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!