Off to the Beach for the Day

Tomorrow after the morning milking, we're heading off to spend the day at the beach! I just checked the weather and it's going to be sunny with a high of 91-- a perfect beach day.

Taken in Kitty Hawk, NC in 2006 during a lunch break while I was in real estate school

I found the following poem in a coastal decorating magazine and loved it~

Home By The Sea by A.P. Carter

There's a lonely cottage by the sea side
Where the water lillies through the shore
It was there I passed my happy childhood
With a loved one that's gone before

Then give me back my dear old home
That old home by the sea
And I never will wander far away
From my home my dear old cottage home

Many years have passed since there I wandered
But the old cottage has been forgot
And my heart in fancy oft returned
To that dear old familiar spot

Yes my heart is like the humming sea shell
That tells of its birth where ere it roams
I will sing of my cottage by the sea shore
Of my home my dear old cottage home

Week of Relaxation & Fun!

Several weeks ago, Daddy said that once we were finished moving to our new farm we could enjoy a "week of light duty" by only doing the "essentials". Of course, our "essentials" include a lot of work-- milking twice a day, preparing orders for deliveries, delivering the milk, processing about 100 chickens tomorrow, and all of the normal, daily tasks associated with the house and family, but at least we aren't taking on any new projects this week.

Our exciting plans include a cookout, a game night, a movie night, spending a day at King's Dominion, and- my very favorite- spending a day at the beach!
I've finished unpacking and organizing my room, so I am also looking forward to sewing pillows and a few other decorative items this week. I'll be spending all of next week doing tractor service work in NC, so I am hopeful to completely finish my room this upcoming week. If so, I might be able to post "after" pictures of my room by the end of the week. :)

Ice Cream Cake

Ice Cream Cake is an Alexander family favorite! Everyone chooses an ice cream cake when it's time for me to make their birthday cake. It's so easy and it's such a delicious summer time treat.
Ice Cream Cake (my grandmother's recipe)

~1 stick of butter
~1 package of Oreos (for my brothers' birthdays, they sometimes choose the coffee Oreos or mint Oreos to try something different)
~1/2 gallon of ice cream (any flavor-- sometimes we do half of one flavor and the other half a different flavor)
~1 Cool Whip/whipped topping (we rarely use the Cool Whip brand, but usually just get whatever is cheapest)
~1 hot fudge (homemade is really good, but store-bought hot fudge works great also)

Crush Oreos and melt butter. Stir together and press on the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Spread ice cream and pour hot fudge over the ice cream. Immediately put in freezer. Let freeze for several hours, then add the Cool Whip layer. You can use leftover crushed Oreo crumbs to 'decorate' the top. Enjoy!

Day at King's Dominion

Yesterday was Harrison's 8th birthday, so we celebrated by spending the day at King's Dominion! It was so nice to have a one day vacation from moving in and the farm work. We are so grateful that our farm-hands, Hannah and Landon, are able to occasionally milk the cows for us now so we don't have to be home in time for the evening milking! Sheridan riding the carousel:Sheridan was so happy to meet Dora from Dora the Explorer (Although she looks a little nervous in the picture, she is still talking about 'holding Dora's hand' today!). We spent most of the day at King's Dominion's water park, so that is why we are in swimsuits and swim cover-ups!Harrison's favorite ride is the "Flying Eagles":

When we finally got home, we enjoyed Harrison's ice cream birthday cake!

Finally Moved to the New Farm :)

On Friday, the cows were moved over to the new farm, so now we are all officially living here! I am so glad and especially hopeful that our lives will settle down soon. We (or at least Mama and I) still have the goal of having the interior and exterior complete (unpacked, decorated, painted, landscaped) by July 4 (less than two weeks away!).

Milkings are going slightly faster because the boys are bringing all of the cows (we have 8 cows milking right now) into the barn's stanchions and going from one cow to the next with the milking equipment. We used to have to bring them into our small, makeshift milking barn one at a time.Elliott hooking one up to the milking machine:Gertrude was being stubborn and didn't want to come in with the rest of the girls: Elliott in the temporary clean room processing the milk: Sweet Sheridan sitting in the milking barn:

The cows and calves look so happy grazing on such green pastures! "The Lord will greatly bless His people. Wherever they plant seed, bountiful crops will spring up. Their cattle and donkeys will graze freely." Isaiah 32:20

Unpacking, Sipping Lemonade, and Chasing Chickens

Clean clothes are hanging out on the line, calves are grazing in the lush, green pasture, birds are chirping, and a soft breeze is flowing through the open windows of our 'new', old farmhouse...

The farmhouse is very slowly starting to look like a "home"! It is still going to be a few weeks before I can post any "after" pictures, but it is very exciting to see visible progress in each room. We are by no means "settled in"-- we're still sleeping in the garage apartment, spending our days working at the farmhouse, and milking cows at the old farm, but we are hopeful to get the cows moved over here to the new farm soon, so we can officially begin living here.

Over the past week, I have been unpacking, cleaning, processing chickens, helping milk the cows, baking cheesecakes for The Nicholson House, billing Sullivan's Tractor Service clients, and trying to stay somewhat on top of the other business-related tasks. In the evenings, we are at the garage apartment with little to do in the short time before falling into bed (well-- "bed" on the floor), but I have been making progress reading Radical Womanhood by Carolyn McCulley, which I am thoroughly enjoying and learning a lot from. Maybe I will post a book review once I complete the book.

Last Thursday, in the midst of many errands, I was able to schedule lunch with my friend, Chelsea, and then we quickly went to the river in my family's NC neighborhood to swim and lay out. We could only stay for an hour, but it was long enough to get a decent amount of sun.

After church on Sunday, I went to my friends' Abigail and Rebekah's piano concert. Abigail and Rebekah are very accomplished pianists and Abigail is also an amazing singer. God has gifted them greatly, and they have invested many years of practicing as they've developed their talents. As I listened to the beautiful music, it seemed like stepping back in time as Anna and I sat on the steps of the grand old plantation house on a sunny Sunday afternoon listening to such lovely music fill the house crowded with people.

Anna and I enjoyed lemonade and cookies while Abigail and Rebekah greeted their many admirers. :)

After the concert, Abigail, Rebekah, Anna, and I went to our good friend Emily's house to surprise her for her birthday! We visited with her for a while and went to see her new calves, kittens, and help round up her chickens that had gotten out. On the way home, I reflected how funny it was that just a few hours earlier, we had been prim and proper southern ladies enjoying beautiful music and sipping lemonade and then we were chasing chickens! I want to be more of that kind of girl; who can be proper and feminine, yet also not afraid to get dirty. :)

Hopefully next time I post, it will be with the news that we have moved in to the farmhouse!

Once We're Settled In...

I am in the middle of unpacking the kitchen and trying to surprise Mama with how much I accomplish before she returns from the Charlottesville milk delivery, but I wanted to quickly write an update on the progress.

Thank you for your prayers about the water situation. The problem has been resolved, and we didn't have to dig a new well! Daily, many more trials come our way, but it is assuring to see God's faithfulness in the water problem.

I have several emails sitting in my inbox, and I am eager to respond to each one as soon as possible, so if you are one of the friends who has recently emailed me, please know that I haven't forgotten your letter; I just don't have much time on the internet right now!

I soooo long to be settled in! Something about being "unsettled" is causing me to dream of so many lovely plans and goals for once we get moved in. The following is my list of hopes for once we are settled (of course, a lot of it won't actually ever come about, but I just like to think about it!):

Cook wonderfully delicious southern meals almost every night for my family (I know, I'm starting with a lofty goal right from the beginning!)

Study photography and begin taking better pictures

Finish and publish the e-book I've been working on for a while

Plan ahead and bring good food to the meal after church on Sundays (I tend to forget about what we'll bring to church until, well, Saturday evening(!), but I want to start bringing really good, thought-out dishes to share for the meal).

Respond to emails in a more timely manner

Can lots of blackberry jam with the abundance of wild blackberries on our new farm

Perfect my salsa recipe with this year's garden produce

Run daily

Change my blog's layout and resume more frequent entries :)

Sew, sew, sew! I am really missing sewing and I have so many projects to create for my new bedroom.

Read 3 books a month (I began doing this at the beginning of this year, but I have lost sight of this goal recently!)


Back to unpacking the kitchen!

Personal Application from Next '09

The following is my journal entry dated May 28, recording my thoughts about the specific areas in which I was challenged and convicted at the 2009 Next conference. While it is specific to the teachings I gleaned at the conference, it is also relevant to my current personal walk with the Lord and the areas I am working on through His strength.

The Lord answered my prayer and I gained so incredibly much from the spiritually refreshing and doctrinally rich messages at Next. I can't wait to listen to the messages again. (*note* last week I listened to several of the messages again and also listened to some of the messages from the 2008 conference-- I'm so thankful to now be working in an air conditioned tractor cab with a CD player!).

I have a deeper understanding of who Jesus Christ-- the person of Jesus Christ-- is, and what He accomplished at the cross on my behalf.

The quote, "If you want to feel deeply, you must think deeply" (CJ Mahaney) really spoke to me. If I want to FEEL Jesus' love for me personally (as I prayed prior to the conference) I must "dig my way to the truth and then the emotions will come because I will be founded on the unchanging truth of who He is" (Josh Harris). "Feeling built on feeling is empty" (Josh Harris).

Almost immediately, I was convicted about Christ's preeminence in my life. Too often, the hope of marriage, a husband and children, and moving on toward the next chapter of my life becomes my focus, and I "come to Jesus on the way to something else" (Josh Harris). This is wrong, and I am especially challenged to study and grow in my love for Jesus Christ above anything else.

Prior to the conference, I wondered if spending four days among a couple thousand peers would breed discontentment in regard to where God has placed me- striving to serve my family at home. Instead, I was challenged to confidently embrace the current season of my life. During one of the sessions, the following quotes stood out to me: "Where are you serving right now?", "How can I be faithful, right now, where I am?", "Gifts are often discovered as we serve", "Run at humility and service and you will find fulfillment", "Prepare your life now as to one day be passed on to the next generation." These thoughts are so relevant to the realm I find myself in today, and will be extremely important for the rest of my life.

Two of the speakers (Josh Harris and Kevin DeYoung) said almost the same quote- "We make His teaching more about what 'we can do for Him', not what He has done for us" (Harris) and "The gospel is not about what you can do for God, it is about what He has done for you" (DeYoung). I was so convicted of areas in which legalism and self righteousness have taken root instead of the centrality of Christ's work on the cross. I need to immerse myself into books and teaching about the cross and Jesus Christ- "the rock of our faith is the person of Jesus Christ" (Harris). I devote too much of my focus on good things I think I can do for God and I have a lacking view of what Jesus has already accomplished for me. The conference gave me such a better understanding and appreciation for the cross and I hope to continue to build on this.

Testimonies were sprinkled throughout the sessions. Stories of God's grace ranged from those who came to Christ at a very young age and were raised in godly homes, to those who very recently found the Lord after a life immersed in the drug culture and the depression that ensues with such a lifestyle. Hearing these stories, as well as singing wonderful songs reminiscing about God's work in our lives reminded me of how Christ redeemed my life and renewed my thankfulness for His work in my life.


In my journal, after what is written above, I went in to some random details more specific to my time with friends, and rather irrelevant to y'all, so please excuse the abrupt ending! :)

Life Update

I'm sorry that I haven't posted anything except for notes and pictures from the Next conference in the past two weeks! I still want to post my personal notes of how I was specifically challenged through the conference, but right now I am just writing a "life update" entry.

The reason my blogging has been so sporadic, and centered entirely on the conference, is because even though my family is in a crazily busy phase right now, I didn't want to soon forget everything I learned through the teaching at the conference. By reviewing the notes as I typed them, I felt it would help to cement the topics and quotes in my mind. Also, immediately after returning from Baltimore, we began packing our entire house in preparation to move. We had to be completely out of our house by last Saturday (5/30) and had to temporarily move into the garage apartment we built a few years ago on our property because we have run into some problems at the new farm. I don't understand all of the details, and I certainly don't know much about wells and plumbing, but the farmhouse's well is dry and a pipe has burst somewhere and is causing further problems. We are praying that God will give Daddy wisdom as he searches for the answers to our water problem, as well as wisdom as to whether or not we need to immediately move forward with drilling another well. That is the huge issue looming above us right now, so we'd appreciate your prayers! We long to be settled in, but we will have to continue to stay at the tiny garage apartment and live in major disorganization with our things scattered between the two houses until the water issue is resolved. We only have internet at the new farmhouse, so I am sitting in the midst of many, many moving boxes and typing as quickly as possible before we drive back over to the garage apartment!

Last week, we spent Monday processing 80-90 chickens and then I went down to NC to do bushhogging work for the tractor service on Tuesday-Friday. I spent 38 hours driving the tractor in 4 days. The tractor service business has grown quite a bit this year, which is exciting and a great blessing, but it also takes more time, and it is quite stressful while we have so many other demands right now. I did the math a couple nights ago, and I bushhog nearly 100 acres every month! Plus, since most of the lots are divided into 1-3 acre parcels, it takes so much time. I do thoroughly enjoy being out there, but it will be nice when life settles down here, so it won't be so stressful. Tomorrow I'm going back and hopefully finishing up for the next few weeks!

I eagerly look forward to being settled in and sharing the "after" pictures of our farmhouse. As we unpack and move our furniture in, things are slowly coming together. Before the water issue came up, our goal was to be completely settled in by July 4th so we could hang an American flag on our huge front porch and enjoy a cookout at our new farmhouse! I'm still hopeful everything will be done by then, but it is all dependent on the water problems.

I miss keeping up with other peoples' blogs and emailing! :) Hopefully life will resume to "normal" soon.

Message Notes from NEXT: Christ's Death

Christ's Death by C.J. Mahaney

Mark 15

"We cannot think of that death too often." ~Charles Spurgeon

His death is of first importance.

We are never done with the cross.

The cross involves more than physical suffering.

"Jesus came to be with the Father in the garden for an interlude, but hell was opened up to Him and He staggered."

God was silent because there was no alternative.

He was forsaken so that we will never be forsaken.

You cannot fully understand the death of Jesus Christ without understanding the forsaken Savior.

Fellowship with God the Father was restored through His death.

His death must be our chief memory of this conference.

Message Notes from NEXT: Entrust: The Transfer of the Gospel

Entrust: The Transfer of the Gospel by Dave Harvey & Jared Mellinger

2 Timothy 2

The best measure of our success is entrusting the next generation.

Pursue humility above other things.

Leadership begins in the home.

What God calls you to do, He will give you the strength to carry it out.

What Does 'Entrust to the Next Generation' Mean?

1) Study and Delight in the Gospel

Start with God's grace, not your work.

2) Be honest about desires

It is not humility to remain silent about your dreams.

3) Interpret your desires for impact as a call to cultivate faithfulness .

"Do the people around you know you as a faithful person?"

"He that is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much..." Luke 16:10

4) Make sure you have a place for your burdens

5) Remember that vision is refined through service

Where are you serving right now?

Gifts are often discovered as we serve.

"How can I be faithful right now, where I am?"

Run at humility and service and you will find fulfillment.

Prepare your life now as to one day be passed on to the next generation.

Gospel centeredness means gospel transferring.

"God works in us so He can work through us."