Christmas is Weird

Is it just me or is Christmas just weird this year? It's probably just me. I love Christmas though. I love the twinkling lights, the falling snow (not that Nashville gets any), the cheesy Christmas programs at church and even cheesier Christmas movies on Hallmark and Lifetime, the hot chocolate and the music. Oh how I love Christmas music. It's not Christmas until you hear Karen Carpenter sing "Merry Christmas, Darling" or swoon as Bing Crosby belts out "White Christmas" with that svelte voice of his. But this year is just plain weird to me.

I guess I should offer advice to never move during the holiday season. I closed on my home on November 4 thinking that I would get to move the next week. I had dreams of unpacking my boxes and getting everything in it's place before Thanksgiving and then as soon as I got back from Thanksgiving vacation I would put up my tree and unpack my Santa Claus collection. Then I woke up! I moved the Tuesday after Thanksgiving instead and have just now gotten my house just the way I want and now it's too close to Christmas to put up my tree and decorate for Christmas. I was excited about being in my new home before Christmas so I could decorate but sometimes life just gets in the way of hopes and dreams. Oh well, there's always next year.

But Christmas feels weird because I don't have a tree up. It's the first year ever in my life where I didn't have a tree up. It makes me miss my parents house. My mom always has their house decorated so nicely for Christmas but not me. Not this year. I haven't even watched White Christmas yet. I watch that movie at least 3 times during the Christmas season. I'm taking it this weekend to Alabama and making my boyfriend watch it. He had never seen it and all he asked me was if it was in black or white. I told him no but it was a musical. He didn't seem impressed. It's not Christmas until I watch that movie. He made me suffer through the movie Men Who Stare At Goats (on our first date) so I'm making him suffer through White Christmas.

Tonight I'm finishing up my Christmas shopping and then tomorrow I'm off to Alabama. It's my weekend to drive so I'm heading that way around noon. Then Friday night we are babysitting my niece and nephew as my brother and his wife take their youth group Christmas Caroling. It should be fun. I always have a great time with my niece and nephew and they are at that age that is so much fun. We just run and play until we collapse at bedtime. I love those little munchkins. It's hard to imagine our family before they came along. I wish my brother and his wife would have a slew of kids...just don't tell them I said so!

Happy Thursday!

O Holy Night

Here is one of my favorite singers singing my favorite Christmas song.

*You will need to scroll down and pause my playlist at the bottom right of the page.

Blogging

I am such a bad blogger. I'm sure that you have noticed that by now so why even mention it? It has become my opening line on my recent posts. When I first started blogging I was sure I would update it everyday and I would become this awesome blogger that everyone would love to read. Yeah, right....fantasy land there! Seriously, though I did intend to update pretty regularly if not everyday. But as time went on I was boring myself with posts and I would either get tired of typing or was incredibly busy at work (remember no internet at home) or just plain didn't have anything remotely interesting to say. But now that I actually do have things to say (i.e. new house and new boyfriend) I've pretty much been MIA. Well, I am saying (again) that I am intending (again) to update and become a better blogger.

I knew my family didn't know that I had a blog. I just never told them. But one day last week my father said, "I didn't know you had a blog. I've read some of it." Let me tell you that sheer panic went through me when he told me he found my blog. (He found the link through my Facebook profile page.) Even though this is a public forum where I get people from New Delhi and Switzerland checking it out the thought of my dad reading this made my mind scramble to all the past postings I've made to see what embarrassing things I might have said on here. I couldn't think of any so Dad, I apologize now for anything too girly or any embarrassing thing you might have read on here. :)

I knew of a few people who read my blog but not a whole lot and now I'm slowly finding out people are actually reading it. Today was our building's Christmas luncheon and a girl who works upstairs told me that she reads it. So now I feel like I must do a better job at blogging. After all, I do have things to talk about. Have I mentioned I bought a house that I absolutely love? Did I also mention I have a boyfriend who I'm crazy over the moon for? Those are topics soon coming up.

So I'll talk to you tomorrow...or not. We'll see. :)

Happy Tuesday!

The Pioneer Woman and Other Stuff

I love to read blogs. I think I have about 10-15 blogs that I try to keep up with on a pretty regular basis. Some of them are of high school and college friends that I like to keep up with. Some are of people I have no clue who they are but they have a themed blog that I'm interested in such as cooking and baking or writing. I thought I was maxed out on my blog reading until a couple of weeks ago a friend suggested I read a blog by this woman named Ree Drummond. I'm sure some of you have heard of her but she dubs herself The Pioneer Woman. She's a woman who was a bona fide city girl who married a cattle rancher and now spends her days on a cattle ranch. My friend heard about her when she appeared on television promoting her new cookbook. So I wandered onto her website and let me tell you I have spent countless hours on there reading it.

She keeps up with several different blogs on her website such as her normal day to day blog, a blog on cooking, a blog on photography, a blog on homeschooling and a blog on Home & Garden. They are all pretty fascinating. She can tell a story like I've never heard. She's a fantastic writer who is completely hilarious. She has a section on there that tells of the love story between her and her husband whom she calls Marlboro Man. It's a pretty good story. I wish I could tell a story like she does. Read it. You'll see what I mean.

I encourage you if you have about 1,000 hours to spare, head over to her website and check it out. I think you'll enjoy it.

I am now officially living in my new house! I'm so excited. I closed almost a month ago but haven't really had a chance to fully move all the way in because November was a crazy month for me and my family. We just had so much going on that I could only move a few items at a time. But, praise the Lord, I'm finally finished moving in and my downstairs is completely put together. My spare room is my catch all room right now. Every box and container that I'm not sure what to do with is sitting in there. My bedroom and master bath is all put together until I can afford to purchase more furniture and pictures. So it's pretty much done for now. I'm so excited and it just feels like home. Usually I have a hard time adjusting to a new place and it takes me forever to falls asleep each night but last night I had no trouble falling asleep and I didn't wake up once until my alarm clock went off this morning. I have sheer curtains that I hang in my bedroom but I think I'll need to get some thicker curtains because all the parking lot lights outside my window. They are so bright and I like to sleep in an almost pitch black room so I think new curtains are in order.

Thanksgiving turned out pretty well. I wasn't exactly that excited about going to Illinois but I'm so glad we did. We got to stay with my dad's brother and his wife and we had the best time. My cousin and her family came over and we ate, played games and laughed so hard the entire time. We, of course, took time out on Thursday to head over to my grandmother's for dinner but we left as soon as we could to go back to my uncle's to play games. It was so much fun. The highlight of the trip though was while at my grandma's house, a tree limb broke of and fell straight through my parent's car windshield. It just shattered the windshield to pieces. Luckily, the glass repair people came over the next morning and replaced the windshield in no time and then we were off our merry way back to Tennessee. Good times!

It's Been a Long Time

I got an email yesterday from a friend who said, "You haven't updated your blog in almost a month!" Yikes! Really? I didn't realize it was that long. I had meant to blog but honestly some days I just completely forgot. Other days I didn't feel like it and the rest I was just way too busy to blog. But a lot has been happening, that's for sure!

I won't go into too much detail because it's still so new (and I don't want to jinx it) but I have met someone. I met him through my sister (in-law) and brother and right now I couldn't be happier. So that has taken up some of my time. :) I may give more details at a later date but right now I'll keep it to myself. :) But since I've talked so much about wanting to find someone and patiently (or more like impatiently) waiting for him to come along, I, at least, wanted to share that I've met the most amazing man.

Side note: You know that he is someone special if I mention him on here because earlier in the year I was dating someone (for four months) who turned out to be a real bozo and I never said a word about him on here.

I finally closed on my home and am about 95% moved in. Now I was scared to death on the closing. Everyone was telling me that it so nerve wrecking and that I will feel as if I'm signing my life away, but that wasn't the case at all. It went so smoothly and we were in and out of there in no time. Even my realtor said that was the smoothest closing she had ever been to.

I'm not living there yet but I will probably finish moving in next weekend. I've been so busy that I haven't had the time to move. I've moved in stages which has been quite nice. I, along with my mom and my friend, Danielle, went over to my house this past Tuesday evening and rearranged my furniture and hung up some pictures and art work on my walls. It's starting to look so good. I'm very excited. However, I didn't realize how expensive this was going to cost. I know buying a home is expensive in itself but it's a brand new construction home. So I had to buy blinds for every window. The place didn't come with toilet paper holders or towel racks. So I had to buy those and all these little things tend to add up. I also had to get a refrigerator. They delivered it last week and it looks so cute in the kitchen. I'm excited.

I had a friend from church ask me if I had a dining set to go in the kitchen. I told her I had a dining room table that I put in the dining room/living room area but I had nothing in the kitchen. Well, I say nothing but I did set up my card table and chairs. I thought it would be cute in there with a tablecloth over it. My mother thought that was a little tacky, but hey I'm broke and needed a table in there. Anyway, I told my friend that I didn't really have anything for my kitchen area and she and her husband decided to give me their 5 piece kitchen table and their hutch for free!! Woo Hoo! I was so excited. I'll have to paint it and stain the wood but for free I'll gladly do it. People keep asking me on Facebook to post pictures but I just don't know if I feel comfortable posting pictures of my home and everything in it while I'm living alone. So don't be surprised if I never post pictures. That means, you will just have to come see me. :)

I was talking to my sister (in law) last night on the phone and she was telling me how happy she was for me. She said it finally feels as if everything is falling into place for me. I paid off my school loan this year, I bought a beautiful new home all by myself and I've met the man of my dreams. Three huge things that pretty much happened all at the same time. I told I felt the same way and then I almost said that it finally feels as if God is starting to bless me. The truth is, God has always been blessing me all along the way. He always made sure that there was a roof over my head, food on my table and friends and family that love me beyond all understanding. Even though money was tight at times, I never was late on any payments and my fridge was never empty. I have had a few bumps along the road (and will continue to have bumps) but I know that all those bumps has made me into the person I am today. I am indeed a blessed woman!

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!

Writer's Block

For someone who loves to write and wants to someday make this a full time career, I'm doing a pitiful job at it. Let's just say that I'm having a severe case of writer's block on most days...especially with the blog I write for work. It's been about a month or over a month since I updated that one. I just can't think of anything to write about. That's the hardest part for me...coming up with something to write about. Once I get a topic, I can just write and write with no problem. I wonder if other writers have this problem? I wonder if it's just as hard for them to come up with a topic as it is for me. Of course with this blog I just don't seem to have blog worthy topics to write about.

Last night though, we had our monthly women's meeting at church. It went very well, I think. We are doing The Mayberry Bible Study Vol. 4. Each lesson consists of watching an episode of The Andy Griffith Show and then you discuss it afterwards. It's quite interesting. Each episode is about a certain topic. Last night's study was about values. This is just something fun and light to do until we start our main bible study at the beginning of next year. Our church is also having a fall festival this Saturday. It's always something fun for everyone but it's so much work getting it all together. This year we have had a few problems and glitches so we are thinking of not having it next year and trying something different like Trunk or Treat. It just all depends on how the fall festival goes this Saturday. I'm looking forward to it. Actually, I'm looking forward until it's over. Ha!

It's so beautiful out today. It's what I have been waiting for all summer. It's high of 69 degrees with beautiful blue skies. I think I'm going to go the park and walk on the trail today. It would be just wrong if I didn't.

Changing Seasons

Today I ordered a soundtrack online and the coolest thing was that as soon as I purchased the song it was ready for download! I was so excited. I didn't have to wait a week to receive it in the mail. That's the second time that's happened. A few weeks ago I ordered a song and the seller e-mailed me the mp3 of it and all I had to do was download it and burn it to a CD. If everyone is starting to do this, I will be one happy gal. Of course all these places are still charging the same price which isn't fair since I'm having to use my own CDs but at least I don't have to pay for shipping anymore. So there is always good and bad in everything. Ahh, we are happy but never fully satisfied. That's sounds like a good devotion but I won't go there today. :-)

Nashville has been such a gloomy place these past few days or should I say these past couple weeks. I'm sure you've seen it on the news that this region is getting drenched. It has not stopped raining for days. Luckily it's not a nonstop rain this week like it has been but the sun won't come out which makes everyone's moods not the greatest. I love this type of weather but even I'm tired of not having a sunny day. It looks like fall outside with the leaves changing and the constant cloud cover and rain but it is so humid and muggy and just plain hot! If the weather was cooler than I think everything would be more tolerable. But as I read on someone's Facebook status the other day, "Thank you Lord for the rain. Help us not to complain for when it is hot and dry we will pray for it again." I liked that. It's so true. When it is so dry we pray for rain but when it rains we pray and beg the Lord to take it away. I catch myself doing that with temperatures. When it's blistering hot I pray for winter to come with the cooler weather and then when it's winter I can't wait for summertime to come with the warmer weather. Again, the whole never being fully satisfied thing again. I think part of it is I was raised in Illinois where there is a distinct difference in the seasons. I miss that.

I got exciting news! I have a confirmed date and time for my closing so on November 4, 2009, I will become an official home owner. Does it naturally come with heart palpitations?

I Bless Your Name

Ever feel like everything you do or try to do is wrong and there are people right there always willing to point it out to you at every turn? Yep, that's been me this past week. I've been involved with a certain project (that is not work related) and no matter how hard I try to make it better and make it organized and run smoothly there is someone there to point out all my flaws and get angry with me at every little detail. I know that I can't please everyone and I don't try to but I just get tired of people not letting me be human. It seems like I can't have emotions, feelings, opinions or just plain make mistakes. Every time I have any of the mentioned actions, I get yelled at, snubbed or talked to like I'm a five year old. I just got tired of it so last night I resigned from all positions. Of course, I was told that I need to just think and pray about it but I've made up my mind. I know it sounds like I'm just giving up and quitting and I guess I am but I need a break...from everything. I also think this is what is best for the situation at hand.

I read a blog today about a person dealing alot this summer with fears and frustrations so they spent time out in nature camping and hiking. What is about being out in nature that makes you feel refreshed and renewed and closer to the Lord? That's what I do to renew my spirit with the Lord. There is a trail near my home that I hike when I need to relieve stress and frustration. There's just something about walking through God's creation with no phones, no sirens, no TV that let's you hear God. Without all the distractions you seem to get everything in perspective. Reading this certain blog today reminded me of Psalms 121:1-2. It says, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth." These verses were so comforting to me today. I've had so many frustrations, fears and stress lately myself that I felt like I couldn't breathe. But I know through it all the Lord is there beside me helping it through it all.

Thank you, Lord, for being my Rock and Comfort and Help in my times of need. I can't live without You. You are all I need and I bless Your name!

Where Were You?

Do you remember what you were doing eight years ago today? Like everyone in our great country I'm sure you remember exactly where you were and what you were doing. I had been working at the FWB National Home Missions office for exactly one year. I was sitting at my desk working on my computer when my phone rang. It was my mother saying a plane had crashed into one of the towers at the World Trade Center. I really didn't think too much about it. I just figured that it was a tourist plane or something small like that. Then a little bit later she called again saying another plane hit the other tower and then she told me about the other two planes in PA and at the Pentagon. It was so surreal.

Our office turned on the TV and were just astounded at what we were seeing that day. Needless to say not much got done in our office that day. I'm sure not much work got done anywhere that day across our nation. At lunchtime I walked to my car and won't forget the feeling while being outside. The skies were so quiet and it felt so eerie. The sky was a gorgeous deep blue with not a single cloud floating by. It was a beautiful day. Airplanes fly over our building all day long because we are not too far from the airport but not a single plane flew by that day and the silence was deafening...signaling that something terrible was wrong. It was if the world just stopped that day. Of course for the next few hours we were glued to the TV as we watched the towers burn and then tumble to the ground.

I know it's been eight years but when I still stop and think about that day all the same feelings I had that day come back up to the surface.

Today I will remember those whose lives were taken on the horrible day.

Today I will remember the men and women who fought and died protecting our country.

Today I will remember those men and women who are still fighting today for our freedom.

Today I will not forget.

Fearful Sounds

I wandered up the stairs alone with a clear purpose in mind. All other thoughts stripped except for the task at hand. The room was small and stuffy and a fine layer of dust covered every exposed area in the cluttered space. I spot the intended objects of my focus and set about doing what I knew had to be done. Halfway through my task, I hear something that makes me freeze in an instant. After a few moments of listening to the fearful sound, I cautiously and slowly turn my head from one side to the other to try and find the source of this horrifying noise. A noise that has made me so fearful it has caused me to forget about what I was doing in this cramped room and why I was even there in the first place. Realizing that the noise is not coming from around me, I slowly lift my eyes upward and there by the shadeless lightbulb I spot it. The very sight of it has made me go paralyzed and the noise of this creature is deafening. My stomach churns as I stare at this most awful looking beast and I suddenly lose my breath. My lungs automatically scream at me in pain as I try to fill them back up with air that just wouldn't come. Suddenly, by a power greater than my own, my mind clears long enough to remember why I was in this terrifying room. I quickly and quietly finish my task so I don't call attention to this evil looking monster less it comes after me full force and cause excruciating pain. I slowly creep to the edge of the room and quietly but swiftly sneak down the steps and slam the door shut locking in this horrible, terrifying,and grotesque animal. The emotions running through me at this moment were too many to explain. I realize what had just happened and thank God that my life was spared.

To simplify this story...I went up into the attic of the church last night to check all our signage for the Fall Festival coming up and a wasp was flying over my head. It terrified me to death since I have a HUGE fear of wasps...but wasn't that story much more interesting than the simple version?! :)

Houses, Hotels and Revivals...Oh My!

Exciting things have been happening here lately. I have done something that I never thought I would do (or do alone) but I made the step and I purchased my own home. I haven't actually bought it yet. I have signed the contract and will close on it in the middle of November. It's a townhome which I love. I didn't want to have to be responsible for a lot of yard work my first time out so I thought a townhome would be a better route, plus they are a little more affordable than a single family home. It's a new construction home so I'm unbelievably excited that I will be the first one living in this home. It will be move in ready, which is what I was looking for and realized after months of house hunting that there are not too many of those out there. Some people just don't take care of their homes. While house hunting I looked at many HUD homes or foreclosure homes. They were not in the best of conditions and I just don't have the money to fix them back up. My realtor took me to this one home in LaVergne and it was a cute home but the last owners decided to take some things of the house with them like, the bushes, the gutters, the heating/air unit out back, and the kitchen. Yes, the ENTIRE kitchen...stove, fridge, dishwasher, sink, cabinets....everything! Did I mention they also took the gutters!! But they left the satellite dish attached to the house, go figure.

But I'm so excited about this new place. This was the subdivision that I really wanted to be in and it is close, work, church and my parents. I mentioned that it was new construction and that is why I have to wait until November to close...it's still being built! Actually it is built but they are not done with it on the inside. All they have done on the inside is the drywall is up and the ceiling is painted. They also have the floor down in the kitchen and the entry way. They just need to finish the flooring downstairs and upstairs, paint the walls and install the kitchen. I might post pictures but I want to wait until it's finished. I'm so excited but nervous all at the same time. I can't believe I'm a homeowner now.

My weekend went pretty well. I had a terrible migraine on Friday so I had to leave early from work and then later I went house hunting and found my incredible new home! My mom and I got this great offer to spend two nights at the Opryland Hotel. So we went and stayed last night and tonight. It's a little weird staying at a hotel in the town you live in but the hotel is very nice. I remember going to the hotel during college to walk around and take pictures with friends. It is a gorgeous hotel and if you ever come to Nashville it's definitely a place to visit even if you don't stay there. The gardens and waterfalls are absolutely stunning. So after work today I will run home, pick up my mom (who decided to spend the day at home instead of the hotel) and then head back out to the hotel to wander around and enjoy the sights.

This weekend will be pretty busy as well. My brother and his family are coming into town because our church is having a weekend revival and my brother is heading up the music. David Crowe, who is one of the directors where I work, is our evangelist and Chad will be leading the music and handling all our special music. So if you are in the Nashville area and would love to hear some awesome singing and preaching come on over to Rejoice FWB Church. We would love to have you. On Saturday night we are having a banquet for our church members and Aaron Wilburn will be bringing the entertainment. He is a Christian comedian and he is hilarious. I know he used to travel with the Gaither Homecoming crew for a while. David and Aaron have become pretty good friends. They met at a church where David was the evangelist and Aaron was the entertainment. So they've done a few things together like that and we've even used him for one of our retreats that we had in Pigeon Forge. I'm looking forward to it.

Happy Tuesday!

Life Lessons I Learned from Julie & Julia

Last night was such an enjoyable evening. I met a friend for dinner at Cozymel's. I love that place. We always get the table side guacamole. They make it right there at your table. It's very delicious. I've never enjoyed guacamole but she encouraged me one day to try it and I loved it...as long as there is no cilantro in it. That herb doesn't agree with my palate too much. But other than that I do enjoy guacamole. After dinner we went to go see Julie & Julia. This was a very good movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I love Meryl Streep. She can just transform into any character where you don't even see her...you see the character only. She sounded and acted just like Julia Child. It was amazing. I learned a few things actually from this movie. *If you haven't seen the movie yet and plan to, you might want to skim through this next part but maybe not. Not sure if I'll give anything important away or not.

My lessons are sixfold.

First of all, I learned that you pat your meat dry. Your meat won't brown well if it still has a wetness to it.

Secondly, Julia Child didn't get married until she was around 40 years old (so I still have hope). She had quite a love affair with her husband. They portrayed their romance very cutely (is that a word) in the movie. It was rumored that she and her husband were spies for the US government and they briefly mentioned it in the movie. It wasn't confirmed or denied in the movie and it was only made in one statement but I thought it was interesting that she was a spy.

Thirdly, I learned that I need more readers for my blog. The character Julie blogged her way through Julia Child's cookbook. She had so many reader and people making comments all the time. Maybe it was because her blog was more of a conceptual blog where mine is just a daily summary of what I have done and what I am going to do with my personal opinions and thoughts thrown in for good measure. What do I need to do to get more readers? Not that I have many interesting things to say that should warrant more readers but it would be nice to know that people are reading my blog and that I'm not just sending it out there into the unknown void of cyberspace.

Fourthly, food looks sooo good on the big screen.

Fifthly, I want to go to France.

The last thing I learned from Julie & Julia is that you never put people on a pedestal or if you do, never plan on meeting them or interacting with them in any way, shape or form. Julie had put Julia on a pedestal to where she created Julia in her mind to be perfect...the perfect wife, friend, and cook. At the end Julie finds out something about Julia that devastates her and with good reason. It broke her heart. (Julia Child was still alive when Julie did her blogging/cooking her way through the cookbook.) Julie thought they had so much in common with being stuck in their lives and that they had this common bond where cooking saved them from themselves and in turn that made them sisters even though they had never met. But Julie ended up being so disappointed because she had made Julia to be this person that she never truly was.

That is the way it is though. You see someone you've never met (i.e. celebrity, missionary, preacher) and you create this perfect person in your head. How many times have you had a deep fascination with a celebrity and then you find out something horrible about them and you are crushed? You can never look at them the same. They weren't the person you had created them to be. But the truth is, no one is perfect. We are all human and have human thoughts. (That's deep, I know!) We all get angry, can be judgmental, say things we shouldn't, and do things and go to places we shouldn't. We should never measure ourselves to someone else or try to emulate them. The only person we should strive to be like or imitate is Jesus Christ. He is the only perfect person and all we need to do is try and be more like Him and in turn He will help us be the type of person He wants us to be for Him.

So thank you, Julia Child and Julie Powell, for reminding me what is important and not to waiver on my goal of being more like our Lord and Savior.

By the way, the movie was excellent and I highly recommend you go see it.

Settlin'

Is it really September 1st? It doesn't seem possible at all! In 10 days is my father's birthday and in 18 days is my sister (in-laws) 30th birthday. I can't believe it's the beginning of Fall already but I sure do love it! This is my favorite time of the year. The time where the air gets a little bit of a crisp to it and where the leaves start to turn to beautiful colors. I think Autumn is God's best work. Well, all God's work is best but there is something different about the Fall season. I always said when I get married I will get married in October. Could there be a better month? I don't really think there could be.

I had a fabulous weekend. Thursday night I went to dinner and a movie with a friend. We went to see the Time Traveler's Wife. It wasn't too bad. It had a few things in it that could have been left out and it was a little sad to me but it was a good movie. Saturday night I went to the Keith Urban/Sugarland concert. It was wonderful, fabulous, and awesome! I have pictures up on my facebook page if you hadn't seen it already. It was wonderful. Sugarland was just outstanding. I wish I could sing like Jennifer Nettles. I think she has one of the best voices out there. At least when she sings on stage (and dancing around) she stays on key...not like other blond country singers out there. :) Keith Urban was just the man. He was so good. I love to hear him talk. This was my first time to see him in person and he did not disappoint. He can play that guitar like no other...well, except for Brad Paisley. I believe he's a little bit better guitarist. But nonetheless, it was an amazing concert.

The highlight might though have been the drunk family sitting next to me. Notice the sarcasm in my typing. It was a couple who looked to be in their late 50's or early 60's and they had two young couples who I guessed were their two children and their significant others. They all came in with a full cup of beer each and before they had finished their glass someone would go make another beer run and fill every one's glasses back up. They had to have had at least three beers a piece before Sugarland (who sang first) were into their third song. At one point the man sitting right next to me spilt his beer all over him and part of my foot. Nice. Then he sang along with both Sugarland AND Keith Urban...badly! I didn't know that I paid to hear two concerts at the same time. They were a weird family and they got weirder the drunker they became. But in their defense, they were a nice family. They always said excuse me when they would pass by with their beer in hand. I hate alcohol! I just loathe it and will never understand why people want to drink or feel like they need it. I hate every aspect of it even if you drink in moderation. There are no excuses for drinking and no purpose. Ugh! Someone told me just this weekend that if you drink in moderation it's okay. What?! Do these people not read the Bible? Do they not read the FWB church covenant?! Ugh! Don't get me started. Also this person said that they don't say anything to people he knows that are drinking because they are a gluten and that's just as wrong. Maybe true but when you overeat you are only hurting yourself and when you drink you can kill an entire family. So don't give me that for not standing up to your principles or not standing up for what the Bible has to say. Whew! I've been holding that in for a little bit. I feel better now.

Anyway, tonight I'm going out with a friend for Mexican and then to see Julie & Julia. We have been wanting to see this for while and its the first time our schedules have cleared for us to meet up and go see it. I'm excited. I love girls night out. But after this, I'm done spending money for awhile. I'm still house hunting and as long as I keep going out to concerts and movies, I'll never be able to afford a house. I guess I need to start prioritizing.

Speaking of houses, Saturday I went to a seminar for a new loan that is out. I'm not going to mention the loan because it is so left-wing and liberal that I'll never endorse the company. But they have the best interest rates and they have this no money down and no closing costs. Then you can buy down your interest rate if you so choose. But if you choose to join up with this lender you have to sign a contract saying that you will participate in 5 acts of community service. These acts include demonstrations and civil disobedience. Uh-huh. Not for me. I am so conservative that there is no way you would see me out on a picket line. They have even gone so far as to throw furniture on bank CEO's and presidents' front lawn. They have busted down their gates before and trampled all over their yards. That's going a little far. The CEO of this lending company has been arrested more times than he can count and he calls himself an "urban terrorist". I don't think so. I am not going to support a company with these gorilla tactics so so I don't have to put money down on a house. It was insane, this seminar. I've realized there are some crazy people in this world.

Worship and NBA

This is a funny video I found on YouTube. I especially love the scores they post at the bottom. Hilarious. Enjoy!

The Mystery is Solved

Super T is apparently a performer. I guess he's call The Tyrone Smith Revue. You can check out his website here. He evidently played at Jenna Bush's wedding reception. Thanks to all my Facebook friends who knew what it was. I could have just googled it myself but what fun was that?! :) Kind of cool! :)

It's a bird....It's a plane...It's...

Super T?!

I saw this bus on my way home from work last night and thank goodness I had my camera and I quickly snapped a picture before the light turned green. Now many things went through my mind when I pulled up beside this bus. The first thought being "The A-Team" and that's only because a friend in AZ saw a van that looked just like the A-Team's van earlier this week so naturally that is what I thought of but then I looked more closely at the emblem and it's shaped like the superman emblem.

So what is this Super T? Is it some secret government operative? Is it a mobile dog groomer? Is it the headquarters of where all dark superheroes meet and fight crime? Hmmmm. Very interesting.

But seriously...what is Super T? Even the license plate says Super T? Any of you Nashvillians seen this riding around town? Inquiring minds want to know. :)

Oh Yawn....

I've come to the conclusion and even stated to a friend just this morning...I am boring. I don't know how many times I've told you all on here just how boring I am. What started my way of thinking today was this said friend and I were conversing back and forth about a blog we both read. This person is hilarious and leads a fascinating life. So I start wondering why I can't blog like that...oh wait...because I'm boring!! My friend was trying to be encouraging (well as encouraging as you can sound through an email) telling me that I'm not boring and that she loves reading my blog. For some reason, I can't quite believe her. :) So I'm here to remedy the situation. I am going to start being, or at least start writing more interesting things.

I think the problem is that I hate to make a fool of myself in front of people. I hate to think that people are thinking about me, "Man, this girl is stupid! She is such a cornball!" My mom tells me that I take myself too seriously. Perhaps I do. I probably do. I need to laugh at myself more.

By the way, I am a little bit of a cornball and a little cheesy. After all, I love The Osmonds! Aren't they known as the epitome of cheesiness? Which, for some reason, has always bothered me that people think that way of them. Why are they known as being so cheesy? Because they love each other and get along and that they have a deep faith (even if they completely miss the mark on that one) and don't drink, do drugs or even drink carbonated drinks? Whatever. It's not really a secret that I like the Osmonds. I have their music downloaded on my iPod. (Don't make fun.) But just because they are wholesome and good why is that being cheesy? But I digress....I like them. :) (and yes, Donny Osmond will be on Dancing with the Stars this season so you all know who I will be voting for.) Ha!

Anyway, I'm getting off point. I am declaring that I will no longer write the snoozefest of blogs that I've been writing and I really am going to try and blog more. I will find something interesting...so interesting that you will be like, "Man, I wish I had her life." Yeah, right. We will see. :)

Happy Wednesday!

Catching Up

Is it really almost September? I can't believe how fast this summer has flown by. Yesterday's weather was absolutely stunning. It was beautiful and the temperature wasn't scorching. The morning time actually felt like it was Fall. I loved it. It has been a crazy few weeks for me lately. My family and I went on vacation the day after we put our dog down. It was an unbelievable week. We went to Orange Beach at Gulf Shores, AL. Now I'm not really a beach person but I did have a good time.

Tropical Storm Claudette barely missed us head on but we did get a lot of her cloud cover and she produced some mighty big waves for us. It made it fun to body surf. I tried but the waves were not my friends and I got tired of tasting salt water so I just reverted to working on my tan. It was so much fun watching my niece and nephew though. You could not keep my nephew out of the water. He was so fearless. I have a few pictures up on my facebook page. We decided to take family pictures on the beach but I don't have those up yet. It was just a fun relaxing time. It was nice to just get up whenever you wanted. It was great to not have to worry about the phone or time it was. I eventually just turned my phone off. I had told my work before I left not to call me while I was gone because I wouldn't be answering my phone and I didn't. I turned it on silent and didn't answer anyone's call or text. It was great! But now I've been a little swamped trying to get caught back up at work. It was worth it though.

Last night was such a fun night. Our Ladies Prayer Group decided to have a girls night out and we went to The Factory in Franklin and painted pottery at Third Coast Clay. It was so much fun and the place was playing Louis Armstrong music all night. We all had a great time. These are amazing women and I really enjoy spending time with them all. I put pictures up on my Facebook page if you are interested in seeing them. I love The Factory. It was just a cool place to hang out. I definitely am going to go and spend a day there. There were so many neat little shops and eating places.

Not much else is going on except this weekend I'm going to the Keith Urban/Sugarland concert. I'm excited about that. I get to hang out with a friend from college that I hardly ever see. We always laugh so hard when we are together so I know I'm going to have a great time.

Happy Tuesday!

Butler

Today has been a hard day for me. I lost my dog, Butler. After 16 years we had to put him down. He was just too old and sick. It was time. It was hard to say good bye and I've cried most of the day today. I know it was for the best but that doesn't make it any easier. He was my baby and I loved him with all my heart and will miss him terribly.

Bye, Butler. I love you. You were a good boy.

Weekend Recap

Is it really Monday? The weekends are just too darn short. I say that for every week we work we get a week off. Of course, if we did that we would only be working every other week. You could just lump them all together and only work for six months at a time. Is there such a job? Oh wait....teachers! They get the whole summer off. I think they've got it right. :)We could all learn from teachers...more ways than just in the classroom. LOL!

Besides it being fast, my weekend went really well. Friday night I went to dinner and a movie with a friend. We were celebrating my birthday. I hadn't had Mexican in about four months and she knew I was craving it so badly so we went to Cozumel's. It was so good. They will make the guacamole dip right in front of you and it is so delicious! I could have eaten just that for dinner it was so good. After dinner we went to see Adam Sandler's new movie, Funny People. Don't go see it. It wasn't that good. One, it's forever long. The movie started at 7pm and we didn't get out of there until 9:45. Long. Then, it was just one disgusting joke after another. It did have it's funny moments but it was more awful than good. We should have gotten up and left but I just kept thinking it would get better. It didn't. I felt awful too because I chose the movie. So I'm sorry, my friend!

Saturday I went shopping with my mom and we were gone ALL day. But I was so happy. You probably won't understand this but my mom hasn't been shopping since Christmas. I only mentioned on here a few times and never talked about it much but my mother was extremely sick for the past six months. She was so ill that I had to move back home to help take care of her and the house. It was a rough six or seven months for us. But she's doing so much better so to see her get out and spend the whole day walking around and shopping was a wonderful thing. I'll never take her shopping with me for granted again. I honestly didn't think we would have a day like that again. Anyway, we went shopping because our family is going on a real vacation this year to Gulf Shores and neither one of us had anything to wear or bathing suits. So we left depressed. :)

Yesterday morning I heard the weirdest and strangest song on the radio. I didn't like it at all because I don't know how these people would know this but the title was If Jesus Walked the Earth Today He Would be a Hillbilly. Really? He would? How do they know he would be a hillbilly? I didn't care for the song at all. It's funny because Wednesday at church we were talking about songs that have no backup in the Scriptures or are just plain stupid like Drop Kick Me Jesus through the Goalposts of Life and The Devil is in the Phonebooth Dialing 9-1-1. Now I have to tell you that I have heard the last before. Some weird lady sang it at my church in Iowa. She was crazy so I wasn't surprised. It was a dumb song.

Sunday afternoon I drove around looked at some townhomes and houses in the area. I found a cute two bedroom two bath home about 5 miles from work. It's so cute but I'm not sure I want a house where I have to take care of a yard. Then I found some cute townhomes just a few miles from work. I wrote down the addresses and called my realtor. I have an appointment with her next week to go look at these homes. I'm excited. I'm so ready to get settled and have something of my own. I feel so displaced since I moved back home a few months ago and have all my stuff is in storage.

I'm excited that I'm cooking dinner tonight. I'm making porkchops. They are so good if I say so myself. They are baked but tasted just like they are fried. It's a light or low-fat recipe. I just realized. How boring is life when the most exciting thing you are doing is cooking porkchops? :)

Happy Monday!

Another Video

So I saw another video that I know you guys will love. I know I hardly post and now have I not only posted three days in a row but twice in one day. This video is full of cuteness! :) I love YouTube!! ~ You'll have to scroll down and pause my playlist.

Forever

I saw this on YouTube today and thought it was hilarious. I had heard something about this and then stumbled across it today. It's quite entertaining. I don't think I'll be doing this when I get married but I thought it was funny. Enjoy! *PS - You'll have to scroll down and pause my playlist.



The song that they danced to is called "Forever" by Chris Brown. Since the song was sung by Chris Brown and he was recently convicted of abusing his girlfriend, Rihanna, the couple is asking people to donate to the Sheila Wellstone Institute. Sheila Wells was an advocate in ending violence against women. I'm not asking you to donate but I thought you would be interested in hearing about that.

I hope you enjoyed the video. Have a great weekend!

Rambling Soapbox

Its the day after my birthday and I'm a little sad...no puppy. :( Oh well. Maybe some other day. I really wanted one but I'm sure the timing wasn't right. My office took me out to Cheddar's today and it was so good. I love that place. I don't go there very often but I love it.

Every morning I watch Good Morning America as I get ready for work. This morning I had seen a report on there that Obama was having two people to the White House for beers to settle some racist thing that he got himself involved in when he should have kept his mouth quiet. But I'll keep my opinions to myself on that. What I'm on a soapbox about today is the fact that they (being the media)are being so vocal about them having a few beers together. Now, I know people drink but is this really the message we want to send kids? The message that "Hey, let's settle our problems with alcohol." That's not the message I want my niece and nephew to see. It's not the message I want the youth in my church to see. We should not be settling our disputes with alcohol. Would the Lord bless a meeting like that? I'm all for being getting together and talking out their problems but when you add alcohol to the mix, I'm dead set against it.

If you haven't noticed I am strongly against alcohol. I don't believe it's right to drink under any circumstances. You can agree or disagree with me. If you drink, that's between you and the Lord but I don't get it. I know that there are scientific facts that say alcohol is good for you. But I don't totally buy that either. I'm more concerned in what the Scriptures say about it and what the Lord thinks of me. The Bible clearly says we are to stay away from any appearance of evil. I know alot of people don't think that drinking is evil or wrong in anyway but the effects of drinking can be. Why even put yourself in that position? The Bible also clearly says we are to be in the world and not of the world. We shouldn't be conforming to what others are doing just for the sake of fitting in or trying to win that person for the Lord. That's not how it works. If you are doing what they are doing then they are going to say why change if you are already involved in the same things they are. I know I've talked about it once before so I won't beat a dead horse.

I just was a little disturbed that they are almost praising the fact that Obama is having them over for a few beers. I just don't think that's a great message to anyone let alone the youth of today. There are better ways of settling disputes.

But what do I know? :)

Happy Birthday to Me!!

My poor poor poor neglected blog. I think it's almost time to put this baby to rest. I just haven't had the time or desire to blog. I look at some of my friends' blogs and they blog almost everyday. I just don't do that. I don't have anything to blog about every single day. My life is boring and so I just don't feel the want to blog. So don't be surprised if this turns out to be my last blog. We will see. Who knows? Maybe I'll get a second (or in this case, a 10th) wind and start blogging on a more consistent basis.

July was a busy month for me. We had our FWB National Convention last week and it wore me out. I think it's because I spend every minute at work in the weeks leading up to the convention getting ready for it. Then when you are at the National you are constantly moving...walking to somewhere. You are up early for competition and meetings and you are out late every night because of the nightly services. After the nightly services everyone goes out to eat at nearby restaurants. This year's National was special to me because all of my best friends were there this year. It rarely happens that we all together and this is the first time that we all were together in 2 years. Here is a picture of us all that we took the last morning together. We were all getting ready to head home.

The only ones missing were our friends, Jonathan and Maranda Lieupo. They weren't able to make it this year but we all still managed to have a great time. The guys, of course, made sure they made time for Rook. That was a staple when we all still lived near each other. We all sat together in services and then went out to eat together every night after the service. It was like nothing had changed with us. It was funny because as we were all walking down the street together to get some dinner and one of the guys mentioned how natural it felt for us to be going out to eat. Nothings changed with all of us and you couldn't tell that most of us hadn't seen each other in several years. That's when you know you have a true friendship. I feel so blessed to have such Godly friends and family. I don't know why God decided to bless me with them in my life but I'm so glad that He did. My life would be so lonely without them all.

Every Wednesday night at the National is always the Missions service. They have our International and Home Missions walk down the aisles of the auditorium and walk up on the stage. I love this part always. I guess part of the reason is I used to be apart of that when my parents were missionaries. But since I work for Home Missions now and I know all our missionaries it does something to my heart. When the missionaries started walking down the aisles to get to the stage everyone started clapping and giving them a standing ovation. It was so awesome to see them being honored by our denomination like that. I have a special place in my heart for missions and I was so overwhelmed that I started crying. My sister in law leaned over to me and said, "It's not always about the money. That's why we stay and do what we do." I knew exactly what she was talking about. I've been so discouraged lately with not having enough money to live on and I've contemplated leaving for a higher paying job for the past year. Someone had asked me why I stay at a job that doesn't pay much and I never could put it into words why I would stay. But after that night and after the statement Jenny made. I knew. It's a ministry. Yes, it's a job but it's more than that. It's a ministry. I have a hand in helping this missionaries win souls for Christ. I love our missionaries more than anything and my heart swelled with pride watching them up on that stage making a pledge before God and our denomination that they will fight the good fight and win more souls for Christ. I hope some day that I go into Home Missions again planting a church. If not, I'll keep doing what I'm doing and supporting our hard working missionaries every day here at my job.

The day we were leaving I went with my brother, his family, and youth group to Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. We spent most of our time at the kiddie rides but we had a blast. My brother, his wife, and myself have realized how old we are getting because we only rode one adult ride. The rest of the time we spent riding the kiddie rides with my niece and nephew. It was so wonderful though. My niece and nephews are such daredevils. They will ride anything and they had a blast. I got to ride a couple rides with my 17 month old nephew and he loved them. He would laugh and throw his hands in the air. It was so cute. We were all so exhausted though. After spending a week at the National followed by a day at an amusement park, I'm tired. It's taken several days to recuperate from it.

But! Today's my birthday. I turned the big 3-2 today. It's seems so unreal to be 32. I used to think that was so old, but I don't anymore. I still feel like I'm 12 sometimes. It was so great to get a phone call this morning from my brother and his family and they were all singing happy birthday to me. It was so sweet to hear my 3 year old niece sing that to me. I can't wait to hug and kiss her sweet face next week. I don't know exactly what I'm doing for my birthday today. I'm sure it will be low-key. Tomorrow my office is taking me out and I have no idea where we are going. I have to decide and I'm not good at deciding these things. Then I'm so excited that I'm going out to dinner Friday night with a friend and then to a movie. I finally get to eat Mexican! I haven't had Mexican in forever and so I know that's what I'm eating Friday night.

I still haven't received any presents so my fingers are still crossed for an American Bulldog puppy. I'm not holding my breath but there's always a chance. I'll let you know. :)

Watch Out...It's a Boring Blog

Oh boy, I didn't realize that It's been over a week since I updated this! I could have sworn I updated this sooner than that. Sorry. It's been a crazy week. I can't and won't give details but its just been a week that I can't wait to be over.My 4th of July went okay. I hung out at home most of the day and then went out to eat with some church friends and tried to watch the fireworks. I saw just a couple but that was it. It was raining so hard that it rained out the fireworks here. I was so bummed. I love fireworks. I guess it's the little kid in me but I love them so I was a little bit disappointed. We still had a good time though. When you are enjoying good food with good friends, there really isn't much to complain about.

My other blog More Than Just Kids seems to be taking off a bit. I get more hits on there than I do on this one. Ha! I'm enjoying writing it though. It scared me at first because I didn't know if I would have anything say since it pertains to a certain area of my life but so far so good. Of course it's only the third week. I've had several teens email me ideas or even just talking to me about what is going on their life. It's unbelievable what some teens are going through. It's so different now than when I was teen. Sometimes, I feel so inadequate talking to these teens but I feel the Lord leading me through all this and somehow I seem to have answers (whether they are the right ones are not could be debatable.) :)

The National convention is coming up and I'm so not ready for it...personally and workwise. I need to do some shopping but I hate clothes shopping. I would rather gouge my eye out than shop for clothes. I'm not a small girl and it seems as if designers think that if you are somewhat large that your clothes need to look like drapes or tablecloths. Maybe I'm not looking in the right stores but it's so depressing. But I know that I need to overcome my hatred for shopping and get it done before I leave. I have to also pack up things at work for our booth in the exhibit hall. I'm only half done. I feel like it just snuck up on me but I've known for a year when the convention was going to be. I'm just a huge procrastinator...or I just work really well under pressure. Which ever sounds better.

I got to see my brother yesterday, albeit for a total of 45 mins, if that. He brought up a few of his teens for Truth and Peace so he stopped by the office to see me and then off to the house to see mom for a bit before he headed back to Alabama. It was good to see him. I wish he could have brought his kids but it was good to spend time with just him. I'll get to see them in a couple of weeks at the National so I wasn't too sad to see him go.

There really isn't much going on here lately. Like I said in my title, it's a boring blog. It really was too. I'm so sorry to all of you who read to the end thinking it was going to get better. :)

Historical Moment

Today is an historical moment. It is my 100th blog post. I was told that when you hit your 100th blog post that you are supposed to list 100 things about yourself. I'm not going to bore you with 100 meaningless things about myself. Although you might find some things interesting. Maybe another day. But I never thought I would actually make it to 100 posts. I thought that I would lose interest in this and not last a week blogging but here I am still pressing on. Of course some posts were not interesting and some where more than you bargained for. :) But I'm having fun blogging and as long as you are reading it, I'll keep blogging.

Saturday is July 4th so we have tomorrow off at work. I'm so excited about that. What I'm most excited about is having two days in a row to sleep in. I love my sleep and I have been going to bed so late these past few days....darn Ice Road Truckers! I love that show. Have you seen it? It airs on the History channel and it's about truckers who make runs from Fairbanks, AK to Prudhoe Bay, AK. Evidently its a very dangerous job and there is no way I could do it. It's really cool though and I'm addicted.

Since it is July and my birthday is at the end of the month, I'm declaring the entire month a celebration of my birthday. LOL! I'll be 32 this year and I'm not sad or depressed at all at the thought of being another year older. Of course, I thought my life would be completely different than it is now (i.e. husband, kids) but I'm completely content with where I am right now. I'm about to purchase a home in the next couple of months, I have a great family, wonderful niece and nephew and some really great close friends that I love with my whole heart. My Lord and Savior has taken care of me and blessed me beyond measure so what do I have to be sad or depressed over? Are there things I wished I hadn't done in the last year? Sure. I've had my share of heartbreak this year over several circumstances but my God never left me. He's kept me in the palm of His hand guiding me and directing me. He's given me a peace this year after these heartbreaks like I've never known.

I'm excited and can't wait to see what my 32nd birthday will hold...hopefully a male American Bulldog who I will name Gibbs. :)

Really? Am I 5 again?

I'm having a lot of firsts this week. First I forgot my brother and sister (in laws) anniversary and then something happened to me at the end of Ladies Prayer Group Monday night that has never happened to me before, believe it or not. I got stuck in a bathroom stall. I felt like I was five years old all over again. LOL! The meeting had just gotten over and I was in a hurry because I was meeting a friend downtown (a good 20 mins from the church) and I was already running late but needed to make a quick trip to the ladies room. Now, I don't know about you but when I use the same restroom quite frequently (i.e. church, work) I tend to use the same stall. I don't know what that is about.

Anyway, for some strange reason (maybe the stars were out of whack) I decided to go in the first stall rather than the second. I had a hard time getting the thing locked in the first place (common sense should have told me something there). So when I was ready to leave I couldn't get the stupid thing to turn. I did everything I could think of doing. One of the other ladies got her key to try and pry it open but the lock wouldn't budge and her key nearly broke in half. Another friend of mine was trying to push the door up while I turned the key because she got stuck in this same stall not too long ago and that's what helped her. Well, it didn't help me. The lock was completely stuck and would not turn a centimeter. Ugh! So I ended up crawling underneath the door. How embarassing and now I've furthered embarassed myself by telling all of you.

I'm sure this was exactly the kind of blog you were planning on readying today, right? :)

I Chalk It Up To Old Age...if you call 31 old.

I did something that I never do and I still feel horrible about it. I forgot my brother and sister in law's wedding anniversary. I don't know how I forgot. I feel awful. I never forget those kind of things but it just happened. To make matters worse, my parents forgot about it as well and my sister in law's parents didn't call them on their anniversary either. They felt really badly as well. So we called them this morning to apologize profusely. My sister in law was very understanding and was laughing about it, especially when I got on the phone and started singing that Brenda Lee song I'm Sorry. My brother, on the other hand, sounded a little miffed at all of us, no matter how much we apologized for it. Oh well. He'll get over it. :) I'll just have to make it up to them somehow. Oh, their anniversary was on Sunday and we just called them about it on Tuesday morning. yikes! I guess they have reason to be a little bit miffed.

It was just a crazy weekend for us. We had a new music director try out at our church this past Sunday. On Saturday night we had a fellowship for them so our people could meet, ask questions, and get to know this person. Afterwards our band and praise team got together with them and worked on the service for Monday. Our current music director is going to seminary school out of town and so he and his wife will be moving next month. So we had a new person try out at our church and it was interesting. They are very talented. Terrific singer and extraordinary guitar player but every one's different, so it will be interesting to see how the church votes. I know how our band and praise team are voting and how they feel about things. I just hope the whole church is on the same page as we are. We will see. We are voting on Sunday so please pray for our church and the Lord's will in this matter. The music program is such an important part of the services and it's so crucial to get the right person for the job.

Last night we had Ladies Prayer Group and we had a fabulous time. I might have mentioned on here that we are studying the Proverbs 31 woman. I'm learning so much and enjoying every bit of the lessons. I'm not teaching the lessons this year so I'm getting so much more out of it since I'm not teaching it. Does that make sense? I usually am so worried over what I would say and what things I should leave in or leave out that I don't usually get anything out of it. But since I'm not teaching it I'm getting so much out of the lessons. It's been a nice break for me not to teach the lessons this year.

After that I met up with a college friend for dessert so we could catch up. We live in the same town but yet the only time we ever see each other is when we go to the National every year. Isn't that sad? So we decided to get together and hang out a little. It was so much fun. It made me miss all my college friends. I had the best friends in college and when you graduate sometimes you just lose touch with some of them. But with my friend last night, it was like no time had passed at all. We stayed until 11:30 pm in front of Maggie Moo's (yum) on West End Avenue just talking and laughing and watching the hugest rats I had ever seen go by. But needless to say, I'm extremely tired this morning since I didn't get into bed until almost 1am! It was worth it though.

I don't know if you noticed but I've added a link to my new blog on the right side of this blog. I had mentioned on here last week or two that I'm starting a new blog. I'll keep this one as well since this is my personal blog. The new one is for work and its called More Than Just Kids. It's geared more towards our missionary kids but its really for all teens and preteens and for anyone who wants to read it. So if you don't mind just mosey over there and give it a read. I will talk about my experience growing up in a home missionary family and all the adventures we had during that time. I'm also going to be discussing topics that the teens ask me to talk about and encourage them in any way I can. I've gotten some good feedback on it so please feel free to pass this along to your children or friends of yours. If you have any comments or topics you feel needs to be covered on it, please feel free to let me know. I'm always open to suggestions. You can go to the new blog here. I hope you enjoy it. I think I'll enjoy writing it. It's a subject I know all too well.

Happy Tuesday!

America's Got Talent

Last night was the season premiere of America's Got Talent. I usually don't watch it because it's filled with stupid, crazy and outrageous antics and also just some very bad talent. But it was on TV so I just endured the two hours that it as on. I'm sure glad I did because the very last act was well worth the two hours of agony of watching this show. I found it on YouTube this morning and wanted to share it with everyone. It's seven minutes long and will take just a minute to load but it will be worth it. I won't tell you the story since they do explain it in the clip but I just have to say that I love family harmony. There is nothing like it and I did bawl like a baby when I saw this. I'm such a sap. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: you will need to scroll down and pause my playlist so you can see/hear this clip.

Storms and Songs

My poor neglected blog. I've been so lazy about keeping up with it lately. There are days where I start writing something and then it sounds so boring to me that I know it would be boring to you. So I would always opt to not write anything at all. Anyway, yesterday early evening we had a summer thunderstorm come through Nashville. I love rain and thunderstorms so I was very comfortable sitting in my house watching roll through. It didn't last very long but it was a pretty strong one with a lot of lightening and plenty of wind. It actually looked like a monsoon out there with rain coming down in buckets. It was unbelievable the amount of rain we got in just the span of 30 minutes and with all the lightening we ended up losing our power for over 2 hours. We had a church softball game planned but of course that got rained out. So at seven, several us decided to meet up at Starbucks instead. It was nice and pleasant just sitting and talking with church members. Most of our side of town had lost power and many people that we knew who didn't go to our church was showing up at Starbucks to work on their computers or get out of the heat. It turned out to be a very nice evening with lots of friends, iced coffee, and laughter. Life's most unexpected events sometimes turn out to be one of life's greatest joys or blessings. I think that is a quote because something tells me I didn't just make that up. :)

Before I had left for Starbucks I was sitting in the dark reading a book and listening to the radio. I was listening to what they call easy listening but it was mostly 80's and early 90's music. Have you ever listened to a song and it instantly takes you back to the moment where you first heard that song? The song Glory of Love by Peter Cetera came on the radio and I was instantly transported back to 1986 and into my aunt and uncle's living room where I watched The Karate Kid Pt. 2 for the first time. I remember being in my pajamas snuggled in a sleeping bag on the floor with my brother and two cousins. We each had our own bowl of buttery popcorn and our favorite drink and were so excited to watch this sequel. I particularly remember watching the scene where Daniel and Kumiko were racing to this song on the shores of Okinawa (it was probably the shores of Los Angeles but it was meant to be the shores of Okinawa). They stop at this certain place and she tells Daniel of old customs her village would have and then they close their eyes and think of their dreams and pray that they would come true. I thought Ralph Macchio was the most good looking guy I had ever seen. He was tall, dark and handsome (every girl's dream, right?). It almost took me off guard though at how quickly I was placed back in time when I first heard that song. It did nothing but stir warm memories in my heart and make me long for the much simpler days of the life of a nine year old girl.