Homecoming on the Hill

My daughter and her husband 

had their 10th year college reunion this weekend.  

They both graduated in May, 2004 from

Trevecca Nazarene University

and were married in August of the same year. 

Trevecca Nazarene University is a beautiful campus 

located in the heart of Music City, USA,

Nashville, Tennessee.

The campus is most beautiful in the Fall.

The campus is expanding with new developments every year. 

The Reed Bell Tower was built and dedicated this year in memory of

Dr. Milliard Reed, President from 1991-2005.

This is another great photo of the trees

and another view of the bell,

The collage shows the magnificence of God's creation.

The friendships made in college are forever.

(That's my girl on the right and her husband behind her.)

Christy was voted Homecoming Queen 2003-2004.

TNU is my son's Alma Mata too.

Elsa and Anna showed up on Saturday morning

for the parade.

It was a fun day for the children of the alumni

with bouncy slides and balloons.

One of the girls who didn't make it for the weekend 

said, "This is the only picture that I wanted to see of Homecoming."

Everyone has been praying for this baby for a long time. 

My baby girl works for Alumni Services.

Needless to say, the weeks before Homecoming 

were stressful.

However, she was able to take some time 

to enjoy the weekend and participate

in the festivities.

Trevecca is not a little no-nothing school.

Wanna know what is fabulous?

The TNU gospel choir sang back up 

for 

CARRIE UNDERWOOD

at the 2014 CMT awards.

How cool is that???

My dad attended Trevecca from 1948-1950 and was

given an honorary Doctorate of Divinity in 2004.

My brother went to school there from 1975-1976.

My sister graduated in 1987 with a BS in Psychology.

Christy graduated in 2004 with a BS in Church Music 

and finished her graduate work in October.  

She will receive her Master's in

Organazational Leadership in May 2015.

Chad graduated in 2007 with a BS in Biology.

He received his Physician's Assistant degree in May 2011.

I never left home, instead I married at 17. 

I had many "what-ifs" in the early years of our marriage.

When I see my children happy, 

I wouldn't change the choices I made for a million dollars. 

Trevecca is now my home away from home.  

Bonnie:)

General Sherman Marches Through GA

This weekend 150 years ago, an event on Washington County's soil changed the course of this town's history.

General William Sherman led 60,000 Union soldiers through Sandersville, Georgia on his way to 

Savannah.  The march led to the freedom of thousands of slaves here.  Those names may have been forgotten had it not been for Mr. Adam Adolphus.

Here is the weekend reenactment of the The North against the South:

Many homes were burned as well as the courthouse.

The Confederate army was out-manned by the Union army.

Mr. Adolphus began to do a little research of his own.  He spent hours digging and looking for anything that may lead him to his family.  He was almost certain to find that some of his ancestors were slaves.  Newspapers recorded 36,000 slaves at that time, many of them being his own ancestors. Mr.  Adolphus found that his Great, great grandmother was once used as collateral for the debt of her master.  She was seized and put in jail until the debt was paid. "Every so often a little bit of information came forward that was hard to accept,  said Mr. Adolphus.  My Great, great grandfather, a white man, impregnated one of the slaves.  I don't know how to take that."

There were 45 African Americans who joined the Confederate Army to fight the Union soldiers.

The Brown House Museum is the headquarters of the Washington County Historical Society. The house was built in 1850. Its appearance today is the result of a Victorian renovation. General Sherman used the house as his Sandersville headquarters during the Civil War. In 1989, the Historical Society took ownership of the house and restored it to its present condition.

(This is my AC man.

I guess now that the war is over, 

he will send the bill for the repairs on my unit.)

The young

the younger,

the older

and the oldest fought in this war.

This is a realistic scene minus the paved roads!

"If your ancestors had a way of life that provided them with good things and all of a sudden, it's gone, that instills bitterness in you, but it's all worth remembering, studying, and passing history down to the next generation," said Mr. Adolphus.

During the reenactment,

Mr. Adolphus read the names of the 

US Colored Troops

from Washington County.

Mr. Simmons is the chairman of 

the local chapter of Am-Vets.

Much of the reenactment was performed 

on the courthouse square.

This young man was one of my teenagers

back in the day.  

The preacher man.

Love the personalities of the soldiers,

and the children.

This is Sarah.

Her mom is the the girl who got married to the AC man.

Their wedding was the first one I featured 

about the Civil War shotgun wedding:)

Washington County housed Confederate and Union 

soldiers through out the weekend.

Look at those nails.  

Bitten down to the quick before the battle was over. 

 I live within walking distance to town.
I was painting outside and I heard
someone yell,
"I can't hear. I can't hear.  He can't hear.  He can't hear."

At first I was like, "What???"
Looking everywhere only to realize that
this is reality TV, reenacted, real live coverage.

Only in small town rural GA will you awaken
to a coon dog baying, a union soldier firing a cannon,
and the sounds of GA football players, band and fans
yelling, "Go Dawgs."

I love the South.
What happened was history.
The community is a divided one in some ways.
The African American's continued to be enslaved though free.
That I am not proud of, however, it is history.
To not acknowledge from where we came,
is to not acknowledge where we are now.

Happy Veteran's Day,

Bonnie:)

Two Sisters, Two Weddings

Two Sisters, Two Weddings

These are two of the sweetest, smartest 

hard-working girls I have ever known.

Both grew up at their grandmother's side

in the kitchen, cooking

in the home of others, giving

in the church, hosting

in the fellowship hall, serving.

Both girls possess a work ethic 

unlike many of their peers.

They both attended college
and work in a serving field.
Kaitlin is a nurse in a long term care facility.
Krystal is a pharmacy technician.

Both girls assist their grandmother,
the bereavement chair person,
with serving lunch for the bereaved family.

Krystal is the chair person
for the bridal and baby shower committee.

Both are caring and giving.

When they were little girls

they looked like twins.

Living in middle rural Georgia,
we're from the country and we like it that way!

This is my favorite shot of 

Krystal and Bradley's engagement pictures

They wanted an outdoor wedding.
Seating for the guests was bales of hay.

The wedding was full of Southern charm.

The jars filled with hydrangeas was my favorite element.

Lace and burlap, two of my favorites too.

The barn was perfect for a backdrop.

Krystal, Bradly and Jackson
will make their home in Tennille, GA.

The theme continued with the cake.



They had a church wedding
with an outdoor reception.

and they left the church riding a tractor.

It was good to see the wedding party having
a good time.

This was NOT part of the wedding festivities,
although, maybe it should have been:)

This two were high school sweethearts
and have stood the test of time.

Kaitlin and Craig make their home
in Washington County, GA.

I love watching our church kids
grow up and start a life together.

This makes me smile.

Bonnie:)