our trip has been wonderful so far. although we complain about the cold weather it's so beautiful. and not really that cold. today it was in the 50's and felt like spring. this is a view that we stumbled upon during a walk around town. the next picture is of andy at fenway. we went to boston yesterday and toured the park. the third picture is from today's sunset. we visited the beach-although it doesn't compare to what we consider "the beach" it still makes for a pretty setting. and finally our snowman! he's just a little guy but he'll suffice. the snow is melting all around because of the warmer temperatures.

photoshop:

so, before we headed north andy and i exchanged gifts at home. andy got me this really neat digital photography book with photoshop helps. the pictures above show what i have learned so far and i'm so excited about it!! i've always wanted to do this and now i can...yay!!!

sidenote: today is Christmas Eve! can you believe it? if you are in florida: tonight Crossroads is hosting their very first Christmas Eve service on their property. hot cocoa and coffee will be served afterwards. it starts at 6:00PM.

Merry Christmas
xoxo:lindsey

MAINE:

well, we made it-without delay! we got in yesterday around 5:30PM and spent the night wrapping presents. today we explored Old Port; we walked the snowy streets, shopped, and ate lunch. we also visited Portland Head Light. enjoy the pictures! we'll post more after Christmas. we hope that you and your family are prepared for a very Merry Christmas!!

December Post

...alright so it's no Christmas Post but here's the latest and greatest!

First of all we hope that everybody is having a wonderful Christmas season. It's been fun for us to decorate the house, go Christmas shopping, and take part in a few special Christmas concerts and performances.

We've been busy, as usual, but it's been fun! I think I'll use pictures to share with all of you what we've been doing.

Dec. 5: We went to the Love Came Down tour, a fabulous Christmas concert with Jars of Clay, Sara Groves, Sixpence None The Richer, and Leeland.

Dec. 7: Puppets Christmas show, outside on a very cold Florida night; followed with cookies and hot cocoa! (Andy was a puppeteer)

Dec. 11: Macy's Holiday Parade at Universal Studios. Andy and I were "balloon handlers"

Dec. 12: Andy and I hosted the Staff and Leadership Christmas Dinner.

Well, this is just a taste of how we're spending the Christmas season we hope that you've enjoyed the update and that you are finding time to remember the real reason for the season!!

Christmas Time Part 1

Almost a week into Christmas and by now you've probably already been bombarded with your fair share of Christmas music. I love Christmas music but come December 26th I'm ready to pack all my "yule tide tunes" up and put them away until next November. If you get a chance though check out the Christmas iMix I made over at iTunes:http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=299372263. Hopefully you can listen to these songs and not want to rip your ears off by the end of the season.

These songs portray the true meaning of the season with the exception of Anberlin's "Baby Please Come Home." I choose to put this song on the mix though because they are my favorite band.

As I was compiling the list I thought how it was funny that even the most of secular bands can understand Christmas, sometimes even more so then those that call themselves Christians. I'm referring to The Dave Matthews Band "Christmas Song." This is probably my most favorite Christmas song. The song nails down the message of the true Christmas Story and also references' Jesus life and ultimately the last supper and his death on the cross. If you have a chance take a moment and listen to this song. I absolutely love it!!!

Even so they've been around since 2006, this year Needtobreathe finally broke out with their hits "Shine" and "Washed by the Water." This Christmas season they released "Go Tell It on the Mountain." This song absoluetly blew me away the first time I've heard it, they truly make this song "their own."

Other songs I've included in the playlist are Jars of Clay, "Love Came Down at Christmas," Emery, "A Way for Santa's Sleigh," The Almost "Little Drummer Boy," and Relient K "I Celebrate the Day."

This Christmas let us know what your listening to or give us some suggestions for us to add to our playlist. -- posted by Andy

quick post!

just to let all of you know that "married life" is wonderful. we're still just as busy as ever and time doesn't stop for anything. andy has been away at coast guard drills all weekend and although he's been gone one weekend a month since we met each other it's different now. it has been a long weekend but he'll be back soon-i hope!! emery's been keeping me good company!! (she's the best cat, ever!!)

we're so thankful for all of the support, love, and encouragement from all of our friends and family. we don't know where we would be without you!! we have so much to look forward to and can't wait for the day that we can joyfully say that we've been married 33, 44, 51, or 62 years!! i know that it's only been three weeks but we'll get there!

...on to other things. we had a great time at disney and it was fun to take a break from being so busy. friday we went to the beach to watch the shuttle launch with some friends! it was so amazing. it was my first time to see a night launch and it's an incredible thing-i'm sad that the shuttle program is coming to an end. our friends little boy is 5 and dreams of being an astronaut at the launch he kept saying "there i go, there i go". it will be sad when he can no longer say that...we wrote nasa a letter, he was so proud of himself!

well, just a quick post to keep you updated on all things us. have a great day!
xoxox:lindsey

Mr. & Mrs. Ellingwood

we'd just like to say THANK YOU to everybody involved in supporting and encouraging us in our journey. yesterday was a beautiful day and we're so thankful for all of you who were there and for those of you who couldn't make it; you were in our thoughts!! enjoy some pictures and we look forward to catching up with all of you and sharing memories!!!

with our love: andy & lindsey

...should i be nervous??

alright, well there's only 4 days between now and our wedding day...4 days!! can you believe it. so many people have asked me if i'm nervous and at this point i don't know if i should be or not. i think things are slowly but surely coming together and thursday and friday are going to be busy days!!!

the weather has been absolutely beautiful around here lately-keep praying for no rain!! there's so much going on around here with work, the wedding, and a fall festifal to look forward too. i don't think that i have any time to be nervous.

so many people have done so much for me and andy in the past year-and for most, longer than that. i just want to say thank you for that. it's amazing to me that we're where we are!! some of you may have thought that i overlooked andy's birhtday, but really i didn't!! here are some pictures to keep you updated on things that we've been up. if you're coming on saturday we'll see you then and if not we covet all of your prayers!! thanks!!

a pretty recent picture of the two of us

finding the perfect pumpkin

andy's birhtday present was a trip to mickey's not so scary halloween party!

3 weeks & counting...

can you believe that it's already here!! i can't but i'm glad it is-long engagements are hard to survive!! andy and i are so excited and can't wiat to be in the company of family and friends on our "special" day...

there's been a bit of excitement leading up to this point but we've made it through nearly everything!!

well i just wanted to do a qick post so i quess this is the end!! we hope all is well-check back soon!!

xoxo:lindsey

Friday, September 12th

hi guys! well it's the end of another week and only six more until "the big day" i can't believe it!! this isn't going to be a great big, long and informative post but just an opportunity to post some fun pictures.

the first one is of the Coast Guard helicopter-now this was a sight-we were on our way to work and drove by a small airport in edgewater, you know the type where there's never any activity, and there it was! so of course we stopped so i could snap a few shots!!

there's an amazing story of survival that goes along with this helicopter: i'm pretty sure it was saturday, a father and his son were fishing off of the jettys and it was nearing the end of the day when the 12 year old fell into the ocean-not just any 12 year old but a sweet boy with autism without any hesitation his dad jumped in after him and the two of them were at sea for a total of 14 hours! the Coast Guard searched throughout the night and this story was brought to a beautiful ending on sunday morning-both father and son survived and seemed to be doing fine.

thank you!

well, with every passing day the wedding is getting closer and closer!!! (i really can't believe it) on friday, august 29th my best friend through a luau themed shower and quite a few people showed up or sent gifts. i had a really great time and got some pretty useful things!! here are some pics of the "party people". thanks to all for everything!! (**not everybody is picutred, but i appreciate everything!!)

tropical storm fay and other updates

hey guys!! well the rain has subsided for the time being and although we weren't in the most severe flooded areas we had our fair share. andy and i went to the beach a few times to see the rough surf and also watch the beach slowly be taken away again. i wasn't able to get some of the best pictures but i tried...

tropical storm fay in new smyrna beach

rain off the coast

andy's "rain gear" to brave the winds and rain

some of the first fruits of the tomato plant

emery braved the storm too

hi!

Hi guys! just a quick update to let you know that I found my cameras battery charger!! yay!! I'm so thankful that I found it.

Now, mind you after I looked high and low and never found it I remembered that I had a small printer that prints 4x6's and that Andy got me a nice little carrying case for it-now if I were thinking I would have put two and two together knowing that I use the printer with my camera and I need the charger for my camera-I'm sure by this point even you figured it out!!

Yep-the charger was in the carrying case!! It is now plugged in, in the office at the house, and I will not unplug it!!

Hmmm, I guess that's all. Pictures will come soon!! Have a great day!

p.s. Andy has active duty Coast Guard drills all week

xoxoxo: lindsey

welcome to august!

Well, I'd like to start this post by wishing Andy's brother-Chris-a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! He's so lucky that he gets to share his day with the Coast Guard! Happy Coast Guard day, too!! Today the time has flown by-I don't know why but all day, even now, it has seemed to be earlier then it is.

We had a good, but busy weekend. Our kitchen is coming along, we've done the "touch up" painting and have picked out light switch/plate covers. We even had our friend Alex install under the cabinet lights! I LOVE them-thanks Alex!!

Saturday Andy played golf with some guys from church-they played in a benefit for Halifax Urban Ministries which is a local food pantry that helps those in need. They offer food services and also help in other ways with rent and utilities bills. Their team ended the day 4 under par. We (some people from church) thought that we were going to be helping out at a workday-however, that didn't work out-we were given the wrong date. I was still watching my friends dog though so I was able to go take care of him, and do some other errands. Saturday night our really good friends, Alex and Somer and their kids-Austin, Adem, and Bayleigh-came over for dinner! They brought Wii and we had a good time!!

Sunday was Sunday and service was great.

I can't believe that it's already August!! There's so much to do in terms of planning a wedding, however, things are coming together and October will be here in no time.

***notice I don't have any pictures to share of the past weeks events-it's due to my lack of locating my cameras battery charger. I'm deeply saddened and wish it would resurface. I love taking pictures and don't enjoy having a camera with a dead battery.

weekend update

This weekend was pretty typical of other weekends. Friday was exciting because we had a meeting to discuss the upcoming Green Fair at Riverside Park at which I'm in "charge" of the Kids Area-we're going to have a lot of fun!! and Andy is helping/leading the daily ramblings of the churches booth it's going to be a busy weekend in September but it'll be worth it!! Saturday we went to a baseball card show and I'm sure you can only imagine how fun that was!! Andy got some good cards for a good price and we even snagged a few Mike Lowell's-he's my favorite Red Sox player-formally on the Florida Marlins. I went to a friends baby shower and had great girl fun! Later that night I recieved a HUGE blessing in regards to my wedding flowers. I praise God for always meeting needs and providing the best of people in my life!! Sunday was good as well. We had a good church service and headed home to finish painting!! Needless to say the Red Sox didn't have their best run against the Yankee's but it was good that Big Papi was back-he even hit a home run in Sunday nights game!!

**Andy says he's glad we can watch baseball together! (I am too!)

emery likes the red sox too! she especially loves playing with the stuffed animal andy's mom sent from boston

the new color of our kitchen walls-i think the picture makes it a little brighter then what it really is-but we like it!

Red Sox vs. Yankees weekend

This weekend is sure to be a busy one again.

The most important thing will be watching the Red Sox and Yankees play or as I call them the Stinkies (ha ha get it!!!). Big Pappi will be playing again after being injured for a few weeks. The Yankees are catching up to the Red Sox and Rays in the standings. Anyway the Red Sox better win and you can guarantee I'll be watching every game this weekend

Me and Lindsey also finally bought some paint so we'll be painting the kitchen. Lindsey has a baby shower to attend on Saturday and I want to check out a baseball card show in Ormond Beach. Then Sunday we have church and we'll probably finish up painting the kitchen. We hope that you have a good weekend.

invitations are sealed, stamped, and sent!!!

i hope that you all get an invitation! it's a huge relief that they are finally finished! i can't wait to start to recieve R.S.V.P.'s not to much longer but oh, so much more planning and preperation!

have a great week!!

xoxoxo:lindsey

...this weekend

hi guys:

just a quick post to let you know that we are doing well and all the invitations are printed!! yay!! most envelopes are addressed and i simply need to head to the post office!

i also need to find a job that will help save some more money!!

andy has coast guard drills today and tomorrow and today i'm going to spend the day with some really good friends!! and i hope that you have a great weekend!!

xoxox: lindsey

JULY 11, 2008

today is a fun day and offers two great freebies!!

1. dress as a cow for cow appreciation day and head over to chick-fil-a for a free meal!

2. the other is in honor of it being 7-11: go to a participating 7-11 and receive a free slurpee!!

take advantage and have fun!! talk to you guys later!

xoxox:lindsey

beach fun!

BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.


i truly don't know where i would be without a best friend like Lan. she's such an amazing person and has a couple of really great kids too!! one day last week we were able to go to the beach and here are some pics of her cute kiddos! there were jellyfish at the beach: non-stinging jellyfish so we collected a bucket full!!

emery's tricks!

alright-well as you know-i love my cat. i thought it would be fun to post a video of her playing; keep in mind this is calm compared to normal. emery is a great cat. enjoy her video and have a great day!!

xoxox:lindsey

Happy 4th of July!

the flag has a special meaning for each and every one of us: no matter what when we see old glory we are reminded of our many many freedoms.

jesus offers us the ultimate freedom through his own life given up on the cross but today we'd like to reflect on the lives of those given to provide freedom for our country.

with so much focus on our military and their service to this wonderfully free country-andy and i just wanted to wish all of you a very safe and happy 4th of july! we are thankful for the freedoms that we have!

we will be spending our day at a community event: providing games and activities for children and handing out information about the church. and this evening we're headed to a friends for a bbq!! i made a strawberry pie and hope that it will be tasty!

reaping what you sow

andys interest has grown in "going green" and now that it's summer he's been talking about how when he was a kid his family had a garden and they would pick and eat veggies right out of the ground-or off the plant it was growing on. needless to say we went to home depot and picked up some plants of our own. tomatoes and basil! unfortunately in florida the soil isn't has good as other places around the country-so with our plants we had to get pots and everything that goes along with gardening: now i'm not saying that we've perfected this gardening idea but man have our plants grown! the basil has nearly tripled in size, we've been able to eat it and freeze it! the tomatoes aren't ready-but you can still see the growth.

it's pretty neat to actually be a part of physical sowing however, the bible talks of the fields being ripe and that you will reap what you sow i continue to pray that we can see the effects of our spiritual "sowing" i'm so thankful for those who have invested their time and energy into my life and andy's: that they've passed the joy of "sowing" on. sometimes, especially lately it feels like we are hardly reaping but i know that God receives all of the glory for the seeds that we have planted in the lives of those around us. we may only see slight growth-as with the tomatoes-but with time comes the fruit(or the veggie)!

that's the day that i look forward to-the day that a child accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, or the day that teenager engages in service for a purpose (and not five or ten bucks) God has put us here to be a living branch-one that bares much fruit. the challenge now is to bare good fruit. 

andy and i will continue with our garden-both physically and spiritually. we pray that you can too!

  

p.s. if you have any tips or ideas on ways that we can "go green" feel free to let us know! thanks!

f.y.i.

just wanted to let any and everyone know that Jesus loves you with an unconditional, never ending, love that nobody else can love you with. it doesn't matter who you are, where you've been, or what you've done-accept his love and let it transform your heart!

xoxox
lindsey

change

well here we are-the middle of the year already! i feel like my posts have gotten a bit boring and if you don't know what's happening in the pictures then what's the point-however i still love pictures and will probably continue to post them. some things never change; but others don't exist without it. some things that have not changed around here: the weather, our wedding date, sundays, and so much more!

the one change in my life recently-that is extremely noticeable-is result of the "state system". as many of you know i work at a foster home and one of the kids there held and will continue to hold a special place in my heart-you've seen alisa in previous posts and now she's in new jersey we had a great time getting to know one another and growing in our relationships with Jesus: God is so amazing and i can't believe how far alisa came-from saying that God is mean and that she struggled with "creation" to writing out her prayer requests and wanting to volunteer everywhere at church. alisa truly cares about people and i'm going to miss her oh so much. please keep her in your prayers. she's still growing and i pray that she continues to seek God's will for her life and regardless of what happens i hope she can see Him working.

i'm sure that there are millions of other changes but this is the one that stands out tonight. thanks for reading my ramblings.

xoxox

lindsey

the month of may-in pictures!! (part 2)

alisa and i participated in a 5k walk for peace

our shirts said: "peace a good idea in every language"

lincoln brewster put on an amazing worship concert

a great memorial day service!

and a fun night of fondu and friends!

we ended the month of may with a trip to the mountains in north carolina. mom, andy, ryan, riley, and i had a wonderful time. all of the sights and sounds were incredible. i'll post pictures in a new post. we hope that you and your family had a great month of may and that the summer is a time of growth and reflection. i will continue to plan my wedding for the next four months. thanks for checking in!!

xoxoxo

lindsey