Stupid Boy!

*Disclaimer - this blog is just a bunch of rambling thoughts today and it's kind of long. :-) Sorry to bore you.

Is Thanksgiving really tomorrow? I can't believe that it is already here. Where has this year gone? But I'm excited about his holiday season. It's one of my favorite times of the year. Last night our church along with three other FWB churches in Nashville got together for a combined Thanksgiving service. It was our year to host it and it went really well. It felt like just a regular Sunday evening service and then of course we had a fellowship afterwards. You can't have a FWB function without eating. It was so good. I had a good time spending time with some of my friends from church that I haven't been able to just sit and talk with in awhile.

We still haven't heard anything yet from mom's test results. They said it could be today but it will probably be Friday or Monday so we are expecting Monday. My mom's not thrilled about going through Thanksgiving not knowing but I think she will be too busy to really think about it. Since my brother and his family are coming up mom will have her hands full with my niece and nephew. I might be cooking the turkey this year. I'm not sure. Since mom's not sore at all from the biopsy she may go ahead and do it but I might actually take a crack at it...with my mother's supervision of course. We usually split up the cooking between her, my sister (in law) and myself. We usually make two dishes a piece. Jenny makes the best stuffing and the best sweet potato casserole. I know it's the best because I'll eat it. I hate sweet potatoes and her casserole is the only one that I'll eat. I don't know what she does to that stuffing but man it's so good! I'm making my famous layered salad. It's really good if I say so myself. I have a cousin who will take the entire dish and eat it as a meal so we usually have to make two but he's not coming so I'm only making one. I also make the green bean casserole. I'm not really sure why I make that every year but I do. I think it's because I've been making that since grade school because it's the easiest dish to make...but it is oh so good. I usually make both those the night before. The casserole tastes better if you make it up and refrigerate it over night...let those ingredients gel together. The salad has to be refrigerated for 8 hours so I always make that the night before. That's fine because mom and Jenny always make theirs on the day we eat so I stay out of their way and let them do all the work. I'm not sure what my mom is making. But I know it will be good. My mom's a really good cook. Last year my parents and I went to Gatlinburg for Thanksgiving so we didn't have our usual meal which was weird but it was nice to not have to do anything. I think we are going back next year unless I miraculously get married before then. Chad and Jenny will be with her family so it will just be the three of us.

Why can the male gender be so stupid sometimes? They say that they have a hard time figuring women out...I can't figure them out sometimes. Maybe it's just me. But they can be just as moody and fickle as women. They start stuff and do things and then...BAM!...they just totally do something in the opposite direction! So frustrating. That's all I really have to say about it but just to say that they are so weird and I just can't figure them out sometimes and it just hurts my heart at times. I was talking to my sister (in law) yesterday about it and I asked her why is it so hard for me? It seems so easy for everyone else to find someone but not me. I know that I'm not the prettiest, smartest, thinnest, or most talented person out there but I do feel like I have something to offer someone if they would just stop and get to know me. What really bothers me is when I see couples fuss and fight and call each other names constantly. I would never do that. I would never treat my husband the way I see some wives treat their husbands. At least I would hope I wouldn't be that way. But you see couples like and wonder how God allows that when I would think I wouldn't be that way. Its very frustrating. OH...and on Facebook I had put as my status once that I wish God and I were on the same timetable. And some idiot man said..."I guess you better change your timetable...I doubt His is going to." Well, duh!! I know that! I was just venting my frustration at the moment about something and I didn't need someone pointing that out to me. I'm very well aware of how God works on those things thank you very much! Whew..that felt good. I've been holding that one in. I'm off my soapbox now.

Dancing with the Stars ended last night and I wasn't surprised with who won. I knew that Brooke and Derek would win from the first week. She was the best dancer from start to finish. I was surprised that Lance and Lacey came in third. They were very good from the beginning and he got better every week. I wasn't too impressed with the cast this year so I'm actually glad it's over. I just wish that we didn't have to wait until next fall for it to come back on. Since they are going on tour soon they can't come back in January or February which stinks. Now I have nothing to watch on Monday nights. Oh well. I'm sure I'll find something to do with my time.

I'm so sorry for those of you who stayed to the end to read this blog. It was incredibly boring even for me as I typed it. I hope that everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving and eat lots of turkey. My favorite is going back later on that night and eating leftovers. I was watching FRIENDS last night and they were doing an episode about Ross getting upset that someone at work ate his leftover Thanksgiving sandwich. He said that it has a moist maker in it which he described it as in the middle of the turkey sandwich there is a slice of bread soaked in gravy. That sounded so yummy. Maybe I should try that.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

God is so Good!

Wouldn't you know that since I was so impatient last Monday about using the Karen Carpenter song Rainy Days and Mondays that today it's raining!! So in honor of that I decided to play the song on my blog. So enjoy. I love Karen Carpenter. She had a range on her. I wish so badly that I had a smooth voice like hers. I'm an alto singer like she was but my voice is not anywhere near as smooth as hers nor do I have the range like her. I try though. In our Christmas cantata this year I have a solo and it's at the top of my range and of course during practice last night it cracked in one spot. It's really too high for me but there is no one else to really sing it. It's a beautiful song with so much meaning and truth to it and I hate that I could mess it up by allowing my voice to get shaky and crack. I so wish that I had more musicality in me but again that all went to my brother. :-( But anyway, I'm just going to keep pushing and stretching my voice that when the day of the cantata comes I will be able to get through it without any problems.

Today was my mom's biopsy. I'm so glad it's over and I know that my mom is glad it's over. We have to now wait for the results. I'm confident that it's nothing. It was a calcification that they found which is usually benign but it could be cancer so there is still that little bit of fear when you just don't know the unknown. But I'm trusting the Lord will take care of my mom and all us not just in the circumstance but everyday in every situation. God is so good!

The whole process of getting a biopsy was a little nerve-wrecking and if I was feeling the nerves it hit my mom a hundred times worse. First the hospital called on Friday to say that her appointment would be on Monday at 8am and that a nurse would be calling to give her instructions and tell her where to go. Well a nurse never called her so on Saturday my mom called her doctor's answering service and they said that a doctor would call her with instructions. Well some random doctor from another hospital called her and asked her what she needed and he said he didn't know where they went to have biopsies but he thought it was at this certain place (which he turned out to be right). So of course, my mother is getting even more nervous and anxious because she's afraid that they didn't even have her down for the appointment. So this morning at 6:30am my dad called her doctor's office again and they finally paged her real doctor and he called dad and told them where to go. So after winding our way through the hospital we found the right office. They take us back to this teeny tiny waiting room and they finally call mom who they did have scheduled for today. They told me and dad that it could be almost one and half hours before she was done but it was closer to two hours. Then while we are sitting there you hear a constant noise of door clanking shut. That is the most annoying sound ever. They clank when they open and they clank when they shut. They were clanking the whole time we were sitting there that it was making me nervous and I wasn't ever nervous about the whole situation up to that point. If there was suggestion box in the waiting room I would surely have said something about the incessant noise!But the good news is they were able to remove the entire cluster. Mom's feeling pretty good now. I'm sure that after the numbness wears off she will be sore but she's feels good. I think her nerves have just calmed down. They told us that we might know Wednesday but it will probably be Friday or at the latest Monday. I hope so. I know my mom is ready for this whole thing to be put behind her so she can concentrate on the holidays.

Tonight I have a thing to go to. I'm excited about spending some time with my friends and just relaxing and having fun. This is going to be a busy week but it will be short work week which I'm so thankful for. We are spending Thanksgiving at my parent's house this year. My brother and his family are coming up for it so it will be nice to have a few days with them where me or my sister in law doesn't have to get up and go to work.

Please keep praying for my mom as we wait for the tests results to come in. Hope you all are having a fabulous Monday.

Beat It!

Yesterday I asked you to pray for an unspoken request. It was for my mom. Something showed up on my mother's mammogram and now she has to have a biopsy. They said that there are black specks and they have formed a cluster but she doesn't feel any lumps or is in any pain. So I am very confident and hopeful that this is nothing but of course your mind does drift off to the "what ifs". You can't help it sometimes.

Six years ago my grandmother passed away from breast cancer. There were so many circumstances surrounding that situation. She was in a Podunk town with a Podunk doctor who was treating her for other things and telling her it was in heard so by the time she got to a real doctor the cancer was too far gone that there was nothing they could do for her. But of course since that was the cause of her death you tend to be a little worried when you are put in that situation so I don't blame my mother at all for being a little concerned over this. But we know that God is in control and that we are placing this situation in His hands. Mom and I didn't go to church last night for a couple of reasons. Dad told the church last night so they could pray. I'm praying that when she goes in for the biopsy that the cluster is gone. I believe my church will be praying for that as well. My church has serious clout with the Lord. We've had several people in our get cancer and every one of them has beat it. Everyone of them is cancer free now. Two women had breast cancer and one man had leukemia. Every time our church prays for healing the Lord heals. So I'm confident that will turn out to be nothing at all and even if it does turn out to be something I know that Lord is with us and He will take care of my mom and all of us. So continue to pray for my mom and that she will have peace with this.

Last night, I stayed home with mom from church so I baked snickerdoodle cookies and we watched the movie August Rush that was playing on TV. It was a pretty good movie. The ending was good and predictable but I felt like it could have gone on for a little while longer. It just sorted ended but it was still good. If you love music you will like this movie. It makes me wish I had never stopped taking piano lessons. I wish I was more musically talented than what I am. I don't play any instruments. I do sing occasionally which I enjoy when my throat isn't cracking and my knees aren't knocking together. You would think after years of singing in front of people that I wouldn't get nervous but I do...every time.

My brother is coming in to town today. He and my dad got tickets to the Illinois vs. Vanderbilt basketball game tonight so it will be nice to see him for a few minutes. I wish he would be my niece and nephew with him but I don't think he is able to. I'll get to see them next week during Thanksgiving though.

I've got a busy day today at work so I guess I better get started.

Prayer

My heart is burdened today. All I ask today is that you pray for this very special unspoken request. I know it's frustrating when people ask you to pray for unspoken requests but sometimes those are the most needed.

So the only thing for my post today is that you please take this matter on my heart to the Lord.

I miss Mayberry...sitting on the porch drinking ice-cold cherry coke..

Yesterday I didn't make it to work. I got up and got ready but I had another one of my dizzy spells so I ended up staying home. These put me out for an entire day. It comes with a migraine and nausea. It's not fun and when they come on, I'm completely useless. So I've accepted that I just have to stay home and lay in bed or on the couch when they come on. They don't come on very often but when they do it's bad.

But on the bright side it was nice to stay at home the entire day and not do a thing. I don't remember the last time that happened. So I pretty much spent the day watching TV and doing a few loads of laundry. I didn't spend my time watching Maury or the courtroom judging shows. Those are so pointless and a waste of good TV time. I did watch Little House of the Prairie though. :) I had not seen that show in forever. Stupid thing still makes me cry but you can't help it when they are on there bawling like babies. I have a rule anyway that when you cry in my presence I cry along with you. Apparently that applies to people crying on TV as well.

The other night I had DVR'd some GAC shows that they were doing on Brad Paisley. Just to remind everyone that I'm a HUGE Brad Paisley fan. Anyway, they were showing a behind the scenes of the making of his video Waiting on a Woman. Have you seen it? It's so sweet. First of all Brad Paisley seems to be one of the most humble and nicest guy around. His songs are so good and funny and his videos are so great. They are filled with humor. Secondly, he had Andy Griffith in the video. I've heard horror stories of Andy Griffith but after seeing him behind the scenes I don't know if they are true. He was so sweet, cute and funny and he seemed truly appreciative that he was asked to be in the video. You can watch the video here if you haven't seen it. After watching the special it made me want to watch The Andy Griffith Show so I was able to catch a few episodes yesterday. After all these years it is still a good show. It's still so funny. I love it. It's a good show to base how you want to raise your children on. But it made me feel so nostalgic. Does that happen to you? I miss the more simple slow paced life that we used to live. Everyone is always in a hurry and needing to be here and there for this reason or another. People also seemed much happier and less selfish back then they are these days. That's not to say that people aren't happy these days but life just seemed easier and more peaceful back in the days of Mayberry. So yesterday was just that for me. It was very peaceful even though I was dizzy and had a bad headache. I laid around watching TV and reading a book. It couldn't have gotten any better than that.

As far as I know my week will be fairly slow and uneventful which is fine with me. I've been so busy the past few months and I know in the next month things will get pretty crazy so I'm going to enjoy the boringness in my life right now. Can you believe that Thanksgiving is next week!! That is mind blowing. Where did this year go? It is so true what they say about the older you get the faster it goes. It seems like we just started 2008 and now we are almost in 2009. My niece will be 3 my nephew will be 1 my brother will be 33 I will be 32 and my sister (in law) will turn 30!! I remember when I was you how people in their 30's seemed so old but that sure isn't the case now! I feel like I'm 12 most times! :) Oh well, I'm still going to embrace it and enjoy it.

Hope every one's day is fantastic!

Hold Me Close Tony Danza!!

So I'm listening to pandora.com and I'm listening to the country station I created and they are playing Tiny Dancer by Tim McGraw. Was it Elton John that originally sang it? I can't remember but what's funny is that I used to think that the phrase was "Hold me close, Tony Danza." I used to think why do they want Tony Danza to hold him close? If it's Elton John I understand. :) But I used to think that was so crazy. I mean Tony Danza was the greatest on Who's The Boss? and he was a looker. Who didn't have a crush on him?! But I just realized in the past year or two that they are saying tiny dancer and not Tony Danza. My bad! :)

Do you ever do that? Do you ever sing a song and you make up words because you didn't know the real words? There's a scene in 27 Dresses where they did that. It was so funny. Ahh James Marsden. He's so dreamy!

I am so glad it's Friday! I'm sure everyone is saying that today. It's been a long slow day for me. There is no one up front with me today so it's a little boring. Well, it's boring in between all the phone calls. I've been answering all the toll free calls today and they have been ringing off the hook! We just had a mailing go out this week to everyone on our mailing list and there have been so many people requesting to be taken off the list. That doesn't matter to me. What matters is how rude half these people are being! It's ridiculous. I didn't put them on the list and I don't know that your Uncle Bubba passed away back in 1989 if you don't call and tell us! This why I'm not in customer service full time. I get too aggravated with rude people. I don't answer this line much. The girl that normally answers it is on vacation today so I've been doing it and I will gladly hand it back over when she gets back! It's wearing me out.

Tonight I'm going to Panera Bread for dinner and then I'm going to go watch Eagle Eye at the theatre. I love Panera Bread. They have the best soup in a bread bowl! I was so happy to see one go up fairly close to my house. That was one thing I missed when I moved to Nashville so many years ago. They didn't have Panera here so when they put one in last year I was stoked!! Eagle Eye is another movie that I recommend. I saw a few weeks ago but the people I'm going out with tonight haven't seen it so I'm going again. That is fine with me. It was so good!! It PG-13 so it has a few words but not many at all and it's really clean. It's not bloody or too gory from what I can remember. It's a really good action movie.

Tomorrow we have a Nursery Seminar at the church for everyone who works in the Nursery. Carol Reid from FWBBC is the speaker so it should be pretty good. We are trying really hard to get all our classes at church top notch and I hear she has really good ideas on how to make the Nursery more of a teaching center than just a babysitting service. It should be interesting and there's a lunch afterwards. You know there has to be food for any church function. I think it's part of the covenant.

Have a great weekend!

Money, Money, Money.....MONEY!!

Today is a pretty dreary day here in Nashville but I love it. The sun has peeked out a few times today but not much but this is a perfect fall day. I actually find it quite romantic and peaceful.

Tuesday night I went to a fish fry at the church and it turned out so well. We made almost $500 and we had a huge turnout. I was so excited about that. I believe that we are half way to our goal. Like I said before the Ladies Prayer Group at church is raising money for some video equipment for the church and this fish fry was to help with that and it was a huge success! We didn't charge a certain amount for a plate but asked for an offering that we put at the front of the buffet table. It worked tremendously! I highly recommend asking for an offering instead of charging a certain amount. People are so much more giving than you realize...or maybe it's just my church. They have such a giving heart. They give for everything. Any time that there is a need a church they don't hesitate in giving money where needed. They just give.

Last night after church I went home and watched the CMA Awards that I DVR'd. I didn't realized that there was so much singing but it seemed like every country star got up and sang. I love Taylor Swift's number and Kellie Pickler's as well. I really loved Brad Paisley and Keith Urbans's duet that started out the show. Those two fantastic guitarists! I could have listened to that all night. I was excited to see Brad Paisley co-host the show. I always thought he was hilarious! If you ever see his videos or listen to his music there is quite a bit of humor in them. I thought it was so cute when he won his category that he went down into the crowd and hugged and kissed his wife's belly. She's pregnant and I thought that was so sweet. You could hear the whole crowd go, "Awwwwwe!" It was a pretty decent award show. It wasn't ever boring or draggy like I thought the Emmy's were this year!

I had lunch today with my mom at Logan's Roadhouse. That is very rare when it's just the two of us going out to eat. We had a good time. We mainly talked about Christmas and Thanksgiving plans and the CMA Awards. I actually couldn't believe that she watched it. She loves Brad Paisley (who doesn't?). She has become a pretty big fan lately. I should take her to the CMA Fest one night next year....what do you say, Tammy, want to try and take her with us next year? Of course we will have to try and get on the lower level or else she can't go. My mom is afraid of heights. I remember for Christmas or her birthday or Mother's Day I got her, dad and myself tickets to go see "Annie" at TPAC. I got tickets on the tier level and it was high and she didn't really enjoy it at all because we were sitting so high she was getting sick. I was okay with the seats but then again, I don't have the fear of heights like she does. I made up for it when I got us tickets to go see "12 Angry Men" as another gift for some occasion that I can't remember. I think this one was Mother's Day. John Boy from the Waltons was starring in it along with some guy from Knots Landing so I knew she wanted to go see it. I was able to get tickets on the Orchestra Level and we were able to get pretty close so I know she enjoyed it. I enjoyed it also. It was a really good play. I recommend people go see it if they get the chance.

So tonight I don't have much to do except for a bit of laundry. I'm always bad about waiting until I have nothing left to wear and so I have like 4 loads to do in one night and since I run everything through the dryer at least 2 or 3 times before it dries, I'm up really late on these nights. But Survivor and The Office is on tonight so at least I'll be happy. I do have some friends coming over tonight to watch The Office with me. They love it as much as I do and it's more fun watching with people so you don't feel like an idiot laughing to yourself. But you can't help it. Steve Carell is so funny but I actually don't like his character that much because he's so annoying. My favorite has to be Dwight. He's so weird that he's hilarious. So I'm looking forward to tonight.

Have a great night!

Wax On...Wax Off

I was reading on etonline.com today and read where Will Smith's son, Jaden, is going to star in a remake of The Karate Kid. It said that it will be filmed and set in Beijing but it will have the same plot...where a kid gets picked on by a bully and he learns to stand up for himself through karate by a quirky instructor. I'm not sure how I feel about this. For one, no one can replace Ralph Macchio. I had such a huge crush on him. He was the cutest! He was also like ten years older than the part he was playing (that's like all the people in Grease. They were all in their 20's and some in their 30's playing 17 and 18 years old Did Hollywood not think people would notice?). He has such a baby face so he was able to pull it off. But do they really need to remake The Karate Kid? I loved this movie and I still do. I own all three on DVD actually. Also, no one can replace Pat Morita who played Mr. Miyagi. I'm sure they aren't trying to replace these people but do we really need a remake of an 80's movie? It's only been 20 years since these movies were made. It's not time yet. Is Hollywood really running out of ideas so much that they have to keep making remakes? Please! I have nothing against Jaden Smith...he's a great child actor but I just don't think I want to see a remake of this movie. But when it comes out I probably will see it just to compare. Isn't that bad? How do you feel about this remake or any remakes in general? Does anyone care?

Oh also, did you know that the biggest bully in there, Johnny, is a born again Christian in real life and he's a youth pastor in a church in Texas I believe. At least the last time I heard that was what he was doing. He may be doing something else but I thought that was very interesting.

Last night I said I had a meeting to take care of and I asked for prayer. Well, I sure felt the prayers because the meeting went a lot better than I thought and the Lord was glorified in it and things were left on a good note so I'm so thankful for that. It was a dark time in my life and now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and things will be much better so thank you to all who have been praying for me. It has been such a comfort.

Later last night I got together with my Bunco friends. We had a great time. In addition to playing Bunco we had to bring a Christmas ornament because we threw an ornament shower for one of the girls who is getting married in two weeks. It was an interesting idea. I had never thought of that but I can understand that. When you first start out you don't have anything nor do you have the money for it. I keep thinking of myself and how I have Christmas decorations for my house but I have nothing for my tree. I have a hand-me-down pre-lit tree so that may be all I do this year and after Christmas buy some things on sale. That sounds depressing doesn't it? LOL! I would love to decorate my tree in red, silver and gold. Just the classic Christmas colors. I also love Santa Claus. I have so many that I have collected over the years but I can't stop. It's an addiction. Can you believe I'm talking about Christmas and it's not even Thanksgiving. I'll stop now and wait until after Thanksgiving.

Tonight I'm headed to the church for a fish fry. It's a fundraiser our Master's Men group is having. The Ladies Prayer Group is trying to raise money for video equipment to live stream our services to the nursery. We were having a hard time raising the money so I asked the Master's Men if they would mind helping us and they fully agreed so this is their first attempt at raising money which I think is going to turn out great! I can't wait to see how it goes. I just hope they have chicken since I hate seafood of any kind. I just can't eat fish. I've tried I can't stomach it. Which is a shame because it does look good and everyone seems to enjoy eating it. Oh well, I'm fine with my chicken. :)

Have a great night and go back and watch The Karate Kid!! So fantastic!

Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down

That's not really true. It's not even raining here in Nashville but I've wanted to use that title for so long and was very impatient for a rainy Monday. :) I bet it rains next Monday. I had a really good weekend. Or I at least had parts of a good weekend.

Friday afternoon was an extremely hard time for me and one that I really don't ever want to relive. Ever feel like you get beaten down and there is no way of escaping? Something happened to me on Friday in a very cowardly way and now today at 5pm I have to deal with it. It won't be very pretty but it is necessary. So please pray for me that the Lord will guide me and help me to have the right words to say and just pray for His guidance in this meeting today in that it will go in the way that He wants and that these issue will be resolved to His glory. I hate moments like this but like I said, it's necessary. It's been a long time coming and I'm glad that it's finally here but will be so happy when it's over.

With that sometimes, it absolutely stinks to be in a pastor's family. Now don't get me wrong, I love my family and I'm so happy to be in the family that I have. I wouldn't change it for anything. I've seen the Lord do unbelievable things that I don't think I would have if I were anywhere else. I always said growing up that I would under no circumstances marry a preacher but really that isn't true. I probably would. It's all I've ever known and even though it's a very lonely life I would accept it whole-heartedly but with that everything you say and do is scrutinized. This isn't new to me. I've dealt with it my whole life but as an adult you don't think you have to deal with people's pettiness and immaturity but I do. I know that I have my faults and I'm not perfect by no means and there are always things to work on but in honesty so does everyone else. I don't need it brought up to me in a very cowardly way.

But with the bad part of my weekend I had some really fun times. Saturday a friend and I went to the Nashville Zoo. This was only my second time to go and it was my friend's first time. We had a fantastic time. She was so excited to see the elephants and giraffes. I was so glad I got to share this experience with her. The zoo even though is very small and no where near as good as if you went to a larger city's zoo, is still a really good zoo. They have a wide variety of animals. I could have done without the snakes and spiders though. It was a chilly day but it wasn't bad at all. It took about three hours to see everything. It was a good day. We had a great day at church yesterday. Dad preached an amazing sermon on salvation but it was geared towards the Christians as well and it hit the nail on the head with his points. It was wonderful. Then we took some college girls out to IHop. Now I love IHop. I love their pancakes but we had the worst service I have ever seen. You would think that they were slammed with people when it was just our table of seven and one other table of two in the entire place. It was crazy and my pancakes weren't as good as they looked in the picture. :( That always happens though. The pictures are so enticing but when you get it, first of all, they never look like the picture on the menu and then second of all they don't taste near as good as it looks. I'm a caramel (carmel) nut. I love caramel. The pancakes I ordered had caramel for a topping and when I got my pancakes I asked where the caramel sauce was and they said they ran out! I was so disappointed. The pancakes weren't near as good probably. I so looking forward to the caramel sauce. Maybe next time.

Tonight I have this "meeting" to deal with and then I have Bunco tonight. I'm not really in the mood for Bunco tonight but I made a commitment to it. I'd rather stay at home and watch Dancing with the Stars. It's finally a real competition now that Cloris Leachman and Susan Lucci are gone. I'm such a homebody it isn't funny. I like being around people but I also love being at home curled up on my couch drinking hot chocolate reading a good book or watching a good TV program or movie. Anyone with me on that?

Hope your Monday is spectacular!

Dream A Little Dream With Me

It is a beautiful day here in Nashville. The weather couldn't be any nicer. It's actually a soothing balm on my soul today. I've been struggling so much lately with certain issues that it helps to look outside my office window and see the sunshine and the beautiful trees. I believe we are in our fall peak season and it's just gorgeous everywhere I look. It makes me wish that I was in the mountains or taking a walk on a trail somewhere. I love days like these.

Like I've mentioned before I've been struggling lately to where I almost feel like I've fallen in a hole and I can't claw and climb my way out of it. I'm determined to lean on the Lord and I know that with His strength I can get through it. I know changes have to be made within myself and I need to find the person that I once was. I know that will all start with the Lord. I had a long talk with my sister in law last night. I love talking to her. She always has great advice and she listens to what I have to say but she always will put me in my place if I need and makes me see reason. I know she loves and I can't imagine her not in my life even though she makes fun of my northern accent and words. I still love her redneck heart. But as long as I know I've got people who genuine love me and pray for me I know that I will overcome these struggles and be the person that the Lord wants me to be. Please keep praying for me.

Thursdays have become one of my favorite days. I don't really know why but it has. I think because it's one of the few nights a week I get to myself. I was supposed to go out with a friend tonight but I think those have been cancelled so it will be a quiet evening at home. That's fine. I need to catch up on some laundry and do some light housekeeping. My parents are out of town so I'm having to go by their house and let the dog out and make sure he's eating. So after work I'll be doing that and I was thinking of stopping by Wal-Mart to look at some fabric and wallpaper. I'm trying to come up with creative ideas to decorate my apartment. I'm doing my kitchen and dining room in the Tuscan yellow, reds, and green colors. I love those colors. I think they are so soothing. Anyway, a lady who attends my church is a fabulous decorator. Her home could be in a magazine it's so beautiful. Well, she had these plates hanging on her wall that I loved and they were the colors I was using. She had gotten for like $1 each in AL and she offered to pick me up some the next time she went down there. So she got them and I hung them up in my dining room but the plates get lost on wall. The plates are white with a decorative picture on them and since my walls are white as well they don't look the best hanging there. So I'm going to try and find some wallpaper or fabric and cut out a piece and then hang it on the wall and frame it with a black wooden frame and hang the plates in the middle. It sounds like it might work but I won't know until I actually hang it up. So I'll keep you posted and maybe post a picture of it and let you tell me how it looks.

Survivor and The Office are on tonight so I'll have an enjoyable evening. I also just started a new book. It's actually the third book in a series. They are older but I've never read them before. It's by Beverly Lewis and it is a story about this Amish family. It took me awhile to get into them but they are interesting. I'm just buying my time until Karen Kingsbury's new book comes out on November 11. If you have ever read anything by her you might remember her 9/11 series. There are only two books in that series but she decided to write a third so it comes out next. I'm excited. That was a great series and I'm glad she's expanding it. When read this series it brings back all the emotions you had on that horrific day but the read is so worth it. She's an unbelievable writer and I can only dream about telling stories the way she does. That is the biggest dream I have (besides a husband and a family)...to be able to write to where I can support myself. I would love to write a story where you can absolutely get lost in and imagine yourself there in that moment. It's because of Karen Kingsbury's book about the Baxters that I want to live in a house out in the country with a huge pond where my kids can catch frogs and fish and walking trails where I can get lost with my husband talking our day and our future together. *Sigh* Maybe someday. But until then I will keep up with the little writing I do and pray that my dream will come true. I'm determined to write full time some day. I would like to start out writing for magazines and also try to conjure up an idea for a good story to tell people someday.

What is your dream? Are you living out your dream today? If not, what are you doing to try and make your dream come true?

From Sea to Shining Sea

Well, the elections are done and over and I'm so glad that they are. I have never been so sick of seeing political ads and morning talk shows filled with politics as I have been this year. The media was so biased this year and I thought it was just unfair. I'm not one to really understand everything there is to know about politics but I did keep up with everything the best I could this time around. I'm disappointed of course in the outcome. I think America got it wrong with whom they chose but now there isn't anything we can do about it. I am worried and concerned now with where our country will be headed but all we can do is give it to God. He knows truly what is best for all of us and all we can do now is pray that He will guide our new leader. I know that there are such strong opinions on our new president-elect but I do hope they everyone will now pray for him and respect him for the position he is in and to now support him. I do believe that he does have the best interest of our country at heart even though you can't always see it. But I will pray for him. That's all I can do now. But on the positive side...how exciting was it to watch history being made? Our first ever black president.

Enough, about politics. Last night I went to get my hair redone. As I mentioned a few blogs ago that I went to get my hair cut and colored. The color didn't take because it had lightened up so much on vacation that my hair wouldn't grab the color. So my stylist suggested that I try some oil treatments at home. This sounded so crazy to me but what I did was put mayo on my hair and leave it on for about an hour. I had heard that mayo was a great conditioner but let me tell you it felt weird...not to mention it made me extremely hungry. I was craving a ham and cheese sandwich for an hour. :) I did this treatment twice before last night and my hair felt so much better. The dryness and brittleness (is that a word?) of my hair was gone and the color took to my hair this time. I love it! It's so dark. I'm very pleased. I'm going to try and keep up with the oil treatments on my hair for a few more weeks and see how shiny I can get it.

Things have been pretty slow here at work. You might notice as you read this that you are hearing music. I realized that I could add a playlist so I did that yesterday. I really like it. I got most of the songs off the Fireproof soundtrack added on here. They were awesome songs. I couldn't get While I'm Waiting. It wasn't on the website to download so I hope they add it soon. Speaking of that...some of you have sent me messages on Facebook regarding a couple of my posts and I just wanted to thank you all for your kind encouraging words. It has meant alot to me and it feels good knowing that there are people out there praying for me. Remember that I'm praying for you as well.

I'm sorry that this post was a little on the boring side. There really isn't anything new gonig on to talk about. Have a great night and I promise that I'll try and come up with some interesting things to talk about tomorrow. :)

While I'm Waiting

Saturday afternoon I went to go see the movie Fireproof. It was made by the same people who did Facing the Giants. I thought it might be a cheesy Christian love movie but I was pleasantly surprised. I was so excited to see Kirk Cameron in this movie. It was a role I have never seen him play and he did a phenomenal job. The movie as a whole was wonderful. It had it's cheesy moments of course, but it had a little bit of action and there were times when you were sitting on the edge of your seat because you didn't know what was going to happen. Then it had moments where you laughing out loud and then the next minute you have a tear rolling down your face. They told the plan of salvation and did not sugar coat it either. It was a well told story that you really couldn't predict what would happen at the end. It was an awesome movie.

I knew I wanted to see it but then I also didn't. It's all about "fireproofing" your marriage and since I'm not married I didn't think I would get anything really out of the movie. I was so wrong. I think everyone should see this. I think this is a great movie for singles to watch just as much as it is for couples. First of all it's a great guide to getting your marriage to a great start but you can take some of the tools they demonstrated and use it on your friendships but you can also use it to get your relationship with the Lord where it needs to be.

It encouraged me to work on my walk with the Lord. I was saved at an early age and I've always tried to keep my relationship with Him close but it does waiver. Lately it hasn't been the greatest because I have these deep insecurities about myself that I let get in the way of so many things. My walk with the Lord has been one of those things. To be honest, I've let the devil talk me into thinking that the Lord doesn't really care about me like He used to. The only dream that I ever really truly had was to be married and have a family of my own. But I'm 31 years old and that has not happened and I do get very down and depressed about it at times. It's what I think about constantly and that is where my insecurities come into play. I find all these things wrong about myself and talk myself into thinking that I'm second to everyone and I'm not really worthy of anyone's love. But while watching Fireproof I learned a lesson. That even though I'm single and no prospect of marriage is in sight God still loves me. He sent His Son to die for me. How dare I question His love when He made the ultimate sacrifice for me. There was a point in the movie where Kirk Cameron's character was frustrated because he wasn't see the results that he was expecting at that particular point in his work on his marriage. A song was being played that I just fell in love with and have decided to adopt it for myself. It speaks exactly what is in my heart. It's by the artist John Waller and the name of the song is While I'm Waiting. I want to share the words with you.

I'm waiting

I'm waiting on You, Lord

And I am hopeful

I'm waiting on You, Lord

Though it is painful

But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident

Taking every step in obedience

While I'm waiting

I will serve You

While I'm waiting

I will worship You

While I'm waiting

I will not faint

I'll be running the race

Even while I wait

I'm waiting

I'm waiting on You, Lord

And I am peaceful

I'm waiting on You, Lord

Though it's not easy

But faithfully, I will wait

Yes, I will wait

I will serve You while I'm waiting

I will worship while I'm waiting

I will serve You while I'm waiting

I will worship while I'm waiting on You, Lord.

I may still be single but that doesn't mean that I still can't worship and serve the Lord. That doesn't mean that I can't still tell people about Him and what He has accomplished in me. I want to serve the Lord with all my heart and serve Him with all that is in me. I pray that while you wait that you can say the same.

Please go see Fireproof. It will change you.