Woo Hoo!

So for those that don't know.... I lived in Dallas for 3 years.  While I was there I lived with a family, that became a second family to me.  We are all still super close.
So they (Keith and Ann) have a daughter, Karley, that went to college at Pepperdine in Malibu last year.  For the past year and a half we have been talking about all meeting out in CA for a vacation.  Well..... I finally booked my flight last night.  So on Feb. 28 I will be meeting Keith, Ann, and Karley in LA.  We are staying there until Friday and then driving over to Vegas for a tournament that Karley is cheering at (She cheers for Pepperdine).  Then we will stay in Vegas for a night or two and fly home on Sunday.

I'm super excited!  I'm working on a list of things I want to do while I'm out there.  Since I've been running (Update on that:  I ran 3.5 miles yesterday!  I was pretty excited!  It's a big deal because my goal was to be able to run a 5k and that's basically what I did yesterday.), I want to run while I'm out there.  Ann is a big runner, so she said she will go with me.  That is obviously not at the top of my "to do" list, so I'm open for any suggestions about fun things!

About Me

1.  I love baths.  I take at least one every day.  Usually before I go to bed.  They help me sleep better.  I have been known to stay in there for hours at a time, not everytime though.  Most of the time I read. 
The worst part is I leave the water running the entire time.  Usually when the hot water is gone, that means it's time to get out.  I know it's bad for the environment, but I do other things to try and make up for it. 

2.  I think I'm a pretty sensitive person and I'm not good at hiding my emotions.  Not sensitive in the cry baby way.  Maybe it's more tender hearted.  I don't know, but I'm definitely not afraid to cry.

3.  I have major OCD when it comes to people sitting on my bed when it's made.  If its not made, have at it.

4.  One of my guilty pleasures if Britney Spears music.  Don't judge me.

5.  Most of my friends make fun of me because I blog.  Lucky for me, I don't care.  And a lot of them read my blog.  They think it's funny I read about people I don't really know. 

6.  I hate washing clothes.

7.  If I had a choice, I wouldn't get any older.  25 is a good age for me.  But it is soooo weird that I'm 25.

8.  I'm currently learning a lot about trusting the Lord.

9.  I have a lot of really good friends, who live all over the place. 

10.  I love my family.

11.  I hardly EVER drive over 2 RPMs.  (I think it's actually 2000) This usually means I average about 60MPH on the interstate.  I'm definitely in the slow lane with the grandma's! ha!
-I do this to save gas, just FYI. And it really does work.

12.  I love candles

13.  I love fresh flowers.

14.  Hydrangeas are my favorite flower.

15.  I love movies-going to the movies and watching them at home.  I especially love a good romantic comedy.

Ok, that's all I can think of for now.  I reserve the right to add more later!




BONUS:  These are currently a few of my favorite things:

Gatorade G2 (I've never liked Gatorade before, but I tried this and I'm addicted to it).

Dove Dark Chocolate

Weight Watcher Ice Cream Candy Bars

They taste like these...

But not as bad for you.  And they are so GOOD!

This

+

These! 

Home Improvement.

So this was one of the things on my to-do list this past weekend.

I documented the process.....

This was the problem (not really a problem, but just a plain boring wall)

I saw something on the Oxygen show "Tori and Dean." I know it's not a great show, but for some reason I like them.  Anyways, it triggered an idea. 

So.... I went to the thrift store and bought 7 of these:

(Old picture frames.  All of them are different.)

Then I bought some spray paint and painted them.

I broke several pieces of glass when I was trying to take them apart to paint them, so now I have to go and buy a few more frames just for the glass.  But they were only $1 each , so I think I can spare it.

These are a few of them after I painted them.  It was raining the day I did it, but I was determined to make it happen that day.

I was going to do 8x10 pictures but they are were more expensive than I really wanted to pay, so I had 5x7's printed out and got mats for them at Hobby Lobby (It endede up looking way better than the 8x10's).

The mats were white, so I just bought paint and painted them (Our den furniture is blue and brown).

While the mats dried, I hung the frames.

Then I added the mats and pictures.

A few of the frames

I acutally didn't paint this frame.  I just put it in the center and left it as is.

I'm pretty excited about the way it all turned out. 

In this picture, there is a frame missing on the bottom.  I accidently knocked it off of the wall and it shattered.  I guess that's what you get when you only pay a dollar for it.  I went and bought another frame today and tried painting it tonight......but I broke the spray thing off the top of the can so I can't paint it until I get a new can of paint :(  How I always manage to do stuff like that, I'll never know!

I actually painted it with a different can of paint I had and debated repainting all of them that color but opted to just wait.

I'm going to get ready for bed now.  My alarm is set for 5am.

Productive Weekend

I didn't do everything I needed to do this weekend, but I'm pretty excited about the things I did get done:

1.  Yesterday I had to run 2 miles to stay up on the training program Lacy and I are on.  I'm very proud to say that I ran the entire 2 miles.  That is definitely the longest I have ran in a long time.  And my time wasn't terrible.  It wasn't what it needs to be, but it wasn't bad.  (I promise I'm not going to talk about this all the time).  But, I am soooo sore today!  It's sad.

2.  I finished a project I have been working on for our house.  It turned out super cute!  I'll be posting pics later.

3.  I finished a bible study that I started back in August.  I managed to turn a 6 week study into 5 months.  This is probably the best bible study I have ever done. 

A close second would be Beth Moore's "Believing God." 
This was one of those studies that you feel like the person knows right where you are and is speaking directly to you.  The Lord revealed soooo much to me through this study. 
I had one video left to watch and I have been putting it off for a couple of months.  I'm not sure why, but tonight I decided to watch it.  It was EXACTLY what I needed to hear RIGHT NOW.  I seriously believe the Lord lined that timing up for me.  It was just so much that I needed to hear. I know I already said that, but it really was.

A couple of things I did that weren't on my "To Do" list:

1.  I have been wanting to go bowling forever.  Last night we finally got a group of people together to go.

2.  I saw "Up in the Air."  It was ok.  I don't think I would recommend spending money on it in the theater though.  Several people decided to go and see the Book of Eli (I think that's what its called).  I didn't want to see that (I hadn't heard of it and had no idea what it was about.  None of the girls really cared for it so I felt great about my decision). So I just went and watched a movie a different movie by myself while they saw that (And no, going to the movies by myself is not that big of a deal to me).

3.  My mom, sister, and I went and saw 101 Dalmations on broadway today.  I was NOT impressed with the costumes, but it was cute.

Overall, I'm feeling pretty good about my weekend!  I'm off tomorrow, so technically it's not over yet :)

FYI

I have so much to catch up on blogging wise, but just haven't felt like it.  But I wanted to post on mine and Lacy's working out...... we are still doing it.  And we are still going at 5am.  I went after work one day and hated it because I got home so late.

And..... we started training for THIS on Monday. Hopefully since I put it on here, it will hold me more accountable.  This will be a huge accomplishment for me.  I had "Finishing a 5K" on my "Bucket List" so this will definitely take care of that.

I told Lacy I am already winded just thinking about it!  And we are doing the 1/2 Marathon just in case you were wondering.  There are actually several people I know that will be doing it that day, so I think it will be fun--->;or as much fun as that can be.

Everyone kept saying that you will lose a lot of weight when you start running.  If that's the case, Lacy and I have decided we will be sporting a matching sports bra and spandex for the race :)  I'm just sorta kidding.  I talked to another friend that did it last year and she said she didn't lose that much weight, so it looks like we might need a new plan.

Just a few things I have learned since Monday:

-I am not a runner (I knew this before Monday, but I'm definitely feeling it this week.  Once in high school, we had to run suicides for cheerleading practice, somehow I finished first and you would have thought I won an Olympic Gold medal.  I was very proud.  That's about the extent of my running career though.)
-However, I can run farther than I thought I could
-Running takes a lot of self discipline
-I am way out of shape
-Old people are very encouraging.  (They are the only people at the gym in the mornings.)
-So far, it does not get easier the more you do it
-It's kind of expensive to enter these things, but you do get a "free" t-shirt- which I will wear ALL the time if when I finish it!

That's all for now.  Work has been incredibly crazy these past few weeks.  I'm hoping it will slow down soon!  I wish I could post all of the stories I have on here, but I think there may be laws or something against that.  Just know that some people are CRAZY!

Catch up....

I have lots of holiday pictures to post, but work is crazy so it doesn't look like it will happen this week.  I'm working today and tomorrow and then heading to Gatlinburg tomorrow night.  We have about 20 people going and staying  in a cabin.  I'm super excited! 

I'll be back on Monday so hopefully I can update all of my pictures then!

I'm kinda glad the holidays are almost over so things can get back to normal.

Happy (early) New Year!!!!!

Christmas Week Kick Off!

Last night we had our annual "High School Friends" Christmas Party.  Every year we vary on what we do-which is usually go to someone's house or go out to dinner.  This year we opted for dinner out because it's just easier.

It's so rare that people stay friends after high school, but I love these girls and we have so much fun everytime we get together. 

Me, Rachel, Lacey, Lacy

Nicole and I

Me and Bre

Courtney, Rachel, Lacey

I'm missing the group pic from last night.  My camera decided to quit working for it so I'm waiting on someone to post it on Facebook.

But here are previous years....

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2007 (AWFUL picture of me! ugh!)

Christmas 2006

Christmas 2005

I'm missing pics from years 2003 and 2004.  Those days were pre-digital camera and facebook so they are harder to come by.

Tonight we are having some people over to watch Christmas Vacation.  I haven't sat down and watched this whole movie in forever, so I'm pretty excited about it!

Merry Week of Christmas!

Happy May Saturday!

I'm a day late, but Happy May Saturday!

Last year.

Have you ever come to a place where you feel like the Lord is constantly showing you things about yourself?  I'm definitely there right now.  Unfortunetly, for now it seems like I'm starting to see a lot of areas that I didn't have as "together" as I would have liked to thought I did.  I guess the only way you learn these things is by being thrown/placed in situations that force you to take a good hard look at yourself. 
I'm hoping in the long run, this is a good place to be.  But for now, figuring out things I really need to work on = not the most fun I've ever had.

Last week, Matt Chandler (the pastor of the church I went to my last year in Dallas) had one of these kind of moments.  On Thanksgiving he had a seizure which ended up being the symptom of a brain tumor.  This is definitely one of those situations you hope you never find yourself in any part of (the person actually going through it, the wife/husband of this person, the friend, the family member, the child, etc). 
One day while I was feeding my blogging addiction, I read his wife's blog.  She didn't say anything hugely profound, but to me there just seemed to be such faith in everything she had written.  Then I clicked on a link to his blog.  He had written several things he was thankful for- one being his wife.  He quoted some of Proverbs 31.  This verse stuck out to me the most:
Proverbs 31:25
"She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come."

I don't know if I will ever be at a place where I "laugh at days to come." That almost seems crazy to me right now.  But I want to be at a place where I don't fear what God might be doing.  And if something happens that isn't part of my plan or I where I'm facing adversity, I don't just fall apart.  You can see from some of my past blog posts, that this is definitely a process in the making.  But I am finally at the place where I am grateful for the experiences I have had- both the good and what I would consider the bad.  But I have such a long way to go. 

After I started typing this post, I saw this.

Week 4

This week kicked off mine and Lacy's 4th week of 5:15am workouts!  I'm actually kinda starting to enjoy it.  The initial waking up process is terrible- I'm not a morning person!  But once we get there, I'm good.  We are working out in our church gym.  My favorite part...... the old people that are there every morning with us! haha!  They are so encouraging and unlike Lacy and I, they are morning people.  They are always smiling and have something witty to say.  Sometimes I don't know how to respond, so I just laugh and keep going.

Other Updates:

Thanksgiving:  I somehow failed to take any pictures.  I'm pretty bummed about it because my family from Houston was in town.  But it was great!

Black Friday:  Lindsey was in town and spent the night Thursday night so we could get up at 3am and be at the mall by 4.  My mom met us at my house and the 3 of us went out to battle the crazies!  Honestly, we got some good deals, but I'm not sure I will be gracing the Galleria with my presence at 4 in the morning next year.  But I think I said that last year too.

I haven't felt well this week and turns out it's because I have broncitis.  I have some meds. so hopefully I'll be good after the weekend.  My mom and I are heading to Memphis tomorrow to see Emma in her Wizard of Oz play.  We are pretty excited to see her!  And tomorrow morning I have my first of many Christmas parties of the season.  It's that time of year again!

1216 Family

I had dinner with these girls tonight..........

This picture isn't from tonight, but I love these girls and miss them a lot!  There's me, Maggie, Sis (my cousin), and Lorie. 

This is what I call my 1216 family.  When Sis and I first went to Alabama our dorm room was 1216.  We never really referenced it as Brittany and Kristen's room, but everyone always referred to it by 1216.  Well then our sophomore year Maggie and Sis moved into another house and Lorie and I moved into an apartment.  Sis and Maggie's house number was 1216.  So it just kinda stuck.

We have all known each other for ever, but became really close while we were at Alabama.  Sis and I lived together our freshman year (Just a random story:  the first day we moved into the dorm, our whole entire family came down.... grandparents, parents, siblings-probably close to 15 people- to help us move in.  We definitely had more people there than anyone else moving in that day.  I remember walking across the street to our sorority house after telling them goodbye for the "last" time and Sis quietly told me to keep walking and don't turn around.  Obviously, I'm going to and I look and there they are all lined up and every single one of them are crying.  For us, it was the first day of this big adventure, but it was like they watched us turn into women as we walked across the street.  You would have thought they would never see us again.  When in reality, they were all there the next weekend for the football game.)

Anyways, I have a lot of great memories with these girls.  Every Tuesday night we had "family night" where we would all get together and cook.  Then we would watch our favorite t.v. shows.  When the show The O.C. came out, we all skipped class for 2 days trying to catch up on the first season.  Not something I'm super proud of now, but at the time it was a lot of fun!  Family night grew to be a huge group of people and Maggie's sister and her friends (who are still at Alabama) still have there own version of family night.

These are some of the members of the original 1216 family.

The first picture is from what we call "1216 Comes to Dallas."  Which is basically when Sis, Maggie, and Lorie drove out to Dallas when I lived there (I guess that's pretty self explanatory!).

I have so many great memories with these people.  I would name a few more, but it's 1:15am and I'm pretty tired!  So that will have to wait!

We went to eat and then decided to go and see The Blind Side.  We drove across town to the 10:00pm showing and it was sold out when we got there.  That was a major bust.  I did however, let them talk me into buying a really cute pair of boots that I have no outfit to wear with them.  So now I have to find an outfit to match the shoes!  And after reading over those last two sentences, I realize how extremely shallow that sounds.

Now I'm off to bed.  My roomate is gone and I have officially freaked myself out like 100x!  I don't know why, because she couldn't really do anything if she was here.  Oh well, hopefully I will get some sleep!

**UPDATE:  After I posted this, I read this on another friend's blog.  Such a great reminder.

So I need to brag on myself for a moment.... my friend Lacy and I got up and were at the gym at 5:30am this morning.  I read in a magazine something about how you aren't supposed to tell people you are working out or trying to eat right because then you are less likely to do it.  The odds are already pretty against us so maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it, but I'm really not sure it will happen again so I need to boast while I still can!  (Side note:  By 9:30 I was ready for lunch and a nap......it's not looking good!)

I feel like Lacy has an advantage though because she has a 2 month old baby.  Why is that an advantage?  Because the hardest part is the actual getting out of the bed process and when you are already up at 4:45 feeding your baby, the hardest part of the battle is already won. 

Now, I do realize that I will have the advantage when I get to go home from work and take care of no one but myself while she is having to take care of a husband and 2 kids.  So maybe we are even.

I've wanted to post an update on what the Lord is teaching me right now, but everytime I try I just get overwhelmed and don't even know where to start. 

So to just sum it up very shortly..... I'm learning A LOT about faith and how to trust the Lord.  I heard someone say on Sunday that "the opposite of faith is not doubt, but disobedience." 

I'm also learning how to not worry or be anxious- which I think falls under the trusting the Lord stuff.  I'm definitely a work in progress in this area and I have a long way to go.  Taking every thought captive is a lot of work!  I'm such an analyzer.  I analyze every situation and over think waaaay to much!  Then the over analyzing turns into fear and then it can just go down hill from there.  So it's definitely a daily thing to just surrender it all over to the Lord.

I haven't posted pics of a lot of recent happenings so here are a few....

Several weeks ago we kicked off fall by havnig a camp out.  The bonfire didn't make it in the picture, but the moon walk did!  And yes, we definitely had a moon walk ran by a generator in the middle of the woods!

Stacey, Charli, and I in the moonwalk.

We also hosted a Pumpkin Carving contest at our house.  We had about 40 people over to carve pumpkins and eat soup.  I really just put this picture on here because I never did a post about where I live now.

This is the group of people that were left at the end of the night and all of the pumpkins.

Everyone carving their pumpkins in the driveway.

This is Autumn and I in are Bunk-o-ween costumes.  There were only 3 of us that dressed up.  And we basically just wrapped sheets around ourselves and said we were Greek goddesses or something like that.

This is my Halloween costume.  It took me forever to decide, but I finally decided on a gypsy.  It was actually really easy.  I had a fake nose ring that everyone kept asking me if it was real---I don't think I'm hard core enough for a nose ring.  I know you can't see the whole costume, but it was basically a skirt with boats.

I apologize if there are any misspelled words... I can't find the spell check since I updated my posting stuff.

Psalm 91

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust."

3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare

and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his feathers,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.

8 You will only observe with your eyes

and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you make the Most High your dwelling—

even the LORD, who is my refuge-

10 then no harm will befall you,

no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;

you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;

I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him

and show him my salvation."

A random little post

I saw on another blog where someone did a post of the pictures they had on their phone, so I thought I would post some of mine. Some of them are very random!

These were some cupcakes that I made for a friend's birthday.

My dog

Me and Karley when I was in Dallas last summer

Um.... this is something I saw in a magazine and I gave it to my cousin, Sis. I thought it was pretty hilarious!!!

It says, "Hey baby, want to rub some lotion on my back?" haha!

I know yall are going to think I'm so weird!  But I'm ok with it!

My sweet little buddy, Logan!

 
Logan and his dog.

Kaley

If I ever see something strange, I take a picture of it so everyone else can see it too. I thought this Easter Bunny was very disturbing. It's life size. I don't think any kid would want something like this.

Me and Dillion (one of the little kids I used to babysit).

Dillion, Kaydence, and Haley

Logan at the Zoo

Lake

My dad's father's day card. I had to add the "s" so it could be

from both me and my sister.

Kaley and Logan at the mall

Flowers

This is Eve. It was painted on a nursery wall at a church we helped out at. I just thought it was a little risque for the church nursery.

And here is Adam

 

The snake we/my friend Cody killed in our driveway.

Some more flowers that I really like the colors of.

Spiderman (AKA my friend Hunter)-My first experience at face painting at Children's Hospital