He did it!

It's official... Andrew is a Chick-fil-A owner/operator!

Andrew completed his classes at Chick-fil-A Corporate and graduated yesterday. There was a ceremony at Corporate, where all 21 graduates were recognized for their hard work and success in completing the 5-week course. After the ceremony, CFA treated the operators and their families to a catered lunch in their honor. Thanks CFA! All of the festivities were very exciting.

Andrew has worked very hard and it has finally paid off! It's been neat to see Andrew mature and develop his skills as a businessman throughout our marriage. I was overwhelmed with pride as I watched Andrew during the festivities at CFA. He is just so in his element and I love that. I thank the Lord for Andrew's dedication to his work and I praise Him for blessing Andrew with a job that he loves and is so passionate about. To God be the glory!

Here are a few pictures from the day...

Andrew and some of his buddies

Will Flora (my sister's boss!) talking to the graduates

After Andrew received his "diploma." Bad pic, but still special!

Graduating class with Truett Cathy in the middle.

Andrew and his first operator - the man who taught him everything :)

Andrew and his close friend Scott (the trouble makers in class per chance??)

AJ with his mom and dad

Congratulations Andrew! On behalf on our families and friends... we're proud of you!

Summer happenings.

I haven't been faithful to update you all on what's been happening the last few weeks... like my second baby shower, a girl's trip to Savannah, and an afternoon of fun at Andrew's house with his old baseball launcher.

Here's a little recap. Oh and be on the lookout for another Lima Bean update!

First off: my baby shower! This was primarily a church shower. We had a blast - lots of laughter was had by all. I am so thankful to all the ladies who attended... thank you for your generosity and support of our family. Andrew and I were certainly showered with gifts for our little Lima Bean!

Some of the decorations

AJ growing up

Pictures of me growing up holding "playing mom" with baby dolls

Sistas!

Mama with friends

Presents!

All the ladies at the shower

Fowler gals

The snack table

M for Mary

Delicious fudge

So excited... Lima Bean's quilt from "Mimi" (my mom)

Love it  - windmill pattern

The lovely hostesses - Kimeran, Kate, Jennifer, and Marla

Secondly: a trip to the beach! I drove down to Savannah to visit with some of my college buddies.. two of which are also pregnant! I guess the baby season is starting to sneak up on us. The two day getaway was fun... certainly a nice treat to spend time with girlfriends before the big move.

From left to right: Hannah, Erica, Whitney, and Grace 

Headed to the beach

Old college roomies... pretending to be preggers

Finally: afternoon fun with Andrew, his dad, and cousin... they found Andrew's old baseball launcher in the basement. :)

Ryan in the outfield as Andrew sends the ball his way

Smile AJ! 

Fly ball!

The spectators

Amos, the ball collector

It's been so fun at home. I've been blessed with some sweet fellowship with family and friends while living with my parents. I will definitely miss all the fun times here in the South!

Abiding in the Word.

"But Jesus called them to him and said, 'You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'"

Matthew 20:25-28

Well I am soaking up my last week as an official Georgian. Crazy to think that this time next week will be our LAST DAY in GA. Quite bittersweet I must say.

Happy week to you all!

Projects completed.

I'm happy to say that I've made some more progress on a few of my projects from my to-do list!

Here's the ruffled wreath I completed. It will be my fall decoration for our new place... possibly my one and only fall decoration. :)

Find the tutorial here.

Also, I finished up the pinwheel bib. I made two... very similar, but useful nonetheless.

Lastly, I made Lima Bean's pillow from Granny's toile fabric. Now LB will always have a way to think of Andrew's grandmother.

Forgive the quality of pictures. I took all of these on my phone.

Andrew is in Waco, TX right now. He arrived Wednesday evening and will be back on Sunday. When we spoke on the phone last night, he seemed very encouraged by all of the help/advice the operator was giving him. He told me he arrived at the store by 10 am and they didn't finish up meeting until 7 pm! It seems they had a lot to talk about. Today they are going to be discussing finances and taxes. Man does that sound boring fun. Is it bad that I'm glad it's Andrew in Texas and not me? What a man!

I hope you all are looking forward to the weekend. I certainly am!

Blissful morning.

I don't think the weather could be better in GA on this crisp Wednesday morning.

I'm soaking up the last bit of time I have here at home out on the patio - listening to the birds chirp, feeling the cool air on my skin, admiring the clear blue skies, and cringing as my dogs get filthy. Lovely.

Abiding in the Word.

"Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment."

Proverbs 12:19

On another note, Andrew is having a great time in FRL. He's over half way - 3 weeks down with 2 to go. He has to fly to Waco, TX this week for something called an Operator Coaching Visit. Basically he goes to an operator's store for some last minute guidance/training/mentoring/etc. from a successful operator. After his visit, he will only have one more week of classes, followed by his graduation (Sept. 2)! I'm very proud of his diligence and hard work. Of course he never complains and is always pleasant to talk to at the end of the day. I'm a pretty lucky gal!

During all of this, Andrew has been living in Peachtree City at the Dolce. Some of you might wonder what ~20 guys do with their time during the evenings after all the work for the day is done... well you play games and lose bets and have to shave your head. I'm pretty sure 5-6 wives are fuming at my husband right now. Let's just hope it grows back a little before graduation next week!! Here's Andrew with some of his buddies... and his masterpieces on top of all of their heads. :)

Summer at the Fowler's.

For those of you who don't go to Grace Presbyterian Church, you wouldn't know that we've had a summer pastoral intern. And for those of you who don't know anything about the intern, then you wouldn't know that his name is Ross and we just happen to be flat mates (aka we both live upstairs at my parent's house).

We have enjoyed our time with Ross... so much so that I thought I'd share with you a few facts about him.

Random facts about Ross:
- Ross is actually his middle name; William is his first
- He's from Alabama (we still love him)
- He can survive on $20 a week in food
- He is very tidy... you wouldn't even know we had another resident in the house because he's so neat
- He goes to Westminster Seminary in Escondido, CA
- He plays the guitar and sings
- He is a great help with yard work
- He takes his own freshly brewed Starbucks coffee to Starbucks for his Tuesday morning meetings with our pastor and associate pastor
- He can create a picture perfect burger

- He is incredibly thoughtful and sincere
- He laughs at all of the Fowler's jokes (just being polite?)
- He reads really smart books just for fun
- He stashes dark chocolate and peanut butter M&M's in his drawer upstairs (but he shares them with me)
- He helps clear the table and clean the dishes every night after dinner
- He has an ever increasing line of books lined up on his chest of drawers
- He was on a trivia team of sorts in college (I forgot the name... BUT is was consider a varsity team, so it was totally legit)
- He has completed 2 of 4 years in seminary
- He gets more mail forwarded to our address than I do (and more packages from Amazon)
- He has officially become a part of the Fowler family

We have thoroughly enjoyed having Ross around all summer. It makes for delightful dinner conversations and lots of laughs. Plus, he doesn't mind having 4 (ok maybe just my two) rambunctious dogs running around the house all the time. He really does feel like a part of the family and we're gonna miss him!