WOW!!! Where do I begin?!?! The last blog I posted was in April when things with my recording in Nashville were really starting to move!!! Now here it is almost October and we are finally taking a much needed vacation! I know I don't have a whole lot of people who follow my blog but I enjoy it nonetheless! So my goal this vacation is to catch everyone up (without boring you to tears) on our crazy summer! I'll post by months so it's followed easier! Hope you all enjoy!
MAY:
Well, May ended up being (by far) the longest time spent from home in a while! We left the first week and headed out to our great family friend's home where we spent Mother's day celebrating with them!
Jonathan and his cousin Landon had a ton of fun together (as you can see from the pictures)
and we enjoyed, as we always do, catching up with everyone!
We then headed to the mountains for a week of routine maintenance on the rentals and our favorite mountain views!
After completing some repairs and a little R&R we headed over to Nashville for some more recording
and an exciting photo shoot for my album cover! (At least we thought it was going to be exciting!) Turns out we had some miscommunication with how the shoot was going to go and ended up spending 90% of the week shopping for clothes that we thought were going to be provided! LOL Most people would say that shopping is a fun thing...but I can tell you that I haven't looked at shopping the same since!
will say though that the photo shoot was amazing
and I had a blast with my mom by my side!!!
Jonny graciously said he would watch Jonathan since he figured it was more of a "girls" thing! He was definitely right on that one! Haha! He and dad did have a chance to stop by the photo shoot and later they told me that they didn't recognize me with all the fru-fru hair & make-up! It was so funny! After the photo shoot we were in Nashville a couple of more days recording before heading home to prepare for June! LOL
JUNE:
June brought many sings for me (for which I LOVED)!
It really seemed, compared to May, to just fly by!
A highlight for June though was starting Jonathan in swim lessons!
We knew this day would come since I work with mom at their house which has a pool! Jonathan has always been intrigued with water and once summer started I knew we wouldn't be able to keep him out of it. So hence the swim lessons. I was very thankful to find an ISR (infant swim resource) instructor out of Lakeland. I had several friends recommend ISR and after JJ's lessons I HIGHLY recommend anyone who has a child to get lessons done! They aren't cheap but they are WELL WORTH IT!!!!
JULY:
We welcomed July with much more swimming!
Obviously one of the hottest months of the year requires daily swimming of some sort!I also had several singing engagements this month as well as attending IMMERSE in Nashville where I met my producer, Don Koch, last year!!!
Jonny & I went by ourselves this year. It was the first time for us to leave Jonathan with his Mimi & Opa for more than overnight! Mom & I weren't sold on it at first but in the long run we knew it would be better for Jonathan to not be stuck in a hotel room for 4 days straight! While Jonny & I attended the conference mom & dad headed to the mountains where we would meet them after the conference. Immerse was great and, like last year, major doors opened up from this conference! I am looking forward to the year ahead of me and what God has up his sleeve!!! While attending Immerse I finished up the last (and GREATEST) song of the album! There were some definite "God Moments" from that week and they will forever be etched in my memory!!!
August:
From Immerse we headed over to meet mom & dad in the mountains! After almost a week we were so excited to see little man! He was such an amazing little boy for his Mimi & Opa and they had a blast together! It took JJ a few days to adjust back to mommy & daddy but overall I would say he transitioned well!!!
I know a lot of parents brag on their children but I have to say that my child is one of the best adjusted kids I know. He really takes to whatever environment is going on around him and I am very thankful for that! 
We are an on-the-go family and I don't think we would survive with a child who freaks out in new situations! (I guess I should be careful what I say b/c the next one may be that way...LOL)! Nonetheless our little man is a blessing for sure!!!!
We stayed in NC for a couple of weeks enjoying the weather and mountains.
While there I had the most wonderful opportunity to fulfill a childhood dream of mine! Every first weekend of August the local town hosts a Crafts Fair that, by far, is the biggest in the state!! It's called Mt. Mitchell Crafts Fair and we've been going to it since I was about 6 years old! And every year they have mostly local talent come in and sing/dance/etc! Well since I was about 6 years old I had told my parents that one day I wanted to sing for it! Well.....at this year's crafts fair I finally got the honor of singing about an hour time slot for the fair!!!
I know it doesn't sound so wonderful but to me it was one of my dreams fulfilled!!! And it was a blast!!! Jonny & I also were able to take a day and take Jonathan to Tweetsie Railroad!
He started to have an interest in trains and we thought that it would be nice to bring him while the weather was nice! He had a blast and to this day when we say anything about it he shrieks out with joy!!!
What a cutie!!!We also celebrated Jonny & my birthday this month!
There was so much going on (and more focus on Jonathan's upcoming birthday) that we just celebrated by going out to eat with my parents! I chose to go to Texas Cattle Company and Jonny got to enjoy Kobe Japanese Steak House!! Both excellent picks might I add! LOL And, to top it all off Jonny got my cake to match my new album cover!! WOW!! 
It was awesome and very tasty!!! Tehehe!
The highlight of August (by far) was the concert debut of my new album "Grace That Chose Me"!!!!!!!
After months and months and months of writing & recording the day finally came that I got to share it with the world (well actually just my home church)!!! I was on cloud nine!!! And, not to mention a little stress since my CD pre-release was going to be arriving the morning of the concert! They were literally fedex'd overnight and arrived around 10am!!! The concert was AMAZING and I had the joy of playing my guitar (for the first time in 5 years) alongside Tim Hutchins & Chris Metz (aka...the band)!
We also had a lady from our church "sign" to my adoption song "Grace That Chose Me"!
It was absolutely beautiful and of course there wasn't a dry eye in the room!!! It also didn't help that I read my adoption story (that mom & I wrote) before I sang the song! I have to say that I will never forget that night and the outpouring of love from fellow church members who came to support me! I am forever grateful!!!
Doing what he does best!
I am writing this as I return from Nashville from recording the first 4 songs of my new project. How fun & exciting it was!! Jonny & I were able to attend our first "Dove Award" ceremony!
Oh my, what an evening with lots of music and "New Songs"!
I'll be returning to Nashville in 2 weeks to complete the recording. I am so full and ready to "sing a new song" to God and bless His name through this project!
