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Had the privilege of taking engagement shots for my dear friends Brooke Parks and Brad Glenn. It's such a neat story how these two met!

Christmas of 2010 there was a pretty big snow storm here in Clemson (all of about 6 inches!), and so a group of my friends decided to drive to the Dikes here in town and go sledding. (It's a Clemson tradition- anybody who has grown up here or who has been a student at Clemson knows what I'm talking about!)

So, my friend Brooke was going to join us for the day. Brad was headed to the dikes but lived pretty close to her, and I asked if he could swing by and pick her up. He did.... and little did he know at that point he would be marrying this girl in a little less than a year from TODAY!

I'm so thankful for how the Lord brought these two together and am excited to see Him with through their time of engagement and marriage. It's been so neat to see one of my friends from childhood ENGAGED to one of my dear friends from college!

You just never know HOW God is going to work!!

Here are a few of my favorites...

Quite possibly my favorite....

This picture has a lot of significance.... the first time Brooke and Brad went out, he picked bouquet of wildflowers for Brooke from the farm. (which is Brad's family farm- where these pictures are taken.) They both went to Clemson (which is how I even met Brooke ...which is how she met Brad!), and this is the vehicle Brad picked Brooke up in the day they met.
:) So much wrapped in one little shot. LOVE!

Can't wait for all of the fun times to come with these two!

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Just want to state that I LOVE HER and am THANKFUL FOR HER!

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Ronnie and I have a little bucket list of things we want to do this summer, and one of them was to go on a random trip... so we picked a few waterfalls on Memorial day, packed a lunch, and conquered! It's amazing that though I've been to this waterfall so many times, it never gets old!

Sarah and I love this one- we call it "Create in Me a Clean Heart" falls. :) It's so neat because you hike in about a mile along the creek, and at the end of the trail is this GORGEOUS fall. It's neat to see the natural progression of the forest cleaning itself out- lots of dead trees fall and wash down the waterfall- it's just like what God is doing in our lives. As we grow and change, He takes the "old, dead trees and brush" (our old nature) and washes it away- He cleans us and makes us new (progressive sanctification, baby!).

SO, all of that to say... we had a GREAT time worshiping the Lord in His creation- beautiful day!

Kings Creek Falls- one of my favorites!

Add caption

Pretty cool back-drop for an eno....

Ended the beautiful day with a promise from God... thankful!

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My Best Friend's Wedding....

SO THANKFUL to have spent some time in Florida with my dear friend, Julia Dawn Clement. In fact, I was able to spend time with MANY dear friends from college.

Sarah and I made the trek to St. Pete Beach, Florida for the celebration of Jules and Victor. It's so neat to see how the Lord has provided for Julia- she and Victor are absolutely perfect for each other. We had a great time at this destination wedding and enjoyed our slow trip back through Savannah, GA.

Isn't Jules just beautiful? Her youngest two brothers
walked her down the "aisle"- it was precious!

Beautiful day for a wedding. It was so special for Victor's dad to be able
to perform the ceremony.

Love my best friend!

Jules and her incredible, beautiful mom.

Thankful for a wedding week in St Pete Beach, FL.

On our way back Sarah and I took a detour for a couple of days in Savannah, Ga. We had the best time walking around Savannah, eating tons of food (including the famous prailines... mmm!), buying local art, taking lots of pictures, laughing... we had the best time together. It's been so busy this last year and I feel like this was a really great time to catch up with Sarah and just spend time together!

I love finding hearts in furniture... beautiful Savannah, GA.

This is the home of the famous pralines, and they are
AMAZING!!!

Sarah and I ate dinner one night at the Olde Pink House. It
is the oldest mansion in Savannah and the food was delicious.
What a FUN way to spend an evening!!

Love the architecture in this old city.

Thankful for Sarah!

After our stop in Savannah, Sarah and I stopped in Columbia so that she could print her ID and meet with her advisor at USC. It's hard to believe she'll be headed off to grad school in just a few months. Unfortunately we lose her to Arizona for the summer (which is really exciting for her- and she will have some awesome time with Matt and Rach), but then she comes home and to grad school she goes.

Thankful for this time with Louise, and for the time celebrating Jules and Victor. AND thankful for safety!

Now, thankful to be HOME.

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Just reminiscing over a WONDERFUL family trip to Charleston, SC. So very thankful for the time that our family had together, but missed Monroe and Katie A LOT!!

We spent the week at the beach house we grew up going to with the Fants. It was neat to be back and to remember so many fun times our families shared in that house and at the Isle of Palms. What fun to be there now with the new little additions to our families, and of course, our boys. Jon Ledbetter and Ronnie were both able to come for a few days and that was a treat!

Kathryn is such a cute little strawberry! :)

Matt, Rach, Kathryn and Benton 

"Best friends"... just ask them, they'll tell you!

Carrie, Dan, Danile and Ellie

What a cute little beach whale! :)

Here we are missing Monroe and Katie!!!

Yes- Ronnie came! What fun!!!

Beautiful mom, handsome dad, godly parents. SO very thankful!

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I'm so proud of Sarah! She is officially an alumnus of Bob Jones University, but it doesn't stop there. She is now a big kid! She is on her way to graduate school at the University of South Carolina, and there is no turning back!

I just love her and praise God for how He has worked out all of the details of her schooling. I'm so excited that she is going to be a speech therapist- she can fix my voice and teach all of my children how to say their t's. :)

Classic of the Smetana kids... :)

Love them! Congratulations, sweet Sarah!

Enjoyed so much our time with our family and friends celebrating Sarah!!

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I know it's been quite some time since I have posted, so here goes the latest and greatest!

The Lord has blessed so much this last month in so many ways- LOTS of time with family, the celebration of SARAH'S college graduation, a trip to the beach with the family, a quick trip to NC with Ronnie for a friend's wedding (been so good meeting all of his close friends from seminary), a destination wedding in Florida for my best friend from college (which  means that I got to catch up with some of my very close girl friends from college), and lastly, Sarah and I incorporated a road trip in there before and after Florida.

It has been a great month full of laughter, love, tears, sweat and growth (been eating a lot!). The Lord has been so real to me and I thank Him for that.

God has been growing me in my desire for His Word. I have been reading chronologically through the Bible this year and spent a great portion of my time on the beach reading and reading. I was able to catch up and get ahead in my OT reading, and how exciting it's been. I've never read through the Bible in one focused period of time, so this has been an exciting challenge to take on. I praise God for what He has taught me even in the books I felt were so "boring".... LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, DEUTERONOMY (I mean, who really reads those and gets something out of it?!!). :) It is amazing that when you give your time to the Lord, "date" Him, spend time in His Word, etc, you desire to be with Him more... and you crave that relationship when you have periods of busyness and don't get to spend much focused time with Him.

God is so faithful, He is so kind, He is so gracious and loving, and I praise HIM for His provision in the last few weeks.

Over the next few days I'll be posting pictures and talking about all of the events that have taken place in the last month or so, so be on the look out... Alli is back. :) (Though I must admit that part of my heart is on the beach... IOP... pictured below.......)