Patiently Waiting....

A new club started this past week to celebrate the time that God has me in, along with a wonderful group of ladies. The idea is a spin off of a group from my awesome sister-in-law who has had a wonderful group of ladies surround her. I love you sis!

We called our group Patiently Waiting because each of us are waiting on something particular...from a husband to come home from overseas or for a new addition to our family. Of the nine ladies pictured, only 2 of us have our husbands home right now. One, possibly two, are pregnant. And one is continuing to wait patiently for the Lord to open her womb. Each have at least two kids & some have as many as 4 kids! They are a precious group of women!






I am in a Bible Study with a group of ladies who, for the most part, are military wives. Well, come to think of it they are all military wives. They are amazing women who sacrifice just as much as their husbands. I have had the privilege of getting to know each of them and seeing the real sacrifices of a military wife. They amaze me with their ability to remain strong for their children as they take on the role of Mom & Dad for as much as a YEAR! ONE ENTIRE YEAR. Some of them go even longer. I can't even begin to imagine that type of lifestyle, but these ladies are so strong and courageous.


We centered our theme around Thanksgiving. I made a Maple Glazed Stuffing & Roast Pork. We also had a fresh salad with a homemade Italian dressing, homemade cranberry sauce, quick creamy corn, Pierogi Casserole, Brie with Apricot topping, buttery rolls, & herbed broccoli. For dessert we had fudge brownies, Turtle Pumpkin Pie, & Death by Chocolate Cake!

We have already scheduled our next one & it's gonna be a dessert theme! Better start dieting to prepare for that one!

I feel so blessed to have such an awesome group of ladies to spend time with!

Blessing During Recession.....Part II

Saying goodbye brought so many emotions with it and at the end of Wednesday I felt completely drained. I had no clue what the next day was going to bring for me because I was going straight into KINDERGARTEN the very next morning! Pray for MSC (Many Small Children) and the Lord tends to have a sense of humor with how he provides!

When I originally interviewed at Highland Elementary, I thought I was interviewing for a new Third Grade position that was opening up. While that was true, there were also 2 kindergarten positions open and a Fourth grade position open. When he came back offering me one of the kindergarten positions. I wasn't the least bit timid about it. I knew I could do it. I had spent my ENTIRE college career preparing to be a kindergarten teaching. A high school internship, 2 college internships & student teaching were spent in kindergarten. I had experienced by far the best kindergarten teacher on the planet during student teaching. Patsy Alley was amazing at making kinders do exactly what she wanted them to in the most creative ways that they enjoyed. I learned so much from her and knew I simply needed to drag it from the dusty shelf I had left it on 6 years ago.

I LOVED it! I realized quickly that the pace of my day was going to be much different, but it was FUN! I really had missed the aspects of school that elementary teachers get to enjoy. These past few days reminded me of why I became a teacher.

I chose a spider theme for my first two days to go with the Halloween week. I'll have to continue to be creative in those ways too because I have a sweet baby who can't celebrate any holidays.

Spiders it was. I hung a HUGE spider on the corner of the board. Kinders are the most observant kids ever. They had hardly walked in the room and welcomed their new teacher ( I had met them the week before during a day long visit),that their little voices said "MRS. BERRY! There's a spider over our board. Who put that spider there??? " I love their excitement...so refreshing.

We graphed whether we like or dislike spiders and then wrote about it! What fun is learning about spiders if it doesn't involve food? So we made spiders from marshmallows & pretzels. They didn't stand a chance with hungry little kiddos. I did manage to get a picture before they were consumed!

I even found these awesome cupcakes to go with our theme!!!

The kids loved them:)

Yesterday afternoon the entire school focused on Kindergarten. Everyone lined the hallways & each kindergarten class prepared themselves with their themed hats. Our theme was scarecrows. They kids loved that I joined in with them!

A new adventure with a tremendous amount of fun to come!

Blessing During Recession..

Just like our God always does, he has shown out this last month! It's amazing to see how he loves us through his blessings.



Through many doctors visits in the hopes of having the MSC (Many Small Children) we hope to have, the final prescription from my doctor alongside very EXPENSIVE fertility meds was LESS STRESS!



"Really", I responded? "Do you know that I am a teacher of 120 lovely middle schoolers AND a pastor's wife?" To which he responded, "Really Pepper. If you want those MSC, you are going to have to lessen your stress so the percentage of your possibilities for children will increase." How very discouraging to hear that you have slim chances of having the babies you so desperately desire, but with alot of help and encouragement from my husband, many tears & many prayers I am trusting the Lord for the percentage that the doctors say is void from our lives!



The very week following my appointment I was approached by someone at church that asked me if I might consider moving schools? I can only imagine my facial expressions, knowing in my mind what the doctor had just told me. And with that question from her, the Lord began opening up the opportunity for me to interview with another school. That week I approached my principal at the middle school in every attempt to be professional about this possibility & told him that I was considering this opportunity. Interviewed that very week on Thursday. Accepted a position on Friday! I followed with my 30 days notice & started the long awaited change.



It was, despite the quickness in the decisions from day to day, one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. I love my kids at the Middle School. Saying goodbye to them, I knew was going to be one of the hardest things to do. But, I had to decide to take care of my body & my health in order to fulfill dreams that I've had since I was a very little girl.



So after a almost an entire month, my principal gave me the letter that would inform my children that I would be leaving. We gathered them together to break the news. Having all 240 of their eyes looking at me and having no idea what was about to hit them was terrible. We shed tears. We shared germy hugs. And we made it through that terrible Friday. With 3 days left together, I had no idea what to expect, but I was showered with love from my kiddos. I have never received so many gifts. It was like Christmas in October! Flowers, cards, letters smeared with thank yous from students and parents, candy, bible covers, pictures, ornaments, food, lunch..... It was endless. I felt so loved and cared for. I left them with a challenge to love Ms. Vaughan, a first year teacher who had been in kindergarten, with all their might.

Very delayed update...

Summer has come & gone & so has my free time that I typically use to update our blog.

August brought with it a visit to Greenville, SC & we were able to spend some time at the youth conference that B Berry puts on with his REVOLUTION ministry.

A new school year has started and I have enjoyed my team at Max Abbot greatly. They are great group of women. So sweet & enjoyable. I am very sad that I will be leaving them soon. More to come on that.

In September John & Denice came down for a weekend visit. We found a restaurant that we thought fit us well! We enjoyed a motorcycle ride to Raleigh and we visited some of the museums there. It was a great weekend to visit with one another.

John and I recently enjoyed a Barbeque Festival in Lexington, NC. We met Donald and Wanda and enjoyed a few hours together before going to Greensboro for a birthday party. Eric, John's college roommate, turned 30 and we ventured up to celebrate with some friends! Eric almost won the t-shirt contest with his Goodwill REBA find!

So far this fall season has been great for us. We have definetly missed the fall leaves of Boone, but have enjoyed the warmer days. Hard to believe we've been here in Spring Lake for ONE YEAR on November 1st. Time flies when you're doing what God has before you!

Family Vacation

The Berry Family took our summer vacation together in Garden City this past week.


Ella- such a snuggler

My Love ....

Allie Elizabeth- 3 months old and too precious

Potty time


She's got a drinking problem.... with root beer :)

Coley Berry & Allie

Boone and Back Again...To Boone That Is!

We finally had an opportunity to head back to the mountains!

We headed up on Monday with a group of sixth graders that will be coming into the youth group during the summer. We wanted to get to know them better and help make their transition a little easier. We took them on some hikes at our favorite places- Elk River Falls & Hunt Fish Falls. They loved it and were such a wonderful group of students.

John and I really wanted time to go back and visit friends and youth and boy did we visit!

some 'ladies' who came to eat some dinner with us at Chick-Fil-A

Jenny, Kim & I

I really miss this lady:( ....Lisa is the best!

Fellas & Yancey!

Rock Band With Jenny & Adam

Justin & Tyler...pretty special fellas!

Luke & Amy! We hadn't seen them since we moved...it had been too long...an engagement & a new position in ministry!

Cafe Portofino...Ahh...I miss that place! (visit #1)

John playing with his old team for the night.

Portofino # 2 with Jenny & Adam

Sara & Peyton

LaShae & her sweet baby Bailey

Las Senoritas.....me amo mucho!

the boys and their girls....such good dogs!

We love Boone- the memories & the fun times. God has us in a new place now, but we do miss it!

John's adventures...

John has had his own adventures while I've been gone. John performed his very first wedding this weekend while I was with my family. While I hated being away and not being able to join the Berry family John sent me some little pics to show me all his fun he was having with our nieces.

The beautiful bride...Tiffany Alverson Nicholson

Ella with her two Johns- Papa John & Uncle John... I really think she's saying 'Pepu', her name for me, in this picture.

John & Allie...isn't she so little and sweet.

BEACH BUMming

My love for the beach has grown and grown as the years have gone by. Now that we are only a couple of hours from the beach I'm enjoying it even more. This week though marks a rare occasion in my life. I have only been on 2 other 'family' vacations in my life. This might be what drives me so hard towards the desire to set traditions with my family- pictures, traditional family trips.... other things that surely bother others because I am so adamant about it...but hey you don't know what it's like to not have it when you've had it your entire life. I truly value the experiences and the memories of it. No taking it for granted here.

Knowing it was a HuGe birthday for Nana, we wanted to celebrate in a special way. Wanda, my aunt, decided she would get us a condo at the beach and we could spend the week together soaking up the sun. Now I've been teased quite a bit about my inability to narrow down my clothing choices when packing for a vacation. But maybe after seeing this picture of the luggage for the 3 of us everyone will understand that I picked up this special attribute of packing from my family! I typically get teased at how much I "need" when i am going on a vacation. It reminds me of our trip to Israel...I'll post about that packing job later! Anyway....we had MORE than we might ever need to say the least!

We made our way to Pawley's Island, south of Garden City Beach in about 3 hours from Fayettnam and I was so excited.

We stayed at Litchfield Beach & Golf Resort and I totally could have lived in our condo. It was awesome.

We spent most of our week sleeping, reading, at the pool, at the beach and eating & shopping. Laid back and relaxed! It was a great time! I'm so glad we did it! We have made memories we will never forget.

HER blooming onion!

Her Birthday Icecream!

Hitting the beach!

Nana & her book on the beach.

Wanda sporting a hat I would NEVER let her buy!

Nana & I at the Original Benjamin's...YUMMO!

Nana with her plate from Abuelo's ...she reminded the waitress that she got the Senior plate..supposedly with smaller portions!

My new hat! I really like it.