Athens

A couple of Saturdays ago I got to go to Athens with my dear friend Lori for this thing called Ugapalooza at UGA. It was a concert put on by the a cappella singing groups there. All three of the groups were excellent, but The Accidentals (all men) were by far my favorite. My favorite two songs that they did were Everything by Michael Buble and Come Together by The Beatles. I had a great time and enjoyed getting to know Lori's daughters, Kali and Destiny. I left my camera at home by accident so Destiny snapped some shots for me. I want to go back to Athens and take some pictures soon -- I must have said, "That would be an amazing picture" a hundred times that evening! I hate it when I forget my camera!!

L to R- Me, Kali, Destiny, and Lori

This is "Dawgustus."

I am in love with this building. I seriously (ok - it just took me 5 tries to type "seriously" correctly) could look at it all day. It's an art building of some sort now. I will be taking more pictures of it in the near future. I don't know why it makes me so happy.

Little elves

Sarah, Micah and Isabella came over on Thursday to cheer me up after I got my ticket. How cute are these kids?!? Don't they just look like little elves with these crazy hats?The hats are actually sleeves to an old Coogi sweater (not mine or my husband's). I knew they had to be good for something!

ouch

Yeah so that whole plan about buying new socks to aid in my laziness? Not gonna happen. I got a speeding ticket on my way to work this morning. Yay. 62 in a 45. Yep. So there goes pretty much anything I was going to buy besides food for the next two or so months. *sigh*


It has been years since I got a ticket (since college...so about 5 years). I've never been one of those girls who could talk her way out of a ticket. Usually I am just so mad that I can't speak at all for fear of terrible consequences over my.big.mouth.. Seriously - I am usually fuming before Mr. Po-Po even gets to my window. I've never even tried to get out of one -- mostly because I knew I could take it home to good ol' Leesville and have some family member call some other family member to get that family member to call their daddy's brother's first wife's uncle to have it "fixed" for me. Gone are those days (unless I happen to get a ticket in LA. ha!). There will be no "fixing" of this ticket. But this morning, instead of being angry, I felt humbled (for lack of better word). I KNEW that I was speeding and I KNEW that I deserved that ticket. And he was so nice - not at all like the cops I have encountered in the past with their smugness and smart aleck remarks. He asked me if I wanted him to check the accuracy of the radar - and I was just like, um, no. I mean, I know I was speeding so there is no need to do that. (Which apparently was the not-so-wise-choice because since I was more than 10mph over the limit our insurance will go up. Boo.) Not that him checking the radar accuracy would have changed anything - I know I was speeding. It's very hard to go 45mph on a road with so many hills (Centennial Olympic for you Conyers folk). But anyway, this might sound totally weird, but aside from completely blowing our saving budget (I want a house and baby people!), I don't so much mind the ticket. I DESERVE IT. That's what happens when you are jammin' a little too much and let your foot get a little too heavy. And that makes me think about how in life I DESERVE so much less than I get. Or so much more (punishment/consequences). I DESERVE nothing. Well, I DESERVE death (thanks May family for that nugget of truth). But that's what's so amazing about grace. I don't deserve it but I get it anyway. Thank you Lord that there is nothing I can do to make you love me more. I would fail miserably with every effort. Thank you Lord that there is nothing I can do to make you love me less. Nothing at all. And that takes the burden off of trying so hard to get things right. Not that I don't want to live and do right (pleasing to God, not man), but I can't do it all right and that is ok. Because He has me and He's not lettin' go. Hallelujah! I am aware that the link between a speeding ticket and grace probably only makes since in my wacky mind, but I'm hoping you get something out of it too.

And I just have to say again how wonderful it is to be a part of the CCC Women's Group - though I do think we need a better name. You ladies pour out grace to each other and to me and I'm so blessed to get to see Jesus in you.

Random

I hate folding clothes. More specifically, I HATE matching socks. There are always missing socks, and I have a theory about that. This is my theory: all of the lint collected in the dryer and my husband's bellybutton is made up of those missing socks. Yep. It makes perfect sense. Really. It does.

And I have a plan.

I am getting rid of all the socks that are currently unmatched in my sock basket (which is ALL OF THEM) and I am buying new socks. But all of the new socks will be exactly the same so that I can just throw them in the basket unmatched and then reach into the basket at 7am (which I consider the butt crack of dawn) with my eyes still shut and still only pull out matching socks. Its brilliant really. I'll let you know how it goes.

*Even though I hate folding clothes, I am SO grateful to actually have clothes to fold. I am blessed.

Today's project.

I have today off (unexpectedly) and this is what I have accomplished so far...

and it's only 1:15pm! Yay for me. AND I worked out this morning. OK -- pick your jaw up off the floor. No, seriously. Wipe that look off your face. It hasn't been THAT long.

What have you accomplished today? Please leave a comment and share!

Happy Monday

I'll be back later with a better post (once it comes to me!) but until then here is a little something to tide you over.

Yep. That's me!

Faeries with Nunchucks

Ok. So maybe not.

But here's a cool (or scary if you are Sarah) story for ya...

So I grew up in what most people would consider the country -- 5 acres on a lake in rural Louisiana. We raised chickens all my life (for the eggs and the fun of it) and my parents still do. In our small Chicken Yard there is a small Chicken House - a little hut of a building where they go to roost (sleep). It has a flat roof so the leaves and pinestraw just pile up on top of it. Over the weekend my Dad was up on the roof raking all the leaves off and when he raked over a loose piece of tin, he was greeted by a coiled Chicken Snake. After nearly having a heart attack and falling off the roof (which he did later by the way....um...falling off that is...not a heart attack!) he beat it to death with the rake. It was 5 feet 8 inches long and as big around as a tennis ball for about 3 of those feet. Some biddies (baby chicks) had just hatched over Easter weekend and out of the 10 that hatched there are only 6 left - thanks to Mr. No Shoulders. Here's the proof:

If I had been at home, that snake would have been thoroughly dissected by now. But I'm weird like that.

The latest

One of five custom orders from my friend, Kristen.

Tagged!

I've been tagged! Jaime at Little Bird Creations tagged me for this meme.

Here are the rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So here are my 7 facts as they come to me:

1. I can shoot tears out of my left eye. I love it. My husband has banned this activity from our house.

2. I have traveled to all of these places and LOVED all of them: Mexico; Senegal, West Africa; Burkina Faso, West Africa; Paris, France; South Korea; and Japan. I have lots of stories from each of these places. I'd be glad to tell them to you.=)

3. I love pranks. Not pranks that permanently damage a person or their property, but good-seriously-well-thought-out pranks. . .especially the ones that take time and effort to pull off. I like pulling pranks and having them pulled on me.

Examples from college days: One weekend I returned to my dorm room to find that my ENTIRE ROOM had been put in wal-mart bags. I'm not kidding - if it would fit in a wal-mart bag it was in one. Most of them were hanging from the celing. I thought it was fantastic!

My friend and I took the tires off of our friend's car, put it up on blocks, and Saran Wrapped the tires to the car. I have pictures to prove this but they are at my parent's house. I'll have to see if I can get mama to email them to me.

4. Justin and I had only known each other for 9 months when we got married. It's been 3 1/2 years now. (That 9 months had nothing to do with babies. We don't have any yet.) =)

5. I love adventures and I try to turn even the most mundane boring things into one. As long as it doesn't involve falling out of or jumping off of something higher than the high dive, I'm all for it.

6. I really really really really don't want to live anywhere that Zach and Sarah don't live.

7. These are a few of my favorite things: music, pickles, Chick-Fil-A IceDream, singing, going barefoot, a great book and a long bath, learning to make new things, great pictures, singing around a campfire, hot chocolate, the lake I grew up on, singing, best friends that can read each other's minds, oh yeah -- and singing.


Ok - that was really random and if you were to ask me tomorrow I would probably tell you 7 completely different things!

But now I tag:

Kim at Today's Creative Blog
Manda at Sunshine and Poppies
Kris at Monkey Foot Designs
Em at 3 Peas in a Pod Designs

and anyone else who wants to do this!