revolutions

No, not yet time for reSolutions, but the word revolution seems to be fitting right about now...and perhaps it explains a bit of why I seem to have disappeared from the blog for nearly half a month (how did that happen?):

revolution: a noun that means both radical change and coming full circle at the same time

• found a wedding dress! i know, this sounds like a strange revolution, but it happened in the perfect Chupp way (i.e. not in a scary bridal superstore) and committing to a dress has made everything more real--I have more focus and actual planning can commense:)
• getting the chance to see my close friends, who are all pretty far from me, comes way before blogging! this is not a new revolution, but it's an important one--i've had lunch with Carly, dinner with Lauren and Corinne and brunch with Michelle all in the past two weeks--now that's the life!
• Bryan's revolution: he's the groom. Yes, one would have thought he already knew this, and he did, but he had not put it in print before. We just decided on amazing photographers and had to sign a contract to save them. His face was too funny when we got to the part where we had to sign our names on the "bride" and "groom" lines:)
• the I'm-not-in-"ultimate"-shape revolution: proved when I tried to play in a Frisbee tournament last weekend and was sore for several days after:(
• the dish revolution: even after you spend a lovely afternoon looking for dinnerware with your husband-to-be, if you settle on plates that are on sale now, they probably won't be here when your wedding actually comes around, and, therefore, not good for the registry.
  
• Crepe Revolution: a delicious new resto find. I'll admit I've already been there three times in the past two weeks. But I'm not ashamed and the menu has hardly been exhausted. Although, I believe I was sold before food even arrived to my table when I was delivered my very own French press full of coffee and little silver pitcher of cream. So far I've tried three different crepes and can vie for all of them equally: smoked salmon, portobello and a fruit with brie.

happy anniversary!

my very wonderful parents are celebrating their 30th anniversary today!

it began with a bike ride and will be ending with dinner at bacchanalia, a celebrated restaurant my mom has been eying for quite sometime

how much fun are they:)

sincerely love these two and the example they set: love and faith without end.
cheers to 30 years and to at least 30 more!

this strange, satisfying pattern

I'm a big fan of the folks over at Desiring God. They maintain a number of resources that come in almost every medium possible. They have a number of great materials already on sale, and they also have this great "whatever-you-can-afford" policy for those who truly need it.

Me, I simply subscribe to the daily blog which is emailed out. Today's blog by Jon Bloom struck me as something interesting to share because of its universality and importance. The following is an excerpt from today's blog titled When You Don't Feel Like It, Take Heart:

Think about this strange pattern that occurs over and over in just about every area of life:

• Good food requires discipline to prepare and eat while junk food tends to be the most tasty, addictive, and convenient.
• Keeping the body healthy and strong requires frequent deliberate discomfort while it only takes constant comfort to go to pot.
• You have to make yourself pick up that nourishing theological book while watching a movie can feel so inviting.
• You frequently have to force yourself to get to devotions and prayer while sleeping, reading the sports, and checking Facebook seems effortless.
• To play beautiful music requires thousands of hours of tedious practice.
• To excel in sports requires monotonous drills ad nauseum.
• It takes years and years of schooling just to make certain opportunities possible.
• This goes on and on.

The pattern is this: the greater joys are obtained through struggle and pain, while brief, unsatisfying, and often destructive joys are right at our fingertips.

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)

Give us strength to overlook brief joy in search of eternal joy.

eating your greens

Lately in my meals, I've really sought out the look of a plate as well as the taste.

My great-grandmother, Bebe, had a rule about food. She used to say, "There should always be something green on your plate." And she was right! In fact, in most occasions, your plate should be full of bright colors! Not only does it boost your mood because of its pleasing aesthetic appearance, you're probably getting some great nutrients--plus, if it looks good, it usually tastes great! Yesterday I enjoyed bright green stuffed peppers-yum!

In the South, eating your greens usually refers to collards (which I also love), but a little something green every day really isn't hard to do. A good green to always have on hand to enhance the shade of any meal is lettuce. Other quick green options can come in the frozen, non-perishable variety: sugar snap peas and edamame are some of my favorite frozen greens to go with a meal.

Today's green: spinach speghetti. A way to still get a little green with a bowl of comfort food:) And using the leftover sauce from the stuffed peppers means lunch was ready in the few minutes it took for the noodles to cook--even better!

What are some of your favorite "greens"???

a little more mallow

roasting away at what was left of the bonfire after my mom's preschool came over last week


Mmmm, delicious!

Although I think the kids looked a little cuter doing it--their gallery is now up HERE.

Caught in the act--Sir Charles thanks everyone who built this bridge for him to more easily get across to the pasture for his late afternoon jaunts.

today screams FALL in a beautiful way

What a way to start a beautiful fall morning...coffee and roasted marshmallows!

This morning my mom was outside at daybreak to start a bonfire with Pawpaw and meet up with cousin John to get a tractor hay ride set up. Her school kids came over and took a hay ride in the pasture, discovered pumpkins on their ride, painted the pumpkins, played games, ate hot dogs and smashed open a pumpkin pinata full of candy.

It was fun to watch the faces of kids eating roasted marshmallows for the first time in their lives!

Mrs. Chupp-pup preparing the tractor yesterday. I took a nap in the hammock by the creek--70 degrees and yellow leaves falling--can you blame me?

A couple of green peppers begging to be stuffed with couscous.

One last piece of red fruit left on the vine. Reminds me of a favorite record by Pink Martini called Hang on Little Tomato:)

But fall is definitely here---welcome!

workin the cotton gin

Continue on 278 another hour and a half past Jacksonville and you will pass cotton fields, barns, boiled peanut stands and come to a little town called Holly Pond. The church where Kenny and Bethany got married over the weekend is situated 278 right past the town hall and five minutes from her parents house.

The bride and groom decided to see each other before the ceremony to be able to get some great couple shots around town and be able to go right into celebrating with friends and family after the service. Kenny arrived early at the "getting ready" house in his suit, carrying a red rose for his bride. Capturing the moments of their "first look" was simply sweet and I'm honored to have been a part of the entire day.

These two preview photos are shots taken at a nearby cotton gin. These two really worked it and were excited to jump out of the car within a moment's notice to shoot some photos. He was handsome and she was flat out gorgeous and they were surrounded by love, love, love. The silences of the ceremony, which they wrote themselves, were filled with many sniffles by guests.

A few other sneak peek shots are online HERE.

What a wonderful weekend!