; so in December/January they decided to turn the engagement party that their parents’ were throwing into their big day, unbeknownst to their guests. It was held at the eclectic Green Rice Gallery in the up and coming NoDa neighborhood of Charlotte.

Around 8pm, Philip’s dad took the microphone and thanked everyone for attending while reiterating how hard the “setting a date” process had been for them. He then announced that they had decided to end their engagement (with gasps from the audience)…to get married tonight (more gasps from the audience & this time it was joy)! It took a few minutes to assemble the chairs and get everyone in place, but we all stood to watch the couple get married in front of about 100 people. Their wedding party (who were all there) found out earlier that day but they were just as excited as us!

A few pictures from the night:

Groomsmen being silly...CT and Bri breaking it down...as usual. You're next CT!Pretty ladies!Boys with the groom.
Our next wedding is CT and Hef's on April 24 in Shelby, NC...we are so excited to celebrate with them!

-LB

Pensacola

2010-03-07T20:50:00.006-05:00

I am a little behind on posts...so much has been going on so I'll probably have a few posts this week.

I wanted to share a few pictures of my days last week in Pensacola, FL with Kristen, Ryan and Kaelyn. Kaelyn just turned 11 months and will be 1 year old next month...I can't believe it! I loved living life with the Windham's and seeing what daily life was like for Kristen. Now, when I call, I have a good idea if Kaelyn is eating or taking a nap! Ryan was studying very hard for a test (for flight school) and he passed it on Tuesday! We were so excited that we celebrated with Mellow Mushroom before I left. I love my dear cousin and look forward to the days when we are closer together again!

We were having a little photo shoot :)Love!I adore Kaelyn's little crinkled forehead here!

Kaelyn doesn't have any teeth yet, but she loved the feeling and taste of the apple in her mouth!
Mommy and Kaelyn at the Pensacola Beach (Gulf Breeze Pier)Daddy and Kaelyn working hardGiving Kaelyn some love!Adorable!
Eating smores that we toasted in their fireplace!
For all of the pictures from the long weekend, see the web album here.

-LB

Caught Red Handed

2010-03-01T10:22:00.002-05:00

I am down in Pensacola right now with Kristen, Ryan and baby Kaelyn. I just had to post these pictures because we were laughing so hard when it happened. Last night Kristen and I were making dinner and we could hear Kaelyn getting into something. When we turned around, this is what we saw: Clapping at her discovery:

Am I doing something wrong?Coast is clear!

~Lynn

Half as hard, and twice as good

2010-02-14T08:18:00.005-05:00

As it is Valentine's Day, I thought I would share a song that epitomizes friendship and especially marriage in my opinion. It is by Sara Groves, on her latest album fireflies and songs, and the song is entitled "Twice as good." I will let the lyrics speak for themselves, but you have to listen to the song as well. As we celebrate the ones we love today, I can't say enough how life with my beautiful wife has truly been half as hard and twice as good!

Twice as Good, by Sara Groves

When I am down and need to cry till morning
I know just where I am going
when I'm in need of sweet commiseration
to speak out loud

Raise a glass to friendship and to knowing
you don't have to go alone
we'll raise our hearts to share each others burdens
on this road

With every burden I have carried
with every joy it's understood
life with you is half as hard
and twice as good

With my good news your dancing on the table
babies born to celebration
the joy of life oh what a sweet communion
shared with you

I know we're growing older
can you imagine what that will bring
it's all a mystery to me now
but this one thing

will be half as hard, and twice as good.

To hear the song, or see the video: http://www.myspace.com/saragroves

- MB

In the blink of an eye

2010-02-13T14:19:00.015-05:00

Friday night around 9:45 pm, Lynn and I heard a thud on our second story kitchen window, and then moments later a ring at the doorbell. It took me off guard because we weren't expecting anyone, and we were on our third episode of Lost season 4 in as many hours, so were definitely a little out of it. When I opened the door, I was greeted by our neighbor Ray, who was decked out in pajama pants and a snow covered ski jacket. Ray asked if Lynn and I wanted to come out and play in the snow with his family, so we got our jackets on and went outside only to find many of our neighbors throwing snowballs, building snowmen, and enjoying the rare Charleston snowfall. I found out just how rare it was when a friend of ours about Lynn's age told us he had never seen this much snow in his entire life... and we had only received about an inch! Anyways, Lynn and I definitely got our fair share of winter weather last season in Boston, so we weren't quite as in awe as our neighbors about the dusting, but it was fun to share in their excitement last night. Here are some pics...

Ray enjoying the snowfall in front of our townhouse, and using our snow for his snowman. It was his son Owen's first time every seeing snow!

The morning after... unfortunately it seemed to be gone in the blink of an eye!Ray's snowman. (actual size)

And just for fun, a comparison of snowfall between our two homes between this year and last! What a difference a year can make!

Beverly, MA apartment 2009

Charleston, SC townhouse 2010

- MB

My Coupon World

2010-02-09T07:44:00.006-05:00

First, we're sorry for the lack of blogging. There's no excuse, really, except not a whole lot to write about! The Haiti blog was important we thought, and with some recent developments since then, Michael and I might be going to Haiti on a missions trip in June...but more to come on that later.

I titled this blog "My Coupon World" because that is what I feel like I have been in. In the beginning of January I attended a coupon workshop (yes, there are such things!) put on by Cathedral of Praise Church here in North Charleston. I went with the encouragement of my friend, Rhea, who exclaimed she had saved $60 on her first visit after a workshop in November. Those words were like music to my ears and I just couldn't pass up this opportunity to save money. For how thrifty I am, I am actually pretty surprised that I haven't gotten into couponing before now. And what I was shocked to learn from the workshop is that couponing is way more than clipping from Sunday's paper and storing them in a coupon container...

The whole goal behind extreme couponing is stockpiling coupons to therefore stockpile groceries. I am not too keen on having a pantry stacked with groceries, but it's nice to have a few extras lying around. It takes a while to stock up on the coupons, but after just four weeks I am feeling pretty good about what I've collected. It was suggested to buy 2 Sunday papers to get 2 copies of each coupon, but I've been fine with getting one Sunday paper and 2 on "full" weeks (weeks with more than 2 coupon inserts). The way to save the most money is to buy mainly (or even only) what is on sale and use coupons to make that discount steeper. I would say about 60% of my coupons come online, too, from the following websites: http://www.southernsavers.com/, http://www.hotcouponworld.com/ and http://www.coupons.com/. The first website, Southern Savers, will pair the weekly ads each week with non-expired coupons that have come out in the last few weeks...it virtually does the matching for you! If you are interested in couponing, you'll probably want to start here.

Heres an example: if a box of Cheerios is on sale for Buy One Get One Free, you can use two coupons with the purchase of both items (essentially using 2 coupons for the item you are buying). Also, for many grocery stores they double coupons up to a certain amount. Publix doubles coupons $.50 and below, and Harris Teeter doubles coupons $.99 and below (but only allow 20 coupons per visit). So if you have 2 coupons for Cheerios that are $.50 each, you are actually getting $1 off per coupon ($2 off) and with B1G1 free for a box of Cheerios that is normally $3.40, you are getting 2 boxes and only paying $1.40. Pretty good!

I organize the coupons in a trapper keeper-like binder with baseball card sleeves where each coupon goes. The pages are filed by category which makes them easy to find. I then make my grocery list based on what's on sale, NOT on what I feel like cooking that week. This was a hard transition (for Michael too!), but it's been fun coming home with what I bought and THEN figuring out how to get creative with cooking. Lastly, I put the coupons I am going to use in an envelope and take them to the store with me. I am a little tainted though; I can hardly buy anything now unless I have a coupon!

After 4 weeks worth of grocery shopping, we've saved $221.33 and not sacrificed health or taste...it can be done! I think we could do even better than this, but for just starting to stockpile the coupons and groceries, I am pretty pleased with this amount.

Here are some snapshots of the craziness:

Day 1 of couponing:Michael's been in on the clipping and using of the coupons too: This past Saturday's trip...we saved $72 on all of this!The receipts of savings from this week:

If you are seriously interested in couponing, please call me and I can walk you through it some more!

-LB

Haiti Help

2010-01-20T09:13:00.003-05:00

Like I am sure most of you have been, we've been heartbroken by what we have seen and heard about in Haiti. It gives us this helpless and overhwhelming feeling that we don't know what to do with something so catastrophic. How do we make sense of it all? How can we help?

If you live in the Winston-Salem/Greensboro area, you can help more with the Haiti cause then giving money. Our friend Holly Lewis is down at the Dominican Republican right now (neighbors of Haiti) and has passed along some information on what is most needed there right now. Here is her blog post below, and you can read more about it here: www.unclewis.blogspot.com

------------------------------
You can help Haiti

We have a plane leaving Winston-Salem within the next week headed to the DR bringing medical supplies. If you'd like to donate anything toward our efforts in Haiti, here's what you can do:

Start a medical supply drive and/or take up money to buy supplies.

Here is a rough list of what is needed. I will let you know what to do with it as soon as I can. But go ahead and start collecting!
All and any first aid supplies… ie bandages, splints, braces adhesives etc
Antibiotics, pain meds…. etc

We need antibiotics, sutures, casting materials, ACE bandages, gauze, antibiotic cream, IV fluids, water purification tablets, Band Aids, Diabetic and hypertensive medications, protein powders, milk, vitamins, baby formula, baby bottles, pain medications, tape, IV tubing, angiocaths, syringes, needles, glucometers and strips, sterile and non sterile gloves, thermometers, blood pressure cuffs, stethoscopes, recharable otoscopes, iodine, betadine, alcohol, peroxide, acid reflux meds.

If you have items to donate or questions, contact Myra Phillips. myra@silicones-inc.com

You can bring items to First Presbyterian Church in Winston-Salem on Sunday. Building B. 1stpres.com
------------------------------

There are a lot of organizations that are providing relief right now. I feel as though we need to give to the ones who have the biggest interest in Haiti: before, now and after. If you want to give money, think about the groups who have plans to stay in Haiti for a while. They are the ones who will need the most support.

If you can't donate money or give items, then my suggestion would be to pray. Prayer is the most powerful tool we have right now. Pray for restoration and pray for healing. Pray for God to use this horrible tragedy to bring good to a place that was suffering so much before the earthquake. Pray for the hearts of those leaders who need to make decisions on how to move forward. And pray that God mobilizes the right people with the right skills to help. And if you are able to, think about going there after the initial relief has passed. Haiti is going to need a lot of help in the future, in addition to right now. Think about going. We are.

Fair Trade Music

2010-01-18T21:19:00.006-05:00

When I was in the grocery store with Lynn on Sunday, I found myself spending the majority of my time where I usually do when I am in the grocery store – on the coffee aisle. As a thoughtful consumer, I am drawn as usual to the small label that reads fair trade coffee. This little label settles my conscious to pay a little more to those who put hard work in to the product. But what if there was a way to not have to pay more for fair trade? This is essentially what you get with NoiseTrade, an online music distribution service connecting musicians directly to fans.

In the music business, we have seen many companies getting creative in selling music to listeners through digital download. The most popular option, ITunes, which is to no surprise the #1 music download store, offers songs for 99 cents to $1.29 per song. NoiseTrade however, allows fans to immediately download music (from musicians who have uploaded their music into an embeddable widget on the NoiseTrade website) by simply telling five friends about the artist via email or paying what they want. Fans also provide their name, email and postal code upon download which allows musicians to email newsletters to fans and also get an idea of where their fans are around the country for touring purposes.

NoiseTrade founder Derek Webb says, “Who needs peer-to-peer when you can have artist-to-fan? If artists and fans realized how they could help each other and started making direct connections, without a middleman, the whole industry would change overnight. It would start a revolution.”

For more, visit www.noisetrade.com

- MB

We'll Take It!

2010-01-13T11:18:00.003-05:00

The Appalachian Athletics department just announced the 2010 Football schedule for our Mountaineers...and guess who rounds out the season as our last foe? None other than the Florida Gators. On November 20. And we aren't scared! Well, maybe just a little.

Read more about the schedule here.

It's quite the lineup of games this year (and a little odd, too). We start off with a conference game at Chattanooga, followed by 2 non-conference games. We play Elon on homecoming (which makes me a little nervous) and Western in October (and not the last game of the season). And the most fun game at all will be when we snap those gator mouths shut in Jacksonville, Florida!

I'm ready now...but we are 8 months away!

-LB

Year One of Bliss

2010-01-03T09:55:00.000-05:00

One year ago today I married my best friend, the man of my dreams. And he made 2009 my best year yet.

After our dreamy honeymoon in the Riviera Maya, Mexico, we've moved to 2 port cities (Boston and Charleston) and I worked in one (Portsmouth, NH). We experienced New England in the winter and trucked through a few fun snow storms. We shared a car for six months and I wish we could do it again. We traveled to Maine (Kennebunkport and Portland), Vermont, Connecticut, Cape Cod, and visited NYC 4 times (thanks Joe & Kerry!). We hosted family and friends in our tiny Massachusetts apartment but it made everything more cozy. We watched as our country ushered in its first black President. We became Celtics fans and watched as they beat the Bobcats in triple overtime in the TD Banknorth Garden. We attended 7 weddings in North Carolina, one in New Jersey and welcomed the birth of 2 more beautiful neices (Lucy and Geneva). We praised when Michael got a job at Blackbaud and I started my fifth year with Arcadia. We drove from Charleston to Boston in 20 hours and almost considered a separation (no, not really!). We watched our Tarheels win another National Championship and mourned as our Mountaineers lost their chance at one in those final blizzardy seconds. We celebrated the engagement of my sister to her prince charming, Josh. We worshiped and rejoiced in another holiday season. And we excitedly move into our second year of marriage to see what the Lord has in store for us next...

-LB

Got Milk?

2010-01-01T11:58:00.003-05:00

As if my work cookie exchange wasn't enough a few weeks ago, when we got home to Greensboro for Christmas I helped my mom by baking the cookies she wanted for our holiday gatherings. Mom made the pizzelles and Kerry made the red velvet cake balls (more on that deliciousness in a minute!). 6 cookies and 1 pie later, you would think I wouldn't want to see sweets for a year...well, I just needed some milk. :)

Here is the list of what I made: chocolate meringue cookies, coconut snow balls, chocolate truffles, oatmeal lace cookies, peanut butter cup chocolate chip cookies, pecan shortbread cookies and a cranberry walnut pie. Evidence:

Now, I mentioned red velvet cake balls earlier, and if you haven't had them before, go and make them right now, seriously. What an invention. And you can do this with any cake combination (ie yellow cake with chocolate frosting, or carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, or german chocolate cake with chocolate frosting- its endless!). Here's how it goes:

Bake a cake (red velvet in this case) according to the directions/ingredients on the box. When it is done cooking and while it is still warm, crumble up the cake right in the pan. Then pour an entire can of frosting (cream cheese frosting here) into the crumbles and mix together. Form the mixture into bite size balls and place them on a baking pan with parchment paper. Freeze until hard. Once they harden, dip them into melted chocolate (white chocolate here). Refreeze until hard again. Voila! DELICIOUS. You might become addicted, and then you can thank me later.

And don't forget your glass of milk!

LB

She's Engaged!

2009-12-28T22:24:00.006-05:00

A week ago Sunday, my big sister Jenny got engaged to her wonderful boyfriend, Josh. Over the past year, Jenny has been blogging about her adventures over at A Single Southern, but she's not so single any more! Jenny and Josh have been together since March, and they've probably been talking about getting married since May, so this is definitely a long time coming. Our family loves Josh- he is really the perfect fit for Jenny. He understands her and knows how to reason with her, and not to mention he knows how to make her smile. There is no doubt he will love her all of her life. And from what I have heard, Josh's family adores Jenny, so with those things in tow, they are off to a pretty good start.

Being the younger sister, at times it was hard to get married first...I always wanted her to get married before me. But, He has a mighty plan and He knew what he was doing. Jenny is giving me the amazing honor of being her matron of honor, and I am going to use everything I learned to help her have an exciting and smooth wedding planning experience. Jenny has a tendency to get stressed and overwhelmed a little bit easier, so I am going to task myself with the job of keeping Jenny stress-free. Being engaged was such a fun time for Michael and I, and I pray Josh and Jenny can say the same thing in August. Oh, and they are planning an August wedding :).

Now, on to the thing you are waiting for...the ring! Jenny has loved and adored our grandmother Nanny's ring for many years, so unknowingly to Jenny, Josh had the ring designed to look like Nanny's. I got some help from my aunt, Margie, who has the ring and took some great pictures. Thanks Margie! Josh was able to use his grandmother's diamond for the center so both sides of the family are found in the ring- how special! Jenny loves it and Josh did a great job. He proposed with just the two of them, but then brought her to my parents' house where we all were waiting to celebrate with her...as you will see below!

We joked with Jenny during our 2007 family Italy trip that she would come back to elope in Lake Como, Italy, so we were just leaving her a friendly reminder :) Drawing courtesy of Joe.Kerry and I rushed out to get bridal magazines so she could begin looking for ideas. This was lots of fun for us! We had some champagne to celebrate...and I loved playing with Kerry's camera! Here she is!

The happy couple! The jaw dropping ring...just stunning!

Congrats Jenny and Josh! We love you.

-LB

Tis the Season

2009-12-18T19:21:00.004-05:00

As most holiday seasons go, this one has been busy and full of activity. Two weeks ago I hosted a cookie exchange and contest at work for the first 10 people who signed up. We had a great response and the cookies were fantastic! The winning cookie, Chocolate Truffles, had only 3 ingredients! In a close second was my boss with her yummy deconstructed carrot cake cookies. Michael was happy I brought these home, too!

All 10 of the cookies
The winners!The Exchange
On Monday night Michael and I headed to James Island for the annual James Island Festival of Lights. This is definitely a Charleston experience during the holidays. We had a great time and Michael enjoyed his first time at the festival.Then on Tuesday and Wednesday nights we had playoff games for our co-ed soccer team, and at 10:30 pm on Wednesday we took home the championship! Here is a great shot of the winning team. Michael and I had such a blast playing together, and he was one of our leading scorers!

And this last picture is of the dinner Michael made last night...seriously, it was awesome! I had just come home from my first practice coaching and he had this ready to eat- I had no idea! It was awesome. What a husband I have!

On a really sad note, my sweet Uncle Jerry passed away at 2:30 am Thursday morning. He had been battling lung cancer for over a year and he took a turn for the worse this week. His wife, son and daughter were all with him during his last few days and hours. Michael and I are headed to Salisbury, NC for the funeral on Saturday to be with our family. Praying for the Sides family as they seek comfort and peace.

The Lord has blessed us this year with more than we need and deserve- we are so thankful. Happy holidays everyone.

-LB

Grandma's Tradition

2009-12-07T20:45:00.004-05:00

It's hard to believe all of my grandparents have been gone now for over 5 years. I still miss each of them so much. Pop Pop, Nanny, Grandma and Grandpa.

Grandma Ruggieri passed away in October of 2002 but has left behind so many fond memories and traditions. One of the things I loved about Grandma was her passion and knack for cooking. She made the best of anything she touched: pasta, meatballs, stuffing, eggplant parmesan, cheesecake, pizza, bread, Italian cookies and much, much more. I think that is where I get it from, and my Mom, too. And oh, did Grandma adore her family. She lived for her family, something that was evident in every thing she did. I've tried so hard to implement those two things together, which Grandma was a perfectionist at.

For our wedding, my sweet Aunt Laura (Grandma's oldest) gave Michael and I a pizzelle maker. Pizzelles are a unique Italian cookie made with anise seeds- a very unique taste but familiar to any true Italian. I finally broke it out on Sunday and made my very first batch of pizzelles, Grandma's speciality. As soon as the batter was finished, I smelled Grandma and a rush of memories waved over me. Memories of our time in New Jersey, her taking care of us while Mom and Dad were out, our time playing with their antiques in their basement, cooking and baking with Grandma, and the many containers of cookies they would bring on their trips to see us in North Carolina.

So here is a look at my first shot at pizzelles, with a twist of me on them: drizzled chocolate.

Michael called this my "Mess-terpiece" :)

Oh how I miss you, Grandma. I wish you were here to do these with me.

Lucy and a Wedding

2009-11-24T12:36:00.007-05:00

We had so much fun the weekend before last playing with little miss Lucy in Apex (& Chris and Melissa too!), as well as attending a wedding for a good family friend of ours, Christine Nitz, in Greensboro.

Enjoy the pictures! Chris and his sweet little Lucy...I think she looks like Melissa too!

Joe and Kerry have an awesome new camera, which explains how great these pictures are!

My high school basketball coach, Coach Faye, with his two favorite players :) Joe and Mike dancing!

They called themselves the "outlaws" that night, but they are NOTHING close to that!!

The Men.

I wish I could be as beautiful as her one day!

Gobble, Gobble

2009-11-24T10:39:00.004-05:00

This Thursday will mark the 3rd year in a row that Lynn and I will have run together in the Greensboro Gobbler. It is a race that we always look forward to running in, and will continue to do as long as we spend Thanksgiving in Greensboro. There always seems to be some excitement come race day (which I will explain), so I'm looking forward to this year's race.

2007 - 2 months prior to Lynn and I getting engaged, still trying to make a good impression on Lynn... I decide to keep pace with her. First lap going well... second lap, Joe Ruggieri decides to start running with us (mind you he isn't registered in the race, he and Kerry were simply cheering us on). He ended up running 1.5 miles with us in his crocs. At the end of the race Lynn starts sprinting with at least 1/4 mile to go... definitely wasn't ready for that and felt the consequences after the race of making sure I finished in front of her!

2008 - Convinced my brother Chris to run the Gobbler with us. Did some pre-race training with him in Greensboro a few weekends prior. Chris had surgery the week before the race, which definitely threw a wrench in his training regiment. It was great to add a Beahm to the tradition, and run with him though! Lynn and I both beat our times from the year prior... I think because we both had been exercising a lot to get in to wedding shape.

2009 - The additions of Jenny and Mike Ruggieri will make for a fun Gobbler this year. Going to try to keep pace with Mike, but he has experience on The Bear run up Grandfather mtn., so not making any promises.

Ultimately the Gobbler run is only a means to the end, as running usually is to me. The end being the post-race starbucks trip, and a big appetite and guilt-free conscience as I enjoy all the delicious Thanksgiving fixins of the day!

Looking forward to seeing some of the usual faces out there! Gobble, Gobble.

The Law of Gravity

2009-11-22T15:12:00.003-05:00

After being married for almost a year now, one thing I have learned about Lynn is that cooking is one of her biggest hobbies. One thing Lynn has consistently said she has learned about me this year is that as cooking is to her, music is to me.

This past week one of my recent favorite musicians, Andy Gullahorn came out with a new cd called "The Law of Gravity."

Gullahorn is an under-the-radar musician out of Nashville whose songwriting abilities are second to none. Lynn and I have seen him in concert alongside Andrew Peterson and his wife, Jill Phillips. Anyways, I've always enjoyed the stories he tells in his songs, the honesty of his songwriting, and the humor that is woven in his lyrics and thought I would promote his new album on our blog.

For a free sampling of Andy's music, go here: https://www.noisetrade.com/index.aspx#

Welcome to the world!

2009-11-10T11:38:00.003-05:00

We are so excited to announce the births of two little girls, Geneva Lynne Swem and Emerson Jayne Bruce.

Geneva was born on November 10 at 1:50am China time in Shanghai, China. She is our 5th neice; the third daughter of Michael’s sister, Jenny, and her husband Alex. Jenny was only in labor for 20 minutes- I guess she can attribute this for being 9 days overdue! Jenny said her experience in the international hospital has been excellent…which makes all of us overseas breathe a sigh of relief! Enjoy these pictures of little Geneva as her sisters and parents meet her for the first time. We wish we were there! (hopefully in the Spring!)

Vera gives Geneva some kisses for the first time!

We hear Wendy Jane adores her new little sister!

Daddy and Geneva.
Mom and baby love looking at each other :)

And this is the coolest thing about the advancements in technology. We skyped with Jenny and Geneva just hours after she was born. How cool!

Remember our announcement in March about our good friends Terry and Ellen Bruce being pregnant? Well, their little girl has finally arrived, and EARLY! Emerson was born on Thursday, November 5, in Charlotte, NC almost a week before her due date. It seems these little girls wanted to arrive on their own time! We are so happy for our dear friends as they embark on this new journey called parenthood.

Congratulations, we love you all!

A Birthday affair

2009-11-08T18:09:00.004-05:00

As you all know, yesterday my beautiful wife turned 27. If you know Lynn, you know she doesn't like a lot of gifts on her birthday, she just wants to be doing something fun with the people that she loves. This year proved no differently, and the main thing she wanted to do was go to the Coastal Carolina Fair. Part of the fun for her going this year was the fact that I had never been to a county fair, so she was able to experience the fried food, the old school rides, and the masses of (unique) people with a newbie like myself.

We went with our good friend Erin, but unfortunately we got stuck in traffic for over 3 hours trying to get to the fair! It was a rough start to the night because we missed the band Chairman of the Board, and didn't end up arriving until 9:30! As you can tell, I wasn't too happy about the traffic!

We finally made it in to the fair, and the first thing I did since we hadn't eaten dinner was go for the corn-dog stand. It was by far the best corn dog I have ever had! (sorry we didn't capture proof of it). Lynn decided to go for the fried twinkie. And, our friends Jessica and Josh went for the fried oreos. Erin went for the fried Milky Way, and I think we all unanimously decided that hers was the best deep fried item of the night! No one was gutsy enough to go for the fried butter (yes, that was a real option!)

Even though we waited in traffic for over 3 hours to be there, I was glad we stuck it out and got to be there for a couple hours Saturday night. Thanks everyone who called, and sent gifts or cards yesterday and helped make Lynn's birthday special!

Girls Weekend

2009-11-07T13:43:00.007-05:00

Now that Kristen has had Kaelyn, our girls weekend is not so typical anymore. Of course we did the things we always do on those special weekends: get up early, take walks, talk, watch movies, lay around, cook food and then eat it. But above all those things, this time we had Kaelyn. Kaelyn was no doubt our center of attention, but I don't think any of us minded. Kaelyn is such a precious bundle of joy and it made us even happier the five foodie friends could come together across 4 states for the weekend.

Enjoy these pictures as we got to love on Kaelyn, and each other!

Kaelyn's Halloween outfit #1Halloween outfit #2

We love this girl!

Fall

2009-10-27T19:55:00.003-04:00

The crisp air in the evening. Smells of nutmeg, cloves and pumpkin from house to house. Leaves transforming from its rich green color to shades of burnt orange, red and gold. This is fall, and it has arrived.

I absolutely love this time of year and have been lucky to go to Boone three weekends in October, as well as a trip to Asheville this weekend.

Our home, ready for Fall!

What do you love best about Fall?

~LB

Love is in the Air!

2009-10-13T12:02:00.003-04:00

It's no surprise that I love weddings, engagements and all things involved with those two things, especially marriage!

Last weekend (October 3), we were invited to three separate weddings on the same day: Alan & Carolyn in Boone (which we went to), Erin & Carter in Greensboro (sadly we missed this), and Brittany and Brendan in Tennessee (my cousin).

And just recently, three sets of our friends got engaged! Here are some pictures of the happy couples:

CT and Hef...engagement happened in Boone last weekend while we were all up for homecoming!!

Becky and Mike...engagement happened last week while they were adventuring in Europe!! Kyle and Lauren...engagement happened at a vineyard and was a total surprise to Lauren!

Congratulations to all of our lovebirds. We are excited that you have found your special someones and look forward to celebrating with you next year!
(Thanks for letting me borrow the photo, Lauren!)

And, there is always room in my heart for future engagements and weddings... :)

-LB

Alan and Carolyn's Wedding

2009-10-08T20:37:00.004-04:00

Michael and I had an absolute blast last weekend at the wedding of our friends Carolyn Clark and Alan Rasmussen in Banner Elk, NC. I met both of them my freshman year in college through the Appalachian Ambassadors organization we were a part of. Alan and Carolyn started dating our junior year so it was neat to see them begin as best friends and grow into a deep, loving relationship. The two of them have lived apart for the past 4 years and finally will be living together (in NYC)! We loved sharing in their excitement.

Another special aspect of this wedding was that Carolyn hand-created almost every piece of decor. I took many pictures of her creations for you to see. Enjoy!

The setting takes your breath away!

That's one happy couple!My handsome date...wow, I am lucky! Cutting that pretty apple-fall cake.

Reception setting: Banner Elk WineryThe Janowski's and the Beahm's!

The ASU crew at the wedding!After a loooong night of barefoot dancing...my favorite!

And Carolyn's handmade touch....

The out-of-town guest baskets (which Morgann brought up to our house!)Carolyn loves her birds...theme throughout the whole wedding process!Wedding programMatches for sparklers and sweets barMatch box

Two Week Recap

2009-10-02T12:22:00.005-04:00

The Fall is here and the Beahms are already busy! Two weeks ago we headed up to Pawley's Island to spend time with Lisa (Michael's sister) and her family, as well as Mom and Dad Beahm. And last week we made the 5 1/2 trek to Boone for the first good visit since November...and it was worth it! Both this weekend and next weekend we will be heading to Boone again (the Clark-Rasmussen wedding and Homecoming/Jenny's birthday). Many fun weekends in store!

While at Pawley's Island in September, we introduced the Beahm family to corn hole for the first time. They loved it! Even little Josiah tried his hand at throwing the bags (and collecting them too!).

In addition to seeing family in Pawley's, we got to celebrate the 2nd birthday of our sweet neice Rachel. It is hard to believe she is already 2! She has grown up so much...even since our wedding in January! She loved the ocean too...the waves did not scare her!
Michael and I doned the birthday hats all night...I think I was even wearing it while cleaning up from dinner!

Here is sweet Rachel blowing out her candles from the Curious George birthday tower...Josiah helped decorate the cupcakes if you can tell!

Last weekend we "weathered" the weekend of rain in Boone and saw our Mountaineers take on Samford. Although it rained from morning til' night, Michael and I stayed warm and dry in the College of Business box, courtesy of Dad Beahm who is on the advisory board for the business school! We had a really great time checking out the new building and watching the football game from a cozy seat with good food :) It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience, and we were truly grateful! Everything in the building was black and gold; even the toilets were black with gold fixtures and an "A" on the top of the handle! I am in joyful bliss in this picture :)

I think the Beahm parents also really enjoyed the opportunity...look at how decked out they are in black and gold (nevermind that those are also the colors of Colorado and Wake!).

Have you guys seen the new box/athletic building yet?

Go Apps!

~LB

(We are sad to miss the ASU vs. Citadel game here in Charleston this weekend, but it will be well worth it as we go to see Carolyn and Alan get married at the Blueberry Villa & Banner Elk Winery. More on that next week!)

What I've been reading lately...

2009-09-28T21:30:00.002-04:00

Head on over to my Five Foodie Friends blog to see what I have been obsessing/reading about.

http://fivefoodiefriends.blogspot.com/2009/09/eat-this-not-that.html

-LB

Fun News

2009-09-22T08:17:00.002-04:00

As most of you know, Michael and I are both obsessed with basketball- both playing and watching. I coached a 10u girls AAU team while in college (with assistants David English and my brother!) and have really been itching to coach again at the high school level. After waiting four years, I am happy to announce that I will be an assistant coach for Wando High School's girls varsity basketball team!

The first official game is November 25 with workouts starting next week. I am sure I will have many stories to share in the coming months!

-LB

The making of the cornhole set

2009-09-13T17:58:00.006-04:00

This past week I had off between projects at work, so I decided to make good use of my time and build a cornhole set. I finally have the space required for this kind of project, so it just took acquiring the right tools and materials for the project. I found some thorough instructions at www.cornholehowto.com, which I used as a guide for the project, and put to use the skills I acquired from building floors at Dutch Barns. Lynn encouraged me to take pics along the way, so I posted them for you all to see step-by-step how I built it.

Doing some preliminary planning on Labor Day night

After acquiring a jigsaw from the Avera's, buying a drill and the 2 x4's from Lowes, and the plywood from the Flemings, I cut wood for the cornhole base. It was a bit tricky cutting out the 2x4's with a jigsaw, but it turned out well.

The finished cornhole bases with everything but the legs (seen on the sides). Just used basic wood screws to drill the 2x4's together and the plywood down on top.

Cutting the legs was tricky as I had t0 cut a 99 degree angle on the bottom with the jigsaw, then round the tops so the leg can rotate. Just used a carriage bolt to attach the legs to the base.

Cutting the actual hole in the base was tough (because I didn't want to mess it up after coming this far), but having a jigsaw certainly made it easier!

After cutting the hole and adding the legs to the base, it was time to paint. I primed the board, then added the black paint on top in the design I had chosen. It eventually turned in to an "A" after Lynn's recommendation for Appalachian as you can see below!

The finished cornhole boards! Now for the bags...

Lynn at the Avera's on Saturday making the canvas bags with Rhea's sewing machine.

It may have been her first attempt, but as you can see they were flawless!

The dried corn kernals for the filling of the cornhole bags. I only needed 8 lb's of dried corn feed for the bags (l lb per bag), but the feed store only sold it in a 50 lb. bag. We have a lot of dried corn feed leftover in our garage if anyone wants some.

The 8 finished black and gold cornbags

Trying out the finished cornhole set! Can't wait to take it tailgaiting up in Boone, and bring it to Beahm family gatherings!

- MB

Labor Day Fun

2009-09-13T17:22:00.006-04:00

Michael and I had a great Labor Day weekend hosting Jenny and Josh in Charleston. Joe and Kerry were also in town with their friends, too, but were definitely occupied with the seven children staying in their house at Isle of Palms. We didn't capture too many photos of the fun weekend, but we did manage to get some snapshots from the ASU-ECU game viewing party, or what was suppose to be the viewing party. DirecTV decided at the last minute to block the game on MESN in all of South Carolina. We had nearly fifty people at the Kickin Chicken ready to cheer on our Apps, but only disappointed fans left the restaurant. It would have been great to watch the comeback! Oh well, I am sure they have heard the complaints by now :)

Jenny and Josh before they hit the road.

Oh, and I got a rosemary plant to join my porch of plants. Yummo!

-LB

The Weekend of Weddings

2009-09-04T12:03:00.013-04:00

Last weekend Michael and I went adventuring to 2 North Carolina weddings and had a blast. The first one was in Charlotte: the wedding of Sara Gates and John Chidester who are part of the fabulous App Family. After their sweet vows, we partied down on the dance floor in typical App Family fashion. John lived with Michael for a semester, and John & Sara are both good friends of ours. They have been together for over 4 years, so it was really special to share this day with them!

The Chidesters, FINALLY!

Red head lovin'...Michael would not take part- he is in denial. :)
My HANDSOME date!

Kat has THE best hugs and energy...they are contagious!!

Our wonderful hosts for the weekend- Matt and Kat Fleming. We love staying with them!! Thanks guys for being who you are...and "rocking" it out!

Me with Ellen (& the Pea in her belly) and mama Gibbs :). Good luck moving this weekend Bruces! I am going to miss you during Homecoming weekend Bec!

After the Chid wedding, we headed up to our beloved Boone on Sunday to attend the wedding of Betsy Cottrell and Matt Kraus. Opposite of the Chidesters, Betsy and Matt have only been together for less than a year. However, their love for each other shined just as bright and was so visible to everyone! Look at this smile on Betsy. :)

The setting for the wedding was just breathtaking. We sat on the extended front lawn of the Cottrell home, and the Boone mountains nestled just beyond where the couple said their "I do's." It was really dreamy. The reception followed just in front and behind the Cottrell home. We gobbled on spaghetti and DELICIOUS wedding cake made by Betsy's grandmother. We also spent some great quality time with our precious friends Morgann and PK.

All in all, we are so glad we got to be a part of BOTH of these beautiful celebrations of love. Each one displayed their love for each other and the Lord in their own unique ways. I love weddings!

-LB

Charleston Battery Soccer Games

2009-08-29T12:07:00.010-04:00

Lynn and I have been down here in Charleston almost 2 months now, and something we have come to really enjoy doing together is going to Charleston Battery soccer games. The league the Battery play in is essentially national minor league soccer, as some of the players have gone on to play in the MLS, and the teams they play are anywhere from Vancouver, to Portland, or even just right up the road in Raleigh. We have gone to a few games thus far, and usually end up sitting with some of the same people, including our good friend Zee Patel. Here are some pics from last night's game against Portland.

Thankfully the rain held off during the game (the women in front of us were married to some of the Battery players, so it got intense at times!)

Enjoying the action (I think this was right after a Red Card on the Battery)

The Blackbaud office building I work in

Even though the game ended in a 0-0 tie, they still had fireworks!

- MB

Five Foodie Friends

2009-08-25T12:53:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago, four of my girlfriends and I created a blog, Five Foodie Friends, for the five of us to share recipes and food ideas. It was also created as another way for the five of us to stay close together, even though we all live far apart.

So far, it has been incredibly fun and successful for us! Last week I made Sarah's Roasted Potatoes recipe, and tonight I am making her Chicken Tortilla Casserole with the Granola later on this week. Priscilla just added a fun pumpkin post, and we are anxiously awaiting the first posts of Rachel (who has been experimenting this summer) and Kristen. Feel free to check the blog and try some of the recipes for yourself!

-LB

2009-08-20T12:15:00.002-04:00

Sometimes it amazes me what little things can make a big difference. This is our sixth week in Charleston, and we still had not met any of our neighbors. Although we have talked about it often, Michael and I have yet to reach out and introduce ourselves. After conversations with friends and family, we decided to make cookies for a few of our neighbors as a way of saying “we live here and want to be friends!” Last night we delivered the first batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies and had such a positive experience. Our next door neighbors, Sharon and Ray, have two kids, Olivia (11) and Owen (8). They are an incredibly neat family and we spent 2 hours talking to them just outside our front doors (these are townhouses, remember!) “Why did this take so long?” is what I thought all night. But there is timing in everything. We enjoyed our conversations very much with the McGuirks and are looking forward to many more gatherings together over the next year.

Then, to place icing on the cake, as we were talking, another neighbor down the road with 2 pugs came over to chat. They no longer have the 2nd pug as they are a pug foster family and had just given one away to adoption. I FINALLY got to play with the little pug named Jaba who I have been admiring for weeks; I also got my “pug fill” in for a few days. I am obsessed with them. I may have mentioned this before, but I have an adorable little nephpup named Winston who I love and don’t get to see as much as I’d like to. Here he is:

I have been begging Michael to let us get one eventually, and after talking with these neighbors, I think I may have warmed him up to the idea. Brandy and Justin are a part of a large pug rescue I the Charleston area and might have convinced us not to go with a puppy whenever we get a dog (which probably won’t be anytime soon, Mom!). They, like us, are wanting to know their neighbors more, and especially the young adults (they are only a few years older than us). We gave them cookies too.

On Sunday evening our HOA is having a neighborhood cookout which will allow us to meet most of the rest of the division, which excites us.

So, a little batch of cookies can go a long way.

-LR

Rachel and Rainey

2009-08-19T21:22:00.005-04:00

My sweet friend Rachel came to visit with her new precious dog, Rainey from Sunday to Tuesday. I took off work to play at the beach all day on Monday, and it was well worth it! We baked in the sun and cooled off in the water, before Rainey took off running down the beach! Rachel had to run almost a 1/2 mile just to get her...it was quite funny to watch!

Rainey then pooped out on the beach...the sun got the best of her!
We know how to show a good time down here, and the two of them can attest to that! Rachel's friendship is so precious, and I am so glad she decided to share some of her break with us. PS- dogs are welcome, too!

-LR

I'm a South Carolinian

2009-08-14T12:00:00.001-04:00

Well, I took the plunge…I got my South Carolina drivers license, title and license plate yesterday. It is the first time I have ever had anything but North Carolina. I have to admit, it was hard and a little sad! I love my home state of North Carolina, and especially that sweet little town of Boone. But, somehow being here with Michael made it okay- this is our home right now. He is my home. And we are making our home a great little place. (I am not sure I could live anywhere else in SC but the Charleston area though!). And I know we will go back to North Carolina one day.

We are really enjoying our time in Charleston so far. It’s hard to believe 5 weeks have already passed since we moved in. I feel as though we have done more in our time here than the whole time we were in New England. It might not have helped that for many of those months in Massachusetts, we were buried under snow! Charleston is such a warm and lively place to live. It has the ocean, rivers, live music, trails, delicious food, great churches, THE bridge, wonderful people, and the epitome of SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY. Oh how I have missed that. And, it doesn’t hurt that we live in a destination place where so many people love to visit. In fact, we got to have dinner with two of our NEWLYWED friends (Jason and Erin Huprich) downtown on Wednesday night who were on their honeymoon!! How unique; we felt honored.

So though I may not wave my confederate flag, I will certainly eat some shrimp n’ grits and catch some sun in my new home of Charleston. And visit North Carolina as often as I can. J

~LB

October 3

2009-08-06T17:41:00.003-04:00

I just wanted to share the most beautiful and creative wedding invitation I have ever received! It is for the wedding of my dear ASU friends, Carolyn Clark and Alan Rasmussen. I took a shot of it to show all of the precious details. Of course, being the most creative person I know, Carolyn handmade all of her invitations. Check it out:

Carolyn also keeps up a cool blog of all her wedding creativities (my new word!).

I can't wait for the wedding on October 3 in Banner Elk!!

-LB

Porch Life

2009-07-26T19:03:00.008-04:00

Since we have moved into our new Charleston home, I have finally been able to grow the herb plants I have been dying to have. As you can see below, I have basil, oregano, parsley and thyme growing on my porch. Doesn't fresh basil smells so amazing!! And, it has certainly come in handy! Having fresh herbs around is much better than dry herbs, although we still use plenty of them too.
Below are just two of the dishes we have made with fresh herbs in them: A shrimp dish Michael made, and homemade pizza with fresh oregano and basil.
Here is a snapshot of our cute porch furniture Michael's parents blessed us with. It is perfect!
Lastly, we wanted to share the great hole in the wall restaurant we finally went to today after church: Jack's Cosmic Dogs. It is a cute little eclectic place with some great dogs!
-LB

On the boat in Charleston

2009-07-19T18:36:00.016-04:00

Two of our friends here in Mt. Pleasant (in our neighborhood actually), Erik and PJ Norlander, generously invited Lynn and I to go out on their boat with them yesterday for Sea Ray's Aquapalooza event. For the event, people basically drive their boats out to Morris Island, park them all around this barge where bands are playing live music, and just hang out in the water, on the beach or in their boats.

It's about a 30 minute boat ride out to Morris Island from Daniel Island, where the boat was docked, and we got out there around 11:00. We had the boat parked near the barge until around 3, when Erik took us out to Morris lighthouse (about a 20 minute ride through open ocean). After Lynn had a slight bout with nausea from the choppy waters, we rode back towards Daniel Island where we stopped and swam with a pack of dolphins (amazingly, they got within about 15-20 feet of us). We then got the wakeboard out, being that we were in calmer waters, and PJ, Katie (Erik's daughter) and I all did some wakeboarding before heading back in around 7:30 pm.

The result of being out on the boat the entire day were some sunburned bodies (even though we lathered and re-lathered), but it was definitely worth it. We're hoping there will be more trips like this later in the summer. If so, I think we could really start getting used to this Charleston place...

Out on the boat in the morning

PJ enjoying being out on the water!

Wakeboarding at Sunset

- MB

Brattleboro, VT

2009-07-04T06:45:00.010-04:00

For the past month or so Lynn has been talking about taking a trip to Vermont before we leave New England, because having spent time in New Hampshire & Maine, it remained the last of the New England states for her to visit. As many of you know, our moving plans sped up after we visited Charleston last week, so our original game plan of an overnight trip to Burlington, VT for our six month anniversary (as recommended by Joe & Kerry) changed to simply getting Lynn on to VT soil before Monday's move! So yesterday we took a day trip up to Brattleboro, VT - the closest city above the Mass. line. I did some research earlier in the week and found a solid hike in the Black Mountain National Area, with views of New Hampshire & Mass. at the summit. The trail was off the beaten path to say the least, and as one of the pictures shows, we had to find another route to the trail head from the directions we got offline. The trip was a lot of fun though, and gave me a chance to reflect on these last two years in New England. As Lynn said yesterday, there is something "peaceful" about VT that you don't find too often, especially living in Greater Boston as we have. We soaked in the VT mountain air and panoramic views from the top, realizing that while Charleston has a lot of natural beauty, we would have to drive up to Boone to enjoy these types of views again (which I think we are more than willing to do).

- MB

Not a good sign when turning in to the expected parking area! Had to find another way over the river. New Hampshire mountains over our shoulders

Lynn vs. WildNear the bottom of trail... hoping the camera stays on the branch I set it on

We're Moving to Charleston!

2009-06-26T12:19:00.003-04:00

So, it is official! We are moving to Charleston! Although we are sad to leave New England and so quickly, we are ready to be down in the South and close to friends and family! Michael has had a couple of good interviews, and we are hopeful for his next step. I will continue to work at the same company I have been with for the past 4 years, and I will be working back in the Charleston office again.

Our official move-in date is July 8, so starting on that date there is an open invitation for anyone who wants to visit! We love hosting and having people stay with us, so never hesitate if you want to take a trip to the beach. Here a few pictures of our house and street in Mount Pleasant.

-LB

App State Football

2009-06-15T10:14:00.003-04:00

83 days. This is how many days there are until the first day of Appalachian's 2009 football season and we are excited! 2007's first game was the monumental Michigan win, and 2008's first game was against the National Champions of LSU. This year's first game is against ECU, a tough North Carolina football program. We are looking forward to many fun ASU games this year in Boone and hopefully a fourth National Championship! I am sure we will have many blogs this fall with updates from games. Appalachian Football and UNC Basketball are two of our FAVORITE things to be a part of!

On the ASU alumni blog, they showed a sneak peak of "The Rock", ASU's newly renovated football stadium. Check it out!

So, are you ready for this year's ASU football season?

2009 Football Schedule

Celebration Weekend

2009-06-08T12:46:00.013-04:00

As promised, here are some pictures from our wonderful weekend celebrating Michael's birthday. We started off on Thursday evening with a cookout at our apartment. Lots of Michael's friends up here helped us celebrate!

Here is Michael enjoying his birthday morning breakfast!

Joe and Kerry arrived on Friday afternoon, and we had such a fun time showing them the North Shore and what we love up here. On Friday night, because it was raining (and we didn't go to the Red Sox game), we decided to see "UP" in 3-D. What a sweet and funny movie. Definitely recommended! Michael and Joe weren't too excited to be taking our picture in front of everyone walking out of the theater.Friday morning we headed up to Portsmouth, NH to show Joe and Kerry where I have been spending a lot of my time...they loved it! We "stuffed" ourselves at the Friendly Toast to start the day.Michael and Joe enjoying the port. I think Joe approves. We next stopped in Kennebunkport, Maine on our way to Portland. This was a new place for Michael and I and we loved this cute town on the water. We then headed to Portland to walk around and enjoy the beautiful weather in this artsy city.Michael really wanted to take a tour at the Shipyard Brewery, but the last one ended just before we got there. We settled for taking a picture in front of the sign. :)And, just before we shipped Joe and Kerry off on the train Sunday, we took them to one last brunch place, (aka, saved the best for last). Sound Bites is one of the BEST Boston breakfast restaurants, and the portions leave you full all day long. These guys are happy campers!

Thanks to everyone for helping us celebrate Michael's birthday! We also celebrated the birth of our sweet neice Lucy yesterday (see pictures below). We are excitedly hosting Dad Beahm Thursday through Sunday, and then driving with him back to North Carolina on Sunday. Life just doesn't stop, but we love it!

-LMB

Lucy Marie Beahm

2009-06-07T16:26:00.003-04:00

Blog world, let me introduce you to our niece, Lucy Marie Beahm! She was born this morning (June 7) at 9:15 am at 7 lbs, 6 oz and 19". Both baby and mom are doing wonderful. Here are a couple of great pictures Chris took.Congratulations Chris and Melissa!

On the Road Again.

2009-06-04T11:24:00.015-04:00

For most of you who know me, I have always been either travelling to the next place or hosting loved ones. I thought life would slow down after getting married, but really it means double the amount of people to see! The summer has shaped up to be jam-packed for Michael and I, but we can't complain with all of our adventures being spent with good friends and family!

The past few weeks have moved fast for me, so I thought I would share where I have been: Memorial Day weekend I traveled to Asheville to see my dear friend Kristin Meyer marry her sweetheart, Aaron Hensley. I was so blessed to be a part of her big day and experience where the Lord has brought them over the past 2 1/2 years.

Not only was the view of the ceremony breathtaking, but the company was even better. All the kiddos in the wedding!

Plus, I got to spend some fun time with my aunt and uncle, Mark and Betty! They were great hosts to my friend Zee and I.

Two days after I got back from Asheville, I travelled to New York City for 5 days to help represent my company at Book Expo America (BEA). BEA is basically THE show for publishers, booksellers and authors. It was an incredible experience- I am so glad I got the opportunity to attend. Not only was our booth in the "best sellers" section, but we really became a show stopper. And, we never stopped the entire weekend! See what I mean:

This is me with our CEO, Richard.It was neat to experience what I have heard about for the past 4 years. The "who's who" of publishers and booksellers were in attendance, including some big-name authors like Nicholas Sparks, Dan Brown and David Baldacci.

Tonight we are celebrating Michael's birthday (which is actually tomorrow) with a cookout at our apartment (pictures to come next week). Many of his closest friends up here will be helping us celebrate. And, this weekend, my brother Joe and his wife Kerry will (finally!) be travelling up to visit the North Shore and stay with us for the weekend.

Many more adventures to share soon!

(We are also anxiously awaiting the arrival of our neice, Lucy!)

-LB

Portland, Maine

2009-05-21T11:57:00.013-04:00

Last weekend Michael and I decided to take a day trip up to Portland, Maine, just a 1 1/2 drive from Beverly. We both want to explore more of New England and are trying to do so little by little. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't our best friend: cloudy, chilly and overcast. We managed to fight hard, though, and successfully enjoyed this fun port town. Below are some pictures of our adventures.

We ate lunch at this cute little eclectic burrito stop, Wild Burritos. Go figure- Michael has to find his mexican everywhere! :)

And when I said eclectic, I meant it!

We then meandered around town, checking out all the "hot spots", the water, the good shopping, and pretty much all downtown Portland had to offer. Here is a rundown of our trip in pictures: The Portland Market, which unfortunately was not open.

Coffee stop at Arabica! Local coffee shop, check! The owner must have gotten inspiration from Boone NC!

Checking out the views on the dock.

A cool side street...that is Michael in the orange shirt on the left.

More New England adventures to come later this summer!

-LMB

Andrew & Suz's Wedding

2009-05-16T08:14:00.007-04:00

This past weekend Lynn and I were down in Charlotte for Andrew & Suz's wedding. Andrew and I have been great friends since the day Stuart and I moved in to Justice Hall freshman year at Appalachian State. We have seen each other through a lot of classes, relationships, and experiences together over these six years. I was recalling he & Suz's story yesterday with Lynn, just thinking how unique it is, since they were good friends growing up in Charlotte, but didn't become a couple until their last year in college. After college they were long distance for a while like Lynn and I were, so I know the joy Andrew is feeling this week just being in the same place with his wife!One of the fun things about the weekend was interacting with his family and seeing friends from ASU. It was Lynn and my first time seeing friends since the wedding, so it was a new experience for us, and a joy to be able to swap newlywed stories with friends. Friday night we had a good ol' country rehersal dinner with BBQ, Sweet Tea, and Line Dancing. It was the first time I can remember where I was more excited to dance than Lynn... it could have been Andrew's jean shorts, or it may have just been being back in the south that put me in the mood to dance.

I echo the sentiments of one guy at the rehersal dinner who said he was jealous that Suz gets to marry Andrew. While I won't go as far as to say that, especially in public, I will say I know what he means. As someone who lived with Andrew for two years, I know there will definitely be a lot of laughs and adventures in the new Willis home! Congrats Andrew & Suz!