Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving from the Nobles

I am thankful for an amazing family.  Even though there are days of bickering and sarcasm, we still love and support each other.  

I am thankful for God's amazing grace.  It is His love, mercy and grace that allows me to be the wife, mom, sister, daughter, teacher and friend that I strive to be.

I am beyond grateful for a job that I love and the opportunity to serve those who come into my life.

Wedding in Hawkinsville

Weddings.  Ask my kids, they have heard 'elope' most frequently when asked about the subject of nuptials.  As a musician I have been a part of many weddings and seen the tension, trauma and tears of numerous brides.  I don't have anything against getting married, or weddings in general.  But, the storybook bride is a far cry from the reality of the event.  

As a musician I play for weddings.  Because I work with college students, I am also invited to a myriad of ceremonies.  The latest invitation came from a favorite Berry grad, Golden Goss. What a great name, and it is his given name!  Golden is from the class of 2004. The group of students that attended Berry from 1999-2004 was an awesome crew.  A large contingent poured into the lives of my children. They set Godly examples as they studied, played, loved and ministered. 

Golden graduated and I lost touch with him.  For awhile he was in North Carolina, then I heard he moved overseas to work with  Samaritan's Purse.  Years passed, and I discovered he was back in Rome!  Golden, who was an environmental science major, became a Rome firefighter.  Long story short, we reconnected at Sunday lunch and the rest is history.  In a few months we met Mary Katherine, and liked her immediately. She and Golden seemed perfect for each other.  

There are other Golden stories I could share, but what you need to know about GG is his love for God, his devotion to MK, and his Godly perspective of marriage.  GG & MK were married on Saturday October 12 at the Goss family farm in Hawkinsville Georgia.  It was a wonderful celebration of how God brought these two sweet people together.  I was excited to share a part of their day. The wedding was simple and sweet, just like the new Mr. & Mrs. Goss.

The ceremony would overlook the lake.

MK is an artist.  The guest registry was signed with your fingerprint using a variety of ink colors, thus making a lovely tree.

Josh Clegg, another 2004 graduate and one of Golden's roommates.

Trees and flowers lined the aisle!

Golden waiting for his bride!

Sweet nieces

The beautiful barefoot bride and her father.

Mitch Jolly from Three Rivers Community Church in Rome
led the couple in their marriage vows

Current Berry students who attend TRCC with GG and MK.
They are all vocalist that I have the pleasure to work with on a regular basis.

Tabatha is Golden's sister.  
She attends church with Joe and Abby Fernandez,
another sweet couple from Berry's 2004 class.

Boiled peanuts and apple cider.  Perfect.

Golden and Wes. Berry past and present!
They are in a D group together. 

So excited for Golden and MK.

The only question I have now, is about texting. When I reconnected with Golden he gave me his phone number, but told me he didn't text, because he was saving it for marriage!

Mountain Day 2013

The first Saturday of October is like Christmas morning for our family.  It is on this date that we enjoy the presence of friends returning to Berry.  I don't think Randy and I have missed a Mountain Day since we graduated in the early 1980's.  Our anticipation and excitement isn't in seeing friends that graduated with us, but the kids that have been in our home while they were students.  We have been blessed to know many wonderful students during their Berry days, and love to see them come home!  

Carrie got to march this year!
Last year she played in the band.

It was a beautiful, sunshine filled and warm HOT day.  The students make five trips down the hill before the march is complete.  This year there were about 900 students that marched. The band played for about 40 minutes before the flags led the procession for the singing of the Alma Mater

Carrie and childhood friend, Carroll.
Both ECE majors at Berry!

One of my favorite Berry/Kindermusik stories goes like this:  A set of twins, Sophie and Valerie came to Kindermusik when they were 16 months old. Their family is from Belgium and the girls did not speak English.  Because they were preemies, they were not walking when I met them.  The girls stayed in the Kindermusik program until they were about 6 years old.  Occasionally I would see their mom and catch up on what they were doing. Both were in the band.  A few years ago, the girls started swimming with Three Rivers Swim Club.  Despite a four year age gap, Kate and Sophie became great friends.  When it was time to apply for college, Valerie had already determined she wanted to come to Berry and play tennis.  Sophie had her hopes on Stanford.  Long story short, both girls are at Berry, and Sophie is on the Berry swim team!

Sophie waves to the crowd.

Alyssa and Will Graham,
a regular at the Sunday lunch table!

It is wonderful when the students return with their families.  The comment that is uttered most is, "I remember when Kate was little".  Kate has been to 14 straight Mountain Days! They love to see how our kids have grown and we enjoy seeing their growing families.

Chris and Heather Bragg

Kate, Kevin Llewallyn, Aaron and Alyssa

Recent grads hanging out with friends.

Spencer  - happy boy!

Jessica (Spencer's mom) Mills Vandagriff

 

There are a few from my era that return.
Kathy Hawk of 4th West Mary is one I usually see!

2 Berry grads and one current student.
Blessed family!

2014 is the Centennial of Mountain Day! You should make plans to come, we want to see you!

Mistaken Identity at the Berry game

This has nothing to do with Berry football, except that this FIRST happened at the very first Berry game.   

Berry had its inaugural game at Barron Stadium on September 7.  Randy, Aaron and Carrie attended to represent the Nobles family.  It was packed with 6700 excited fans! You couldn't stir a Viking with a stick, much less row!   If you haven't seen any video about Berry football, click here and here. The latter link includes highlights from the game, plus a touching speech by Coach K.

Father and son were in the stadium, when Randy hears, "Hey Mr. Nobles".  When he turns to reply, he sees an elementary age child and realizes that they are referring to the younger Mr. Nobles.  Randy told Aaron, "that one is yours".   

School Days for Mr. Nobles

School days, school days
Dear old golden rule days
Readin' and 'ritin' and 'rithmetic
Taught to the tune of the hickory stick

This is the song that my mom used to sing when she came to wake me up on the first day of school.  Obviously it is a bit out dated, but I still think of it when the new year rolls around.  When the first day of school arrived at the Nobles house Kate started high school,  Randy didn't go because he's retired (sorta), and Alyssa was teaching ESL in Hazlehurst MS.  But eight days after school started is when everything changed for Aaron! 

Aaron graduated from Kennesaw State University in December 2012 and continued to work at Olive Garden while job searching.  During the spring he enjoyed being the community soccer coach at Rome High School.  This gave him experience working with students and an outlet for his love of the game.  Aaron's desire is to teach high school history and coach.  He applied to numerous school systems in Georgia and North Carolina, but without a clear renewable teaching certificate he wasn't having success acquiring employment.

Let me back up a few weeks and confess that I very anxious about Alyssa and Aaron and their future.  After several intense days of restlessness, I was granted an overwhelming peace as I prayed about the situation.  God let me know that He was in control and that all would be fine.  After that day, I trusted in God's promise to provide.

A week before school was to begin, Aaron got a call to interview for a para-professional job.   A para-pro doesn't require a teaching certificate, but does give classroom experience, a salaried (not hourly) wage, and benefits.  The best part of this particular job - it was at the neighborhood elementary school that all my kids attended, West End!  

Aaron interviewed on  a Tuesday.  School began that Friday.  No call.  A week goes by, no word. But, the job is still posted as open.  Two weeks after the interview, he gets a call from the principal asking if he was still interested in the job.  He was ecstatic!  He and I went shopping for "teacher" clothes that day, and he reported to the school the next day.  He is the computer lab guy.  Art, music, P.E. and computer are the activities the children rotate through every two weeks.  He has 30 computers and mans the classroom on his own.  The call came on Tuesday, his first day was Wednesday and the children came on Thursday.  He sees every grade level, Pre-K through 6th grade.

One of Aaron's favorite graduation gifts
coaching shirt
Rome High Soccer - Coach Nobles

Today he completed his first full week in the classroom.  I am happy to report that he is very tired.   He seems to like what he is doing, and is learning to think on his feet.  On his first day with 30 first graders in the lab, a circuit breaker blew!  It actually happened several times that afternoon.  He found himself entertaining with a rousing game of hangman!  He has learned that the younger students like to play Simon Says when lining up to leave the classroom.  It has been a whirlwind of initiation!

He teaches at the school that he attended for seven years, and alongside former teachers that are now colleagues.  He still says he wants to teach high school, but he is gaining valuable experience.  

Another Mr. Nobles in education, God is good!

Visiting the Pascual family and Stone Mountain

We enjoy having college students over to our home, this is something we have done for almost 30 years. We love all the students, but some are truly special to our family. Jonathan Pascual (2004 Berry grad) falls into that category! Several things endeared Jonathan to us: his smile, a heart to serve Christ, and he was so intentional in building relationships. He was also an awesome role model for my kids. All those things are still true today!

Jonathan and Kate really bonded. When he and Sarah got married they ask her to be the "rock girl" in their wedding. We loved Sarah from the start, she is the perfect soul mate for Jonathan. Sarah is so unpretentious!

Kate with the bride and groom, January 2008

Kate and Rory, December 2010

It had been awhile since we spent time with J and S....three children ago to be exact.  Of course, they went from 1 to 4 children in less than 3 years. Last March, God blessed them with Ugandan twin girls, Faith and Favor. I have known many people who have adopted from overseas, but it doesn't usually happen at warp speed like it did with the Pascual's.  We kept up with the family progress through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Sarah's blog, but we wanted the personal experience. I sent Jonathan a text and told them we wanted to visit them, and a Saturday at Stone Mountain was planned.

Sarah wrote about the experience here, and I would encourage you to read her perspective.  

Waiting for the Laser Show, or the movie as the girls called it!

Precious people

We met at J and S house in Stone Mountain to get to know the children before we ventured to the park.  Kate loves babies, and held Ransom at every opportunity!  He looks just like Jonathan, and embodies his personality too!

Love the world map stenciled on the wall.
Notice the heart in Africa!

Of course the teacher would be reading with the girls

I know J and S have had many struggles over the past 15 months. They adopted girls who did not speak English and had lived their entire life in a rural orphanage.  Now at age five, the girls not only speak English but also can sing songs from musicals such as "Annie" and "The Sound of Music." They are so patient with the girls, and are very intentional.  Remember I mentioned that was a trait we loved in Jonathan.  That translates to being a great Dad!

Frisbee time!
 If they only knew their Daddy in college!

Blowing bubbles

Favor's time to blow!

Things I have learned from J and S:

Pray. If God leads you to do something that others say is crazy, He will bless you.
Live in the moment and enjoy them.
Give because you can.
Be the new normal.
Go explore.

Whenever I think of the Pascual's I remember the children's song and smile:

Red and yellow, black and white

They are precious in His sight

Jesus loves the little children of the world.

Family at Tybee

A beach trip to the Georgia Coast with Randy's family was a great way to start our summer.  Typically we are headed out west to explore new territory and cooler temperatures, but it was time to put our feet in the sand close to home.  Randy's mom goes to Tybee Island every March to do porcelain art painting. She stays in this amazing house near the Lighthouse on Tybee.  The house sleeps 16, has a private pool, and a beach front that is far from the crowds.  It was lovely, but expensive...but YOLO!

View from the pool

The whole crew!

Girls enjoying the waterfall.

Randy and Aaron took their kayaks to Tybee.  They used them almost everyday.  One day Greg rented paddle boards.  That was amusing to watch! Jackson and Carrie did the best job of staying up on the boards.

Mornings at the beach were my favorite. So peaceful.

On Tuesday we decided to explore Savannah. We started on the riverfront and enjoyed lunch at Spanky's.  

Inside Saint John the Baptist Cathedral

Girls in a Savannah square!

The storm clouds were looming as we walked the squares, and some of our crew (there were 13 of us) decided to go back to Tybee.  The remainder ducked in and out of the showers. We found the square where Tom Hanks sat on the bench and said "life is like a box of chocolates".  

This is where the feather floated down in Forest Gump.

Found this great cookie store (Byrd's) that carries my motto: "may your cookie jar never be empty"!!!

Kate and cousin Lauren enjoying ice cream while we waited  for the rain to stop

Randy and his sister Karen

Our house included constant views of  cargo ships making the journey to and from Savannah.  

Lauren Tillman is a 2007 Berry grad who lives in Savannah and came to visit.

A tradition when you hang out with Uncle Greg is that he loves Krispy Kreme. We into Savannah one night just to get doughnuts.  Greg bought THREE dozen.  I bought one dozen. They were ALL eaten by the next morning.

Cousin Ashley, her friend Samantha and Kate sporting the KK hats!

Yum!

What do you do when it rains at the beach? We watched movies, Duck Dynasty, read books, played lots of Catch Phrase and Phase 10. One day was a complete rain out, so we headed back to Savannah to find a bowling alley.  

Carrie and her great form!

Uncle Greg also enjoys having a low country boil when we go to the beach. 

Aaron enjoying his crawdads!

It was a fun week with the family,  We came home to a new kitchen. The Rawlings returned to North Carolina before moving to Virginia where Greg starts a new job with NATO.