Memories and Melodies: Summer 2012 | Personal

It's been looking a lot like this around this blog lately...

But I've decided to dust off the cobwebs (ha!) and give you a fun little recap of my summer.

  We met up with friends a few times for frozen yogurt...



Took a trip to Texas...







  I got this great big wonderful Texas-sized mug when we were there. I love it!











  I made a grand mess in the kitchen putting together two apple pies for...
  The Fourth of July!


We had some dear friends stay with us for a couple days in July, and took the opportunity to make this scrumptious recipe.....ohmygoodnessgracious it was so good!


Rachel had never been sightseeing along the Coast, so we decided to remedy that. :) We had a delightful time showing her all of our favorite places, including the Triplett-Day drugstore in downtown Gulfport, the small craft harbor in Biloxi, and the quaint little downtown of Ocean Springs!





















We had lots of birds visiting all summer, including this (hilarious) cardinal who wanted to take a closer look. :)








The view from Snodgrass Hill at the Chickamauga-Chattanooga battlefield is one that I will never forget.


  Or the view of Lake Junaluska. It was so good to see it again!





  The sky was black with storm clouds for a couple of days in August...

  But, praise the LORD, we were safe and sound and Hurricane Isaac didn't affect us too much.

  We've seen some gorgeous sunsets this summer...



Celebrated a couple birthdays (both of my parents)...

  And kept a close eye out for hummingbirds! This year we had several who stayed around our feeders, and they're almost too quick to be captured with a camera lens...so I was thankful to get these shots!






(These aren't edited in the least, by the way. The light was that gorgeous!!)

  Sarah and I have enjoyed attending a dear friend's volleyball games...





  (Not edited, either. It was amazing...)



And now we come to the other part of this post. Music!! Those of you who know me personally know that music is a very big part of my life. Photography is just a hobby in comparison! So I was so.so.so.excited when a friend from church loaned me this mandolin!



  Hunter Hayes was absolutely right when he said that mandolin players spend half their time tuning and the other half playing out of tune...but it's so much fun to play!!!



(In case you're wondering...that's a Kawai piano, Rogue mandolin, Yamaha acoustic, and Washburn classical. I play all four...not equally well! But I love all of them!)
One of the things I love about summer can't quite be captured in a picture. It's getting in the car and driving down the road and turning the radio on. If I'm not in the car, then it's going on YouTube and listening to song after song after song.
So here are some of the songs I've enjoyed this summer!
First of all, I'll start off with my favorite "summer" song...it takes over my brain for about three days every April or so, right before summer gets here and I just want it to hurry up and get here so bad:
Til Summer Comes Around by Keith Urban (shot at the Santa Monica Pier in California - is that a gorgeous place or what?!)
If you follow me on Pinterest you may have noticed a lot of this guy's stuff:
I won't talk your ears off but suffice it to say...as a musician, music teacher, and lover of music in general, I think he's the best thing that's happened to the music industry in a long time. Hunter Hayes is genuinely talented. Look him up on YouTube or read about him online if you want. I'm not one of his biggest fans (dubbed Hayniacs) but I have a very great appreciation for the talent and hard work he puts into everything he does.
Worth a listen....he wrote this song for the movie Act of Valor:






In June we discovered the lovely Jillian Edwards, who's engaged to Steven Curtis Chapman's son Will:


  Speaking of SCC, I absolutely love his rendition of the hymn Morning Has Broken:
  And I've been listening to these songs a lot lately, too:


  That about wraps things up for how my summer was!
The air is finally a bit cooler (it actually didn't get over 80˚ on Monday!!) and it's starting to feel like fall. Well, what little "fall" we get down here. You northerners are fortunate when it comes to fall weather, that's for sure. :)
I've made some wonderful memories and enjoyed some wonderful music the past few months. God is so good. So faithful. All that He is and all that He does will never cease to overwhelm me. I hope that you are as thankful as I am for His grace and the memories you've made and the music you've heard this summer!
Because of Jesus, Rebekah

"Fake" Instagram photos of TEXAS! | Personal {Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas travel photography}

My mom, sister and I recently had an amazing opportunity to drive (with 7 other ladies) to Texas! The main purpose for our trip was to volunteer at the headquarters for Bible Study Fellowship in San Antonio. All 10 of us have the blessing of being a part of BSF and we were so thankful to be able to give back, in a way, to a ministry that has changed our lives- and so many others- through the study of God's Word. It was amazing to be at Headquarters...everything is done with such excellence and covered in prayer. I honestly have no words to describe it.

I didn't want to lug my DSLR bag around, especially while we were sightseeing, so I ended up taking my point-and-shoot instead (Canon SX110 IS). I missed the image quality of my DSLR but having a small camera tucked away in my purse was great! I came home with over 700 pictures and wondered...what on earth am I going to do with them?

Enter Fake Instagram photos. You see, I have this slight problem: I LOVE Instagram photos. I have lots of friends and know of lots of photographers who are on Instagram. But I don't have an iPhone or iPod Touch or iPad (however! I do have a Macbook! But I digress). So! I did some Googling and found out that, for the great low price of $5, I could buy a set of knock-off Instagram presets for Lightroom! (Insert great big cheers!)

The rest was easy: I selected a few photos (uh...um...*cough*....ah...er....over 150?) I wanted to share with y'all on the blog, and cropped them to square. Then I downloaded the Instagram presets and had the best time ever editing the pictures!! Y'all, I'm tellin' you, it was way too much fun.

So here you go! Fake Instagram photos of our trip! Enjoy! :) (And please disregard that annoying watermark on the pictures...the collage software I found is great, but I'm not paying $25 just to take the watermark off!)

Driving down the highway // Sugarcane fields // A pretty little visitor's center
Flowers at the visitor's center // Happy to be on the way to Texas! // Not sure what river that is :)

Hangin' out in the back seat of the Suburban // Shout out to the amazingly talented country singer and Breaux Bridge native Hunter Hayes!! // Um..interesting billboard?!
Long may it wave // Scary looking bridge over Lake Charles, LA!

Lunch at Cracker Barrel // We couldn't resist a mirror picture :) // Classical guitar on the wall
Texas state line!!!! // Welcome center // 857 miles to El Paso!


It reminded us of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy! // A Ford truck and the Ford Arena // The first time I set foot in Texas!!
A quick stop at Waffle House // Cavender's Boot City // The sky. Oh goodness, the sky. I'll never forget the fact that it really is bigger in Texas.


Houston highways // Houston skyline // Never seen an Ikea store before!
The two flags, flown at the same height! // So sorry, Mr. Jim Houser (Steven Curtis Chapman's manager) ...we know you love Pappasitos! We do, too! Wish we could have eaten there! // Crazy, isn't it?!


The Emily Morgan hotel in downtown San Antonio // Graffiti on a cactus? // The Alamo!
Us in front of the Alamo // So cool to see a place where Alyssa Welch has shot before! // The Menger Hotel, where Teddy Roosevelt recruited some of his Rough Riders!


Lobby of the Menger Hotel (beautiful, isn't it!) // The Rivercenter // Mrs. Angela found a cowboy!! (inside joke!)
Rio San Antonio Cruises ticket counter // Cool sidewalk // Mama + baby ducks!


We had a GREAT tour guide! // Picturesque colored umbrellas // They built the Hilton one room at a time!!
A wedding was taking place on Marriage Island, and the bride's dress was the same as Sarah's! // Another shot of the Emily Morgan // Trees growing in the wall!


The Nix Professional Building (no, it's not a wall, like our tour guide said ;)) // More of the Riverwalk
Lila Cockrell Theater, where the Gaither Vocal Band filmed a concert! // Star made of coke cans! // Tower of the Americas


Views of the Alamodome, the Alamo, and the city from the top of the Tower!
El Mercado (Market Square) // We found t-shirts and I got a mug! // Busy place!

My sentiments exactly :) // My food... // Sarah's....

...and Mama's // At La Fogata - great authentic Mexican! // Cute truck :)

A little random here... gorgeous East Texas country // coming into San Antonio

SO exciting to look over and see that sign! // Sunset on the way back one evening // Driving down Blanco on our way to Headquarters

Sarah and I split a frappe at the Corner Bakery in the Quarry Market // Really cool place! // Even their coffee mugs are bigger in Texas!!

Driving along the power lines // Entrance gate // Shipping room!
Cross in the chimney at Manna House // With the sandwiches we helped make! // View from the prayer tower


Wish we could have played that Steinway!! // Johnson Library
Such a peaceful room! // :) :) :) // Yes indeed.

Rolls of paper!! // The printing press // Can't remember what that machine does but it was amazing!!
Stacks of lessons for next year!!!


Our group! // Getting instructions from Mr. Larry // Fellowshipping at lunchtime
In the kitchen... // ...and in the shipping room // Our group again!


We at at Joe's Crab Shack one night! // The Crazy Good Crab Dip was just that! // Cool mosaic on the wall!
They really do publish their dessert recipes so of course we took pictures!!! :)


This dear lady and her husband just returned from 5 years in South Korea as Foreign Resident Ambassadors - we LOVED getting to visit with them! // Old Testament freezer (with meat) and New Testament freezer (other than meat) // The kitchen was a.m.a.z.i.n.g!
Asparagus // Beef tenderloin!!! // Mr. Terry the chef!


That was just for the volunteers!! // Rolls // How the volunteers sat for dinner after we served coffee - drawers under the chef's counter with boards set on top!
The all-important coffee :) // The wash/dry room // The dish room


Spices above the stove // Lots of condiments! // The napkin room
Tables set for breakfast the next morning // They grow 'em big in Texas!! // The Moriah Mountain Band sets up for the evening's hoe-down!


Beautiful sunset on the way home // Mrs. Susie Rowan, current Director // Ms. Wetherell Johnson, founder of Bible Study Fellowship


Sights on the way to and in the dear little town of Boerne (pronounced BER-nee)


We got ice cream! // I found another cowboy for Peacher!! (inside joke) // We got Cinnamon Pecan coffee cake in the bakery! :)


At home in my boots :) // Cutest little dog!
Our friend J - we knew you'd love this! // Soaking up every mile of ranchland


I couldn't help but think of Floyd the Barber! // Seriously?? How cute!! // Henne Hardware store
I DID get that cowgirl hat :) // Downtown New Braunfels


Camera in an antique shop! // The welcome mat at the house we rented for the week
No words needed for the rest :)


Houston on the way home // Storm's a-brewin' // Thanks Mrs. Ellen for the frosty shake!
Breaux Bridge again!! Stuck on Hunter's music lately :) // The swamp // Bridge over I'm-not-sure-what-it's called, but it isn't Troubled Water ... LOL!


Cheerfully! Gotta love H-E-B stores, wish we had them in MS! // The other side of that scary looking bridge
Crossing the Mississippi River // Home again!

Hope you enjoyed a peek into our trip! It was wonderful and we can't wait to go back!!!! :)

Because of Jesus,

Rebekah