The Summer has "almost" Begun

It's your birthday... (6 days early)

Jeremy and Tiffany blowing out the candles. He blew hers out first. How cruel!

The cousins swimming (my nieces and nephews)

My fam.

Aiden and Rowan. Rowan came up to me and laid his head in my lap and gave me a big hug. He's so sweet.

I can never get Terren to even smile at me, but I did something to make her look! YAY! I don't think she likes me because Jeremy scared her when she was little. He told her she couldn't have something by saying, "NO!" and she was not happy!

Corrine was having so much fun.

Look at all the toys Micah has in the baby pool. He was proud!

Aiden and Hannah were on the new noodle swimming around. I guess they are really trying to float!

Jeremy had to choose which cake he wanted... The one on the left is devil's food cake with an oreo cream center. The one of the right is a butter cake with chocolate icing and it has a crack down the center. He chose the one on the right (Daphne's cake) because that's his FAVORITE. 

Okay enough pictures... :)

I'm convinced Memorial Day should be the beginning of summer vacation. I always feel like school should be over when it's time for cookouts, swimming, and spending time with family. This year it's not though, however, it's almost here. 

Over the weekend, we celebrated Jeremy's 26th birthday and his cousin Tiffany's 13th. Jeremy won't be at home on his "actual" birthday so we had to celebrate early. 

Our Memorial Day traditions for a long time have been to go to the Dacula Memorial Day parade, go to Sonny's for lunch, swim at the 'rents house, and cookout that night. Well we were a little lazy this year and slept in instead of going to the parade. We did join the eating festivities though. Due to the rain, the pool was a wee bit chilly so I laid out and relaxed by the pool instead. You can see all the other grown ups doing the same thing. 

The school week so far has been alright (I'm down to 7 days). I did not want to go to school on Tuesday though. I knew the students would be wild. They were, but I'm getting used to it. The day turned into a 13 hour workday because we had to stay for a band and chorus concert. I have always wanted to get to know our PE coach/teacher. I have always thought she seemed like someone I'd be friends with but we've never had too much time to talk. Well, on Tuesday we got to bond and I told her she's my new friend! Tomorrow we have a tree dedication and honors night. I am not much for speaking in front of people, but I get to talk about Academic Bowl. Last year I didn't have a voice and I still had to talk. YUCK! Oh well, my 2nd 13 hour workday will be over after tomorrow.

Jeremy leaves to go to Toccoa, GA tomorrow for the first and second camps of the summer- WOW weekend and IMPACT. Hurray for camps!!!!! I get to go up for the weekend. SHHH... don't tell, I'm also going up each day after school next week to help with security. I know I will be drained, but I mean really what's there to do the last week of school?! The kids thought it was over after the CRCT, so I can think it's over on Friday! Nah... but I really am going, and yes I will get teaching in. I have to prepare them for 7th grade and give them finals. :)

Mr. and Mrs. Brian Bone

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Brian Bone...

Jeremy and I love this couple. We've grown up going to school and church with the Bone's (Jeremy with Sara, me with Renee... then church with all of them). Although Brian is a little younger, we've always been part of ministry together. Lauren was part of the Hebron Student Ministry (HSM) as well. We were in a girl's Sunday school class together and I was even her group leader at summer camp one year. Then we went off to college and started working at SuperWOW together. 

We had quite an adventure getting to the wedding. Marsha was in Jekyll for a meeting and drove up from there and came to our house. Stephany came to meet us too so we could all ride together. I definitely got the churches mixed up and I got us a little lost in WINDER. I always knew where we were but I didn't know where they church was. With the help of my parents on the phone, we got there, but we got there right after she walked down the aisle. There was a wreck we had to detour around, or I'm convinced we would have seen her walk down the aisle. 

Jeremy dropped us off and we ran in to grab a seat by the Kindigs. Their wedding was so fun. Scott did the wedding and did a great job. We got to see so many people from so many different circles as well. There was a Hebron circle. There was a GCSU circle. There was a Dacula circle. There was a SuperWOW circle.... The list goes on. It was great to catch up with people I haven't seen in a while whether it was people from high school or people from SuperWOW. I was even told I haven't changed since 8th grade. I don't know if that was a compliment though... 

We got to the reception and all the tables had been taken, so we went outside. In order for all of us to sit together at dinner, we had to move tables around. We combined um maybe 5 or 6 tables, but we all shared a meal together. The dancing was also great. Although I didn't get out on the dance floor, everyone else did. The DJ was really into his own music too. It was a little humorous. I was quite entertained watching everyone. Court said, "I've never seen so many people sober people dance at a wedding!" I replied, "These are just happy people!" 

Lauren and Brian are doing exactly what we did. We got married, went on a honeymoon, then did SuperWOW all summer. I just hope they don't bring the swine flu back from their Mexican resort. 

We missed you Kelli!

2 Year Anniversary- May 19th

Happy 2 Year Anniversary to my best friend!!!!

At 3:00, May 19th, 2007 Jeremy and I were married. So we celebrate today because of our commitment that day.

About us... Random things about us.

1. How did you meet? We both went to Dacula (school) and to Hebron (church) together. We also have been neighbors since elementary school. To make a LONNNNNG story short. I met Jeremy on the bus when I was little and in middle school. Jeremy met me at a chorus concert dress rehearsal. (I'll tell ya the long version about us in person if you ever want to hear it)

2. How long did you date before you got married? We started dating Sept. 1, 2001 and Jeremy asked me to marry him Feb. 10, 2006. We dated 5 1/2 years.  (Engagement story- another favorite story to tell in person)

3. What did you do for your first date? We went to O'Charley's and to see Shrek in May of 2001. (The date was really awkward though and I avoided Jeremy for a while. I felt like I was on an interview because of the questions, but hey look at me now! I love questions!)

4. When was your first kiss? Homecoming 2001 (October). 

5. Children? Only one- Maverick our black lab..... or 112 if you count my kiddos at school... maybe human children of our own in 10+ years ;)

6. Favorite meal? Dessert

7. Hobbies? Finding new restaurants, eating, reading, watching movies/tv shows (24, House, Idol), playing on the computer (facebook-Laura and World Of Warcraft- Jeremy), playing Guitar Hero, walking at the park, sleeping late, and spending time with family and friends

8. We want to have a library one day... We have quite a nice collection so far. 

9. What do you like about each other? Jeremy likes Laura's sense of humor, her kindness, and her patience. Laura likes Jeremy's servant heart and intelligence. 

10. One thing he/she has taught you? Jeremy- Laura has taught me that you can't be sarcastic to little kids... (that was said jokingly)... and that you have to be patient with people. You have to give them more than one try. Laura- Jeremy has taught me to always look for opportunities to serve those around me. He has challenged me to be who God has called me to be in SO many ways. 

11. Favorite number? 3---- hence the time we got married. 

12. What did you do for your honeymoon? We went on a Western Caribbean cruise to Labadee, Grand Cayman, and Ocho Rios. 

We have definitely enjoyed the past two years and hope to enjoy many more. Jeremy's grandparents just celebrated 50 years last week. WOW. 2 years is not anything in comparison. It has gone by really fast though. Enjoy each day with your friends and loved ones. Talk with them. Spend time with them. Let them know you care today! 

Happy Mother's Day to all!

Happy Mother's Day Momma!

Momma got a plant, a movie, and a book for her gifts this year. I made her a book of our wedding pictures. I know it may sound kind of self-centered giving pictures of yourself, but she has been so busy she hasn't been able to order a book of the pictures. It's been two years (May 19th), so I thought it was about time she had some pictures to put on her coffee table! :) 

We love you Momma!

It's a google world

On a lazy Saturday, here's something to do.

Yes, you all know we use google as a noun, verb, and an adjective. It's how information is discovered. People find other people too. 

 

Have you ever googled your name? One morning on the radio they were talking about what kinds of things come up when you google your name. Try it. Are there any links to you? If you're on facebook there's at least one! If you are a blogger, there's probably another. If your name is on any other website, there's another. 

I used to google my name back in college and nothing was connected to me. It was neat to be sort of invisible. Well, no longer can I be invisible. When I googled my name, there were quite a few hits that related to me. I'm on facebook, I have a blog, I have responded to blogs, I have written an article, I am the academic bowl coach... Well, if you ever wanted to know who I was, it's there and it's talking about ME not another Laura Sims McBryar or Laura McBryar. I'll try to stay away from being famous though. I don't really know if I want to be on wikipedia!

Renaissance Festival (or fair as Jeremy says)

Over my spring break I had my first encounter with craigslist. I met a guy from Winder at the Dairy Queen in Dacula to get 4 tickets to the Renaissance Festival. I was so excited. We scheduled the date to go and asked the family if they wanted to join. Everyone was up for going until the day of. Daphne's family decided they would go on homeschool day instead and they will have LOTS of fun on Thursday. Momma and Daddy decided they'd stay home too, so it was down to Miriam, Stacy, Micah, Jeremy, and me. We enjoyed ourselves though. The weather was GREAT. It was overcast for most of the day and the threat of rain (weather.com) held back until after we left. We got to see some great acrobats, jousting, and we enjoyed some yummy food too. After we walked around and saw some shows we ate then enjoyed a dessert. Miriam and I had a Death by Chocolate Sundae that was DELICIOUS while Stacy and Jeremy enjoyed a funnel cake. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

 

On a side note... We've been in hiding the past year. Once The Church at Mill Creek (TCAMC) decided to stop meeting, we started visiting other churches. That's when we found Grace. For the past year + we have LOVED it. We love Buddy, the pastor. We love Aaron Keyes, the worship pastor. We love the time, 5:15. We love the teaching, atmosphere, vision, community...... However, we've been in hiding. Jeremy hasn't ever been at a church where he hasn't served. He's always been in ministry at church. He started helping out with sound in middle school. That led to working at Hebron all through high school and college. In college he helped out at Hebron and at a church in Milledgeville (we helped with the youth). He continues to work at Hebron even today, but we had a season where we started TCAMC and he helped out there too. I am much the same. I have been at Hebron my whole life and have helped in the nursery, children's, middle school, and high school ministries. While in high school and college when Jeremy was dating or newly married, we NEVER sat together. I could count all the times we sat together on one hand. However, last year when the church plant decided to stop meeting, that all began to change. Although we love Hebron, we wanted to try somewhere new. That's when we went to Grace. No one there knows Jeremy can do video, sound, camera, words.... well except the people we know there. No one knows I love to work with youth either. For the past year we have even gotten to sit with each other and worship together!!! A couple of months ago we knew our time would be ending soon though. We knew it was time to get involved because of our passion in ministry. Last night Buddy talked about the 800 middle schoolers and 1100 high schoolers they do ministry with and about how people are needed to help. In addition to his little comment there was a sheet in the bulletin "100+ ways you can serve at Grace" so we both decided it was time to go for it. Another statement was said too that really makes me realize the time is right. It was about how busy we are but about how God will use us and provide the time. So here goes.... who knows what the journey will be like from here on. School, master's, life, superwow, and now maybe helping with youth- but we are SO excited about what is to come. Please stay with us on the journey even though it may be a bumpy one!

Oh yeah... 23 days left with the kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!