"Because I knew you, I have been changed for good"

We all have them in our lives, and if we are lucky we have more than one. The teacher(s) who not only teach us the subjects of their courses but that also teach us about life; and when we complete our time in their courses we not only leave as better students, but we carry their spirit, their love, and their inspiration with us for the rest of our lives.

I was blessed to have one of these teachers in high school, Mrs. Margaret F. Gregory. Mrs. Gregory taught chorus at my high school and I was blessed to have the opportunity to have her my senior year for two chorus classes. Prior to my senior year though I had worked with Mrs. G at church as she lead our youth choir and I also had the chance to take private voice lessons from her for a year. She definitely was passionate about music and passed that along to all that she met. She lit up the room when she walked into it, and beyond teaching music she really did teach everyone that she met about how to live and love life to the fullest.

Mrs. Gregory died suddenly last Monday morning and it has been a hard and sad week for everyone who was blessed to have known her and have her touch their life. There are things that happen in our lives all the time that we don't understand and we don't think are fair, and losing Mrs. Gregory so soon is definitely one of those. I am comforted knowing that God has plans for everyone and that I know she is now singing in his choir, the greatest choir of all! I was lucky to get to spend some time with Mrs. Gregory and her husband last summer when they came to Charleston for a visit and took me out to dinner. I will always cherish the lessons she taught me both inside and outside of the classroom, and to honor her will strive to live my life as she lived hers. I pray that I can be the same type of inspiration and joy to others I meet and work with in life as Mrs. Gregory was to all she met. I miss you Mrs. Gregory, and know that I will see you again someday!

"If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile"

I don't know about my friends and family, but I am ready for spring to get here! Two weeks ago we actually got some snow here in Charleston, nothing compared to VA and further north, but we got about 3 inches at our house and according to the news it was the 4th largest snow storm to ever hit Charleston. For those of you who know me, you know that snow is not my favorite thing, but we certainly didn't miss the opportunity to capture some pictures in hopes that this will be the only time we experience snow while we are in Charleston!






Below are a few other things we have enjoyed over the past few weeks that help us keep our mind off this cold weather!

* Celebrating our friend Melantha's 30th Birthday!

* A quick visit from my Chi Omega Friend Ashlee Hicks.

* Church and brunch together on Valentine's Day.

* Playing Tyler & Libby's Beatles Rockband.

* Both of us having President's Day off of work and being able to enjoy some time together shopping, catching a movie, and visiting with Timmy's former co-worker from Columbia Casey and her family who were in Charleston for the day.

* My trip to Jacksonville to facilitate at the Beta SE Keystone. I love having the opportunity to give my time to Beta and to catch up with old and new friends!

* Our new webcam and being able to Skype with our parents, Jon and MK and Benjamin, and our friend Meg in CA for a while on her birthday! Let us know if you have a webcam and want to Skype, we are loving it!

This weekend 6 of my friends who work for Beta are coming down to Charleston for the weekend to visit. We are looking forward to the company and to have the chance to explore around Charleston some more!

"Baby It's Cold Outside..."

Well hello February, how did you get here so fast? I can't believe we are already a week into February! 2010 has been off to a great but busy start for me and Timmy. We have both been busy with activities at work, we have been visiting churches again in hopes of finding a church home here in Charleston, and we have enjoyed a few visits from some friends. While fortunately we have not had snow dumped on us for the past few weekends like many of our family in friends in VA, MD, and PA, it has certainly been very cold down here the past few weekends.

When I last posted the girls had just come down to visit over MLK weekend. Last month I also had the chance to go to lunch and catch up with my college friend Pam and her husband Jason while they were visiting Charleston. Pam is pregnant and is due in June so it was great to catch up after so long and to get lots of updates. We look forward to seeing them both again in July at Emily and Jess's wedding. My former co-worker, and fellow Chi Omega Sister, Spring and her boyfriend Jordan also came down to Charleston for a day to visit the law school here. I enjoyed getting to spend the afternoon with the two of them and Timmy and I enjoyed a great dinner with them at Fleet Landing. Some of my mom's girlfriends were spending the week in Hilton Head last week and came up to Charleston for the day so I got to visit with them for a little while. That is one nice thing about living in Charleston, lots of people visit and we are able to see old friends and family more regularly than when we were in Columbia. We love the company and hope to have more visitors as the weather gets nicer.


Last weekend Timmy and I attended the Lowcountry Oyster Festival, and despite the frigid temperatures had a lot of fun. My friends Melantha and Bethany from work came out and met us and they enjoyed the oysters and Timmy and I enjoyed the vendor food. Timmy had to be there for work and I do enjoy that we are able to participate in some fun Charleston activities thanks to his job! This weekend is the Southeastern Wildlife Expo which is another big Charleston event that Timmy will get attend for work. I have a program all weekend so probably will not be able to enjoy this one with him, but I am ok with that!

As you all know Timmy and I love to entertain and so we are preparing to have our friends over to watch the big Super Bowl game tonight. Timmy is making my favorite buffalo chicken dip, pigs in a blanket, and we bought some frozen finger foods at Costco. He also baked this cinnamon bread a little while ago that smells amazing, I cannot wait to try it. I really do think that I am the luckiest girl in the world to have a husband that is such an amazing cook!

The next few weeks are busy for Timmy and I both but hopefully I may actually find time to blog more than once this month! (I have some pictures to add but they are not uploading correctly right now, hopefully I can get them added soon!)

"This year, is gonna be incredible"

We are already 17 days into 2010 and so far the year has been off to a wonderful start! I had a great time ringing in the New Year in Atlanta with Tara and a Hokie Victory at the Chick-Fil-A Bowl, guess I finally broke the losing streak with my attendance at the game. It was a wonderful way to start off the new year and I must say that the first two weeks have already been pretty busy. Last weekend for work we had our annual Greek Leadership Institute for our new chapter leaders and I had the chance to plan it this year. Other than the fact that is was VERY cold (luckily the cabins and the meeting rooms were heated at the camp) it was a wonderful weekend and both the students and the staff/alumni facilitators we had help us all seemed to have a great time, it was truly a wonderful way for us all to kick off the spring semester. This weekend my friends Tory, Tina, and Melissa came down from Virginia to visit us and while it was a short visit we had a great time. Yesterday was a little rainy and pretty cool out but we still enjoyed a carriage tour around the city and got in some shopping at the Market and on King Street. We hung out at the house last night and ordered pizza and played some Wii, just had a good old girls night. This morning we went downtown for brunch at one of my new favorite places here in Charleston, Hominy Grill and then took a nice walk along the East side of the peninsula enjoying the views of the Battery and the Cooper River as we made our way from the Battery to Waterfront Park, the sun was out today and the weather was very nice, It was a great ending to our weekend together.

Timmy and I have a lot to look forward to in the upcoming months including upcoming visits from friends and family, some upcoming activities we both have with work, a trip back to Richmond in March to visit family and friends and see Wicked, my new volunteer role as Recruitment Advisor for the new Beta Theta Pi colony at the University of South Carolina, hopefully running together in our first 10K during the Annual Bridge Run here in Charleston at the end of March, and some weddings! We both continue to be grateful for the many blessings we received during 2009 and look forward to all that 2010 has to bring to us.

Here are a few pictures from the CFA Bowl Game and from the girls visit this weekend.

"If you want to be happy in a million ways, For the holidays - you can't beat home, sweet home!"

Just one week ago Zoey and I were waiting patiently for Timmy to get off work so we could make our trip home for the holidays. We had a very nice, but busy visit home f0r a few days and enjoyed our time with both family and friends.

Christmas Eve we enjoyed catching up with friends at the Walter's Annual Christmas Eve Open House, visited with Timmy's parents, had dinner with mom and Reed, and went to visit Annie & Zac in their new beautiful home in downtown Richmond before heading to church with mom. Christmas Day we opened gifts with mom and Reed, went to the Duke's for Christmas brunch, made a short visit to the Garfinkel family and then headed back to mom's for the rest of the day. That evening we enjoyed a great dinner mom made and were glad Timmy's parents were able to come join us. The day after Christmas we did a little post-Christmas sale shopping then headed over to Timmy's parents to celebrate Christmas with them and Jonathan, Mary Katherine, and Benjamin. Sunday we got up and had breakfast with Timmy and his family and then hit to road back to Charleston. It was a short but fun trip home and we are both grateful we had the opportunity to spend the holidays at home. Below are a few pictures from our holiday adventure.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Morning

Christmas Day Family Photo

Christmas with the Marsh's

This afternoon I am headed to Atlanta to visit my friend Tara and to go to the Chick-Fil-A Bowl to cheer on the Hokies tomorrow night as they take on Tennessee. Should be a good game and hopefully it will end well for the Hokies, I have been to lots of Bowl games and we have never won a single one I have attended, lets pray that this one ends different. Hope you and your family have a safe and fun New Year's Eve where ever you may be!

"I'll be home for Christmas, You can count on me"

The presents are wrapped and packed, our bags are packed, and all of the baked goodies are packed, we are ready to head home for Christmas! Zoey and I are patiently waiting for Timmy to get off work so we can start our drive north, not to to the north pole, but to Chester to celebrate Christmas with our family and friends. While we are only going to be home for a few days, we are looking forward to our visit which is sure to be filled with lots of eating, visiting, and celebrating.


Here are a few things we are looking forward to over the next four days at home:

* Listening to Christmas music the whole drive home

* The Walter's Annual Christmas Eve Open House

* Getting to see Annie & Zac's new home

* Our annual family Christmas photo at mom's with the camera timer, its always an entertaining few minutes of trying to get a good shot!

* Giving and receiving Christmas presents (I am really looking forward to hopefully getting the Glee CD!)

* Christmas morning brunch at the Duke's

* A Christmas Story movie marathon on Christmas day

* Christmas dinner at mom's

* Celebrating Christmas on the 26th with the Marsh's, and spending time with our nephew Benjamin.

* Spending the Holidays with our family and friend in Chester!



Things we are not looking forward to:

* The drive to Chester and back

* Not being able to see my dad over the holidays this year

* The cold weather that awaits us in Chester (it is supposed to be 24 degrees when we get in tonight!)


Hope you and your families have a very Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays from the Marsh's!

"There'll be parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting, and caroling out in the snow"

Well I know as I write this that most of my friends and family in VA and MD are still snowed in from the snow that hit the area Friday and Saturday. The same storm did hit Charleston, however not in the form of snow, but lots and lots of rain. While you all played in the snow, I drove my car down very flooded downtown roads praying that I would make it to the stop sign and not get stuck in the high waters as I drove home from work Friday. So while we have certainly had no snow, nor have we really toasted/roasted (I google searched and apparently there are versions of the song that use each word) marshmallows, we have certainly had the opportunity to host and attend several holiday parties!

Last weekend was our holiday party weekend. Friday night my friend Bethany from work had all of the girls (and their significant others) over for a fun night of visiting, good food, and some great wine. On Sunday we hosted two holiday gatherings at our house, luckily they were both potluck so we did not have to do all of the cooking for both. In the morning we had the women on the Panhellenic Council that I advise over for a holiday brunch and a winter wear gift exchange. That evening we had the Greek Life Office (GLO) Staff over for our holiday celebration. It was very low key since not all of our student workers were able to come. I have been told that in the past for the GLO Holiday party they did a White Elephant gift exchange, but the students this year decided rather than bringing silly gifts for one another, to donate school supplies to the local elementary school off their wish list. The food and company were great for both of the celebrations and Timmy and I spent most of last week eating off the left overs!

This past Friday our friends Libby and Tyler had a holiday open house to celebrate the season and to display the lights on their house. Unfortunately, due to the rain storm and some technical issues at their house, were not able to see the lights but we were once again able to enjoy good food, some great champagne wine, and the company of the great friends I have made from the College.

Timmy & I at Libby & Tyler's Holiday Party

Saturday we made a quick trip up to Columbia to complete our Christmas shopping and get our hair cut before the holidays. We also had the chance to get lunch with our friend Lindsay and enjoyed having the chance to catch up with her. Lindsay and her husband Nick were one of our only couple friends in Columbia that we grew close to during our short time there. Nick is in the Air Force and currently is over in Afghanistan, so we missed seeing him but were glad to see Lindsay and we definitely keep them both in our thoughts and prayers constantly, especially during the holiday season when they are apart, and we hope that you will also! Next spring when Nick returns to the states they will be moving to New Mexico so we are grateful for the opportunity to spend some time with Lindsay and hopefully both of them before they leave.

Timmy & I with Lindsay & Nick celebrating my birthday in May 2008

The past few weeks have been very bittersweet for me and my new group of amazing friends here in Charleston. It has been wonderful celebrating the season together but sad as we prepare to say good-bye to our good friend Heather. Heather and her sister will be leaving Charleston on Tuesday to move back to the Cincinnati area to be closer to their family. Heather was one of the first people I met when I started my job in July and she always went out of her way to make me feel welcome and at home and has been a great friend and mentor to me over the past several months. I feel so blessed to have had the chance to work with her and to get to know her these past few months and will certainly miss having her around. She is a truly amazing woman and I know she will do great things wherever her road in life may take her! Relocating and starting your life over in a new place is never easy and I am very grateful this holiday season to have made some very great friends who all work at the College of Charleston with me. They have welcomed Timmy and I into their lives and been a great support to us during our time of transition.

My Amazing CofC Co-Workers & Friends
Timmy and I both have a few days left of work but are looking forward to heading back home on Wednesday to celebrate the holidays with our family and friends in Chester. I hope as you all continue to prepare for the holidays that you take time to reflect on the many people and blessings that we all have in our lives and remember to keep those who serve our country, like Nick, and their families in your thoughts and prayers.