Good Food, Good Dancing, Good Life

Last night our ladies at church had a blast! It was our monthly Ladies Prayer Group meeting and we are doing a study called The Mayberry Bible Study and its so much fun. Last night we watched an episode about Aunt Bee being tricked into taking an elixir that was 85% alcohol and her and the rest of the Ladies Aide at their church became intoxicated. It was quite hilarious. The lesson from this episode was temptation. It was so good and we had quite a discussion afterwards. It was a really great night. I mentioned yesterday that we were cooking southern food for the meal and the ladies went all out. We had fried chicken, chicken and dumplings, mustard greens, sweet potatoes, fried okra, sweet tea, corn bread, peach cobbler, apple pie and banana pudding. It was all delicious and I'm still so full from trying them all. Good times!

Tonight I have no plans but to relax and curl up on the couch reading a good book and watching Dancing with the Stars. I have to ask some of you who watch this show...what is up with the double eliminations two weeks in a row?! That's just seems a little drastic. They've already had one double elimination and they had another celebrity drop out due to an injury so why do they feel that they have to eliminate four more couples in the next two weeks. That seems a little unfair. I guess maybe they are trying to finish up before the holidays. Who knows?

I'm excited that tomorrow is my walk through on my new home. I had it inspected yesterday and I'm a little concerned though because they found a huge puddle of water in the bottom of the dishwasher and on the kitchen floor that has seeped into the carpet and probably the wood on the cabinets. I hope this doesn't push my closing back but I'm going to ask (or demand) that it all gets taken care of rather quickly. They also said that there were several tears to the linoleum in the kitchen. I am getting a little concerned about it all so can you all pray that things go smoothly during the walk through and that they will fix all the problems in time for the closing next Wednesday. I have never signed my name as much as I have already to purchase this home and I'm not even to the closing yet. My contract was around 40 pages and of course, I had to sign and initial every page. Then we decided to take care of all my loan pages before the closing to I just finished signing and dating every page there to mail back to them. I can't imagine having to sign more pages and of course, I don't understand a word that is written on those pages. Luckily, I have an awesome realtor who is unbelievable at her job and knows everything and can explain it where I understand it. I never thought I would purchase a home on my own but I am and I'm quite proud of myself.

Sweet Home Alabama

It's official! The weekends go by way too fast but I sure had a great one. I took a half day on Friday to travel to Northport, AL, to see my family. We had so much fun. Friday night we went out to eat at this really cool Mexican restaurant called the Iguana Grill. It was stunning inside. They had stars that twinkled hanging from the ceiling. They had this round table that wrapped around a tree (not real) that went from the floor to the ceiling. It was really cool. My niece calls the place Tinkerbell's home. It looks like a place you would see in a fantasy. The food was really good as well.

Saturday afternoon after the kids went down for their nap by sister (in law) and I decided to get out and shop by ourselves. Jenny wanted to get the kids their Halloween costumes for their Trunk or Treat this Wednesday at their church. Anna Grace wanted to be a superhero so we got them a Supergirl and Superman outfit. They were so cute and they loved their costumes. Anna G didn't want to take hers off for anything. After we hit a couple of stores we decided to go the the U of A campus. There was a football game going on and since we couldn't get the tickets we thought we would get we decided to walk around the quad. Jenny really wanted me to experience the atmosphere. Oh! My! Goodness! That was truly an experience. I honestly believe you don't experience college football until you have walk around the campus of the University of Alabama on game day. There are vendors all up and down the streets selling every type of Alabama gear you can imagine and food vendors every where. It was unreal. Of course, we had to get a corn dog and funnel cake. The funnel cake was cool because they were cut into fries instead of all wrapped around in one big pile. It was much easier to eat and share. But walking around the quad was so cool. It was like one big tailgate party. People pay to rent a space and they set up these tents and tables and tables of food. They bring their flat screen TV's and their satellite dishes and they watch the game right there. You definitely can feel the team spirit. I honestly can say I appreciate the Alabama fans and their team spirit. It was so cool! Not cool enough to make me an Alabama fan. :) It was a great weekend and I'm hoping to get back down there in a few weeks. I miss my sister (in -law), brother and their kids so much. I wish I lived closer to them.

Sunday was a great day. I really enjoy going to my brother's church. The people are very friendly and the preaching is always uplifting and inspiring. Of course the music is always outstanding. My brother really does a great job. The choir sang a special and they did an awesome job. It makes me miss the days when our church had a choir. I really didn't want to leave Sunday but I had to get back in order to come to work today.

Tonight is Ladies Prayer Group and our second installment of the Andy Griffith Bible Study. The ladies really enjoyed it last month so I'm excited about tonight's study. To get into the theme of the Bible Study everyone is bringing a southern food for our meal. I'm bringing fried okra and I think I'm going to make some sweet tea as well.

I feel as if it will be a great week! Happy Monday!

Babies and More Babies!

This has been a busy week. We had our missionary Boot Camp all this week. It ended this morning and all the missionaries are on their way to their respective homes. It was a great week. They were a great bunch of men and I believe they all are going to do unbelievably well in planting a new church. I have such tremendous respect for Home Missionaries. I've stated on here before that I'm a daughter of former Home Missionaries it is not a job for just anyone. It takes a special kind of person to be able to start a church from nothing and build it something great for the Lord. It definitely is a special calling. So I'm asking everyone to remember all our Home Missionaries in prayer every day.

I'm leaving tomorrow to head down to Alabama. I haven't seen my family in well over a month and I'm ready for some niece and nephew time. They are getting so big and my niece will be 4 in February and she is so grown up. You can understand her completely now when you talk to her on the phone. My nephew is starting to talk now. He's so cute. He's like a little man. He didn't stay baby long enough for me. Last night I got to hold newborn baby twins. They are preemies actually. The girl was only 4 lbs and some ounces and the boy was 5 lbs and some ounces. They were born last Wednesday or Thursday which is about a month before their due date. They are completely healthy and went home from the hospital last Sunday afternoon. My mom and I took dinner over to them last night and I got to hold them both. They were so tiny and light. Holding the baby girl was like holding a doll. They were so sweet and had lots of dark hair. I got baby fever last night and said out loud that I wanted one. Of course, my mother shot me this look like, "Don't even think about it!" Of course I had to tease her and tell her that I didn't actually need a husband to have a baby. I thought she was going to die right then and there. But don't worry...the only way this girl is getting pregnant is if it was another immaculate conception.

My sister in law called me last night to tell me to pack warm clothes this weekend because she might be getting tickets to the Alabama vs. Tennessee game on Saturday. Chad said he would stay home with the kids and let us go since I haven't been to a Bama game yet (they've already been once this season). Jenny is a HUGE TN Vols fan and we both hate Bama. I was teasing a friend of mine that I would be wearing my blue and orange gear to represent the Fighting Illini but then she reminded me that those were also Auburn colors and since Auburn and AL are huge rivals I might forgo the Illini gear (Oh how I miss the North). We'll see. I haven't decided yet. I'm just excited to spend some time with my family.

Oh - this song I have on here today by Queen has nothing to do with the post. I just like it and it reminds me of the movie The Breakup...awwe Vince Vaughn. :)

Happy Thursday!

My Ears Are Still Ringing...

Last night's concert was unbelievable. It was so good and we had great seats. Just look how close we were to cutie patootie Keith Urban.

It was a good concert. There were a few glitches though. The concert didn't start on time. It was was about 20-25 minutes late and then after Keith performed for an hour they did a set change which lasted a whopping 55 minutes. Yes, I checked. It was pretty ridiculous. People were getting aggravated but once the concert got back up and moving it was pretty spectacular. You definitely got your money's worth and since me and my friends got our tickets free we aren't complaining too badly about the long delays. :) The biggest surprise to me was Vince Gill. I knew he was on the agenda and was not too happy about it. I honestly do not like his singing but listening to him live was a different experience. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to him and I could have listened to more of him. Of course my new found liking of Vince Gill is not going to make me go out and purchase his CD's. It just means I won't be changing the radio station the next time one of songs come on (unless it's "Go Rest High" Ugh!). But anyway, the concert had a pretty impressive line-up...Brad Paisley (swoon), Dierks Bentley, (double swoon), Little Big Town, Lady Antebellum, Jason Aldean, Faith Hill, and Taylor Swift. Here's a couple more pictures from last night. Good Times!

Brad Paisley and Keith Urban

Dierks Bentley

Little Big Town

All 4 the Hall

I'm so excited!!! I'm going to a concert tonight called All 4 the Hall. It's a benefit concert Keith Urban is hosting for the Country Music Hall of Fame. There will be many country singers there...Keith Urban, Brad Paisely, Taylor Swift, Little Big Town, Faith Hill, Jason Aldean, and Vince Gill. Some I'm not crazy about hearing..ahem...Vince Gill...but I'm still excited nonetheless. We were able to get great seats! According to the seating chart on ticketmaster we will be right by the stage. I'll be taking my camera so hopefully I'll be able to get great pictures.

Last night, I had Bunco and it was so much fun. I actually won for most wins! Yay! I got this beautiful dish that can be used as a veggie tray or anything along those lines. If you want to start a girls night that is fairly inexpensive but not quite sure what to do, I think Bunco would be the thing for you. It super easy and it costs $5 a month...at least that is what my group does. Other groups may do it differently. We don't play it like by the rules that come with the game. Those are very boring. If you are interested at all at anytime shoot me an email or comment and I'll be happy to tell you all how we play. It's so much fun. We laugh so hard every month. It's a great time to just get away from things and just have fun and relax. Good times!

Happy Tuesday!

Tired Already

This is going to be one of those weeks. I can feel it already. :) I will be so incredibly busy the next few weeks it isn't funny. I have something planned every night this week. It's fun stuff, mind you but still I won't be home hardly. I have Bunco tonight...the All 4 the Hall concert tomorrow night (Yay!!)...church on Wednesday night and then Thursday night I will be going out to dinner with a friend. I have a $10 off coupon to a restaurant that we both LOVE and it expires that night so we are going to use it then. After dinner we are going to go through a corn maze that is supposed to be pretty spectacular. I mean, people get lost in this baby, so I'm pretty excited. Well that is the plan unless it rains. If it rains, I see a movie in the plans. All that is stuff outside of work. At work we are having a pretty extensive training seminar that will last all next for some of our missionaries so I have to get everything ready for that this week. Then a co-worker of mine and I are going to clean out the work room today sometime and rearrange some things. So I have a lot on my plate. Oh! I'm also making a trip to Alabama to see my family sometime this month.

I also have my home inspection and walk-through on my house this month. This month is just flying by. I'll be closing on my home before you know it. Saturday my mom and I went shopping and before we started we dropped by my house and peeked in the windows and to our surprise we saw that they have laid down he carpet and painted my front door! I was so excited to see that. That means that they are about 95% done with the house. We decided that day to go fridge shopping. I'm thoroughly depressed too! Those things do not come cheap. I have to get stainless steel and I realized this weekend that they are the most expensive out of all the colors. But I have narrowed down the style to two different ones. We will just see what I choose to get in the end.

As you all know I'm crashing at my parent's house until my house is finished and this weekend they will be gone to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg. Our church is sponsoring a couple's treat and they are attending. So I'll have the house to myself. That will be the first time that I will be completely alone since I moved back home. But at least I won't be entirely alone. Another couple in the church who is attending the retreat asked me to dog sit for them so I will have a little miniature Schnauzer with me. Last night after church I stopped by their house so I could meet the little tyke and she was just the cutest thing I had ever seen. She was so energetic! She made me miss Butler so much. He use to act like that when he was younger and I forgot how energetic and excited young dogs can be. The last few years of Butler's life was spent with him just laying around sleeping. He never ran around the house anymore or jumped up on the furniture. I think this little dog is going to make me want a new puppy that much more. I can't wait for this weekend.

Happy Monday!

Oh Happy Day!

This is what I feel like doing today! After nine years, I have finally paid off my student loan. I couldn't be any happier than this moment. The weight that has been lifted off my shoulders is indescribable. So to celebrate I'm going out to dinner tonight. I think I deserve it. ;-)

It Is Well

A year ago today I left for my vacation to Hawaii. It seems like it was forever ago but yet I remember every minute of that trip like it was yesterday. I can still feel the sand between my toes and taste the saltwater. I can still feel the sun on my face when I would sit beside the pool or on the beach. I can still smell the air when we took a tour to the ranch where they film all the movies and television shows. I can still see all the fish and sea turtles in Huanama Bay. I still remember what it felt like parasailing over the crystal blue waters of Hawaii and I can still feel the amazement I felt when I would see the beatuiful mountains raised high above the ground. It was one of the most fun and adventurous trips I have ever taken and I honestly hope I get to go again someday. This trip has bittersweet memories for me though as it marks the end of a friendship. I know that in all reality it is for the best for both parties but when you were so close to someone and then to lose that friendship still hurts. But God has given me a peace like I've never known about this and I've moved on.

But last night I was thinking about my trip last year and what all has happened in my life since then. I've gone through quite a lot. I know that everyone can say that they've gone through a lot in a year's time and last night I was thinking about mine. Some were good and some were pretty awful. I've had my heartbroken with no understanding and at the same time realized that I had to move back home. The thing about moving home is that a lot of people don't really truly understand why I had to move home. I did it for several reasons but the main reason was my mom became ill. I waited until my lease to my apartment had run out in May and then I moved home to take care of her and to take over all the duties of cooking and cleaning and helping her get better. That was such a dark and low moment for me. I had felt like the parent/child roles had been reversed. It was a pretty surreal moment. I had felt so helpless in that I couldn't make my mom well again. I tried to be there for her emotionally, physically and spiritually. I tried to be strong through the whole ordeal but I always felt like I was going to break into a million pieces at any moment. But through it all all was well. My God never let me down. He was there every moment for peace, comfort and to be my strength. I didn't always understand why we were going through all that with my mom and why He allowed her to be sick for so many months but I trusted that He had a plan and that He always had my mom and our family in the palm of His hand.

Now my mom is doing so much better and new exciting things are happening. I've just bought my first home and will get to move into it next month. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. I'm going refrigerator shopping this weekend and quite excited about it. As far as friends go, the Lord always knows who we need in our lives the moment we need them and He has blessed me beyond measure with the friends in my life. I know that there will always be hard times and that we won't always know and understand why we are going through some things we go through but through it all we can rest knowing that our Lord and Savior will be there through it all holding us and guiding us. Now, I can't wait to see what the next year holds.

Fall Festival

Saturday we had our church's annual Fall Festival. It's so much work to put it together and by the end of the day I was exhausted and sore but it was worth it. There were several glitches the day of but everything in the end worked out and it was a pretty successful day. Our church does this, of course, for our own people but we mainly do this as an outreach to the community. We had several visiting families tell us that they really enjoyed it and thanked us for having something like this for anyone to come to. They expressed interest in our church and I'm praying that we get some families visit our worship services as a result. I was so proud of our people. I'm not surprised at their friendliness, generosity and genuineness of compassion for everyone.

There were two big hits of the day. The first was a new inflatable bounce we rented. Usually we rent one of the small square jumps that people can go in and jump around. This year we decided to get a larger one that was an obstacle course. It was two lanes where you first climb up a wall and then slide down a slide. It was hilarious watching grown adults climbing those walls and hurling themselves over the top and down the slides. It was quite comical. The second hit was a fundraiser the youth group was holding. They sold tickets for people to "pie the pastors". It's exactly what it sounds. They had a line (a very long line) of people waiting to throw pies at our pastor and our youth pastor. It was hysterical. All in all the day was a hit and there were plenty of good times.

We had a great day in our worship services. We were pretty down in attendance but it was a good day. The sermons preached were very moving. Of course, just when things are going great Satan has to rear his ugly head. You can tell that Satan is attacking our church and some of our families. So our church must be doing something right if Satan is attacking. I just pray that our families remain strong in the Lord and can overcome some of these obstacles that Satan has thrown at them. I feel like I am one of them as I seem to be battling some internal struggles.

Since I had such a jam packed weekend, I am doing not a blessed thing tonight. When I get home I am putting my pajamas on, my hair up and get a blanket and snuggle into the couch to watch Dancing with the Stars and Castle. It will be a wonderful night. :)

Happy Monday!

October Madness

It's the first day of October! I'm one happy girl. This is absolutely my favorite month out of the whole year. Sure, I love Christmas. Sure, I love snow. Sure, I enjoy the first of Spring. BUT, this is my favorite time of the year. The smell...the sights...the clothes! It's joyous!

Saturday is our church's Fall Festival. I'm still stressing about it a little but not as much as I was the other day. We had a meeting last night with all the volunteers and I was pleasantly surprised at how many people are planning on being there to work the booths. I think it will go fairly smoothly. Until then, I have so much to accomplished before Saturday. I have to make brownies, two cakes and buy a few liters of pop for a game. I'm looking forward to it being over. LOL! We are actually thinking that we might not do the Fall Festival next year for several reasons. But we want to try something new next year if the whole church agrees. We'll see. I think what some people have come up with for next year sounds fun. It will be a nice change.

I know you all are just dying to know the status on my house. :) Well, everything seems at a stand still. I think we've done all we can do to get ready for the closing. We are all just waiting for it to be finished. I have my walk through in 28 days! I'm excited and can't wait until then. Every now and then I drive over there and peek through the windows to see what they have finished. I'm proud to say that they have the microwave and dishwasher installed. They're so pretty. :) Now I have an idea of what kind of fridge to get.

I think the Lord wants me to have a dog because last night I dreamed of an American Bulldog. He was so cute. He was all white with black spots. He was adorable. I still miss my Butler a lot but I think I'm ready for another one. But even though I really want an American Bulldog I'm also thinking of getting another Yorkie. They are the sweetest dogs. I can't make up my mind. I'm such an indecisive girl. :)

Happy October!