Friendship Part II

Ok - here's Part II of the Beach Trip pictures. I hope someone actually looks at these since it took a ridiculously long time to get this on here. You're welcome. =)

Seaside - sunglasses on

Sunglasses off

Seaside

I love pictures like this - -natural and un-posed.

Funny hats! I think I tried on every wide brimmed hat in the Florida panhandle that week. Seriously.

M & M still at Seaside

The Chapel at Seaside

We spotted this monstrosity somewhere between Rosemary Beach and Seaside. I mean really - what do you DO with a house that big (and ugly)?

One morning the boys got up really early to go fishing. They didn't have much luck, but Justin did catch this thing.

The Mays

The girls

The Moons

At Baytowne Wharf in SanDestin - the coolest little place ever.

Justin made me put this one on here -- he thinks it is hilarious. I have no idea why he looks like that.

Perhaps my favorite picture -- but you probably could have guessed that. This is at Baytowne Wharf on the dock.

This looks like a photo-shopped picture it is so pretty. I didn't touch it I swear!

Preciousness.

Yay! I'm just so happy that Sarah and I actually have a ton of pictures TOGETHER now!

Being silly.

Love this. And really - could my husbands eyelashes BE any longer? Gorgeous.

Zach's postcard picture

The biggest chair ever - notice the *warning* on each side. Ha!

Love the pink loin cloth.

And the ankle grass skirts.

So somehow my husband never flew a kite as a child. I know right?! Shocking! So we bought him a Osprey kite named Fluffy/Oscar (we were divided) and he "flyed" a kite for the first time our last day at the beach. Fun times.

You can't really tell from this picture, but Fluffy/Oscar was WAY up there. We ran out of string. Sad news though -- he didn't survive the flight back down. But at least he went out with a bang!

Don't ask me why - but this is what Justin chose to wear for our lunch movie hour. I think he makes a pretty good merman.

My little feetsies.

I love profile pictures. Notice the expression on Justin's face. ???

This was our last night in Florida. We ate at Uncle Ernie's - a fantastic restaurant right on St. Andrew's Bay.

Final group pic. What an amazing week!

There were dolphins in the bay right behind us as we ate dinner. Dolphins make me happy.=)

I am still completely unable to put into words the utter amazingness of this trip. Hopefully the pictures will speak for themselves. If you want to actually READ about the trip - go see Sarah.

Good grief.

When I sat down 30 minutes ago to write a post I had no idea of the events that were about to transpire in my kitchen. I was going to post the 2nd set of pictures from our Beach Trip, but now I have to tell you why my precious husband is scooping a sour creamy chickeny mess out of the drawer under our oven. I decided to get creative for dinner tonight - which usually means I throw caution and recipes to the wind and toss a bunch of whatever we happen to have on hand in a casserole dish. Tonight we happened to have chicken, black beans, Rotel (diced tomatoes and peppers), sour cream, cream cheese, corn, and flour tortillas. I lined the casserole dish with torn up tortillas, mixed everything else together (with some spices) and dumped it on top. All of that went smoothly and as planned. For maybe the first time in my life I actually preheated the oven -- to about 450 (not because it needed to be that hot - just because I am impatient and think that turning the temp up will get me fed faster). I'm still not sure exactly what happened next. I know that I opened the oven door and I think immediately after I opened it I reached for the casserole with both hands. I know I opened the door all the way - but for some reason it closed on my left forearm as I was leaning down to put the casserole in the oven. Since I had actually preheated it to a bajillion degrees it burned my arm and I dropped the casserole so I could get the door off of me. Of course, the casserole turned upside down and spilled all in the crack between the oven door and the oven. Since I was in pain and my mind quit working and everything was hot I just stood their staring at this huge mess and waste of what was to be a yummy dinner. I turned the water on to run it on my arm and of course it came out hot as crap even though I turned it to cold first. That's when I started crying. Justin wasn't home yet, and I didn't know how to clean up the oven and save dinner. I turned the oven off and started scooping up the chicken and stuff and putting it back into the dish. By the time Justin got home I had cleaned up what I thought was most of the mess, but when we opened the bottom drawer we saw where it all had really gone - on top of all our clean pots and pans. He shooed me away to tend to my arm (after hugs and laughs) and he's cleaning up the rest of the mess. The casserole (what I could save of it) is in the oven. It better be the freaking best meal I've ever made.

My arm hurts.

Friendship

Here it is - -the post about our beach trip with Zach and Sarah and my in-laws. I've had the pictures since Monday, but I've been having a really hard time finding adequate words to describe our week and how much I truly enjoyed the time spent with friends. So for the most part this post will be pictures with captions and hopefully the words will come later.

Geared up for the first day at the beach

Camp Helen State Park (or something like that) - this was the coolest tree ever so of course we had to take pictures in it!

Me and my babes.

Getting in and out of the tree was the most fun - I wish there was a picture of my trying to get in it. =) Fun times!

Camp Helen

Zach and Sarah

This old pier was the whole reason we went to Camp Helen - we wanted to get some pictures of and with it. Too bad we got there about 20 minutes before the park closed. We said we were gonna go back and shoot some more, but of course we didn't.

Zach got a new flash that is super cool and fun to play with so we'll be taking more pictures soon - when we actually have more than 5 minutes to play.

Smooch!

I love this picture of them. They match. Sarah hates to be matchey matchey, but I think it makes for cute pictures!

Seriously - why are kissy pictures so fun? I love them.

Help me! Help me! Poor little crawfish!

Mmmmm! We had some boiled crawfish one night and they were so yummy. Not quite spicy enough for me, but edible for everyone else.=) Sometimes I really miss Louisiana!

This is pretty much where we stayed if we were at the house - in the pool. One day I will have a pool in my back yard.

On the pontoon boat in St. Andrew's Bay - on our way to Shell Island

Another great pic -- and look at that water! We wanted to swim here sooo bad, but there were lots (LOTS!) of jellies and I'm terrified of them so that didn't happen. It was 20 or so feet deep but it looked like I could just reach in a touch the bottom. Amazing.

Justin caught a fish. Ha! He's a great fisherman - but the fish were not having it that day.

a closer look

Zach caught a fish too! I wish I had captured his face about 3 seconds after this picture -- the fish started flouncing all around and he nearly threw the pole in the water! It was so funny! He won't take the fish off of the hook. =) This fish did actually have real teeth though - so who can really blame him?

At Seaside (where the Truman Show was filmed).

In front of the Chapel at Seaside - yup. We might be the goofiest couple ever. And of course, I love this picture.

One.

Two.

Three!

The future Moon children will have these amazing little cars! They are called Plasma Cars and they hold up to 250lbs (fun for Mom and Dad too! ha!) and you just sit on it and wiggle the wheel back and forth and you start moving forward! They turn on a dime and we had a blast playing with them in the toy store at Seaside. =)

Ok - blogger is not letting my add more pictures at the moment and I have three more orders to fill today (yikes!) so I will post the 2nd half of the trip (We are only up to Wednesday!) this afternoon. And maybe the words will come by then.=)

I need your help...

**UPDATED** OK people - I asked nicely and no one has responded to my question. I'm very sad. Please, please, and pretty please help me out.

I'm doing a little research for a Bible study. Please leave me a comment and answer the following question as truthfully as possible (however harsh it may be), with as many or as few words as you like. It's up to you whether you leave your name or not.

What comes to mind when you hear the words "Evangelical Christian?"

Thanks a ton!

Well hello there!

I know, I know. Waiting 2 weeks between posts is unacceptable and I am truly sorry - BUT - I have been at the beach with the besties and the in-laws without a decent internet connection. It was an absolutely amazing trip and I will share all about at that as soon as possible - but I want to have pictures to go in the post and since my camera has gone kaput again, I have to wait until The Zach sends them to me. Hopefully he'll do that today and I can post either tonight or tomorrow about the trip.

I should be folding laundry and unpacking - or perhaps even working on the 4 orders that I have waiting on me - but I think I'm gonna curl up on the couch with the hubby and see if I can find You've Got Mail on the telly.

I'll be back soon - promise!

P.S. WE GOT THE HOUSE!! The inspection is tomorrow so as long as there isn't some crazy huge crack in the foundation or a pack of man eating spiders in the attic the house is ours. Thanks for all the prayers!

Sheesh and wow.

We are trying to buy a house. We don't have just tons of money laying around so it has taken quite sometime to find something that we like, that is in decent shape, in a good neighborhood/area, and that WE CAN AFFORD. Well, much to our surprise, we found one this past week kinda out of the blue. We absolutely LOVE IT, it needs very little work, and it is very much in our meager price range. We have an offer in on it now so hopefully we will hear back today from our realtor.

The unfortunate thing is that we happen to live in an apartment complex with the STRICTEST "BREAKING LEASE" POLICY EVER. It will actually be cheaper for us to just finish out our lease and pay both rent and mortgage for Sept and Oct than to break our lease. That boggles my mind. But anyway -- that is what is going on with me. It is what is consuming my mind.

Right now we are playing the "waiting game" and I am quite possibly the worst "waiter" ever so I'm pretty sure I am already driving my husband and friends crazy. Sorry bout that guys. Hopefully it will all be over soon and we'll have a house.

So while you are thinking about it, please pray that everything works out and we get the house (however selfish that might be - I'm still praying it) and that I'm able to be patient without losing all of my hair.

Thanks friends -- y'all are the best!

Tagged!

Hello friends! I can't believe it has been over a week since I've posted. It's good to be back.=)

Memorial Day weekend was great -- lots of time was spent at the pool, in the sun, and with friends. I spent the rest of the week in Louisiana with my family and it was wonderful. There will be more about that when my mom sends me the pictures -- which could take a while because she claims she doesn't remember how to upload them to the computer.

Lisa of The Girl Indie Blog tagged me to tell 5 unimportant things about myself. This turned out to be harder than expected - it seems I think everything about me is important! But here's my best shot anyway...

1. In high school a girlfriend, two guy friends, and I decided to be morticians for job shadowing day. I got to see all the behind the scenes stuff at the funeral home and lay in a casket (but I did NOT let them close the lid -- see 1b). I watched as they drained all the blood from and then embalmed a body. I learned how they keep the eyes and mouth shut. It was amazingly interesting. I was the only one of the four of us that stayed for the whole thing and didn't get sick. I thought it was fascinating!

1b. I am claustrophobic.

2. Every night I sleep with my teddy bear that Justin gave me right before he left for Korea, a light blocking eye mask, and a body pillow.

3. I hate mayonnaise and the word "crusty." Those two things aren't really related, but I now that I think about it, crusty mayonnaise might just be the worst thing ever. Like, ever ever. Ack and double ack.

4. My left boob is a little bit bigger than my right and it really annoys me. I hear this is normal though (please don't tell me if it isn't).

5. I like to wear my hair in pigtails. Right now I am wearing my dirty ol' UGA cap with pigtails sticking out of the bottom. I look like this at least 3 days out of the week.

I feel like that was really boring - sorry!

But now I tag:

Sarah
Leslie
Mary
and any other bloggy friends that want to do it!

Don't forget to leave a comment for the people you tag to let them know, and then link to their blog!

In case you get bored...

I've been super bored today. I was all ready to go to the pool and then the thunder started and hasn't stopped since. Boo thunder. But my oh-so-wonderful husband decided to email me a list of things I could be doing instead of complaining to him (via email). So the next time YOU are bored try these:

Think of places to go bathing suit shopping

Run around the house

Play the guitar

Let me buy a motorcycle (which I will not by the way)

Let ice melt in your belly button

Spit on bugs

Make a carpet angel

Throw carrots at the wall and see if they go through

Suck spaghetti noodles through your nose and out your mouth to floss your sinus area

Hit apples off the balcony with my racquetball racquet

See how high you can stack books w/out them falling

Build a card castle

Watch water boil

Build an indoor campsite

Kill wasps with hairspray (or quilt basting spray -- like I just did)

Tie your shoelaces together and practice walking

Burn fabric with an iron

Use a utensil with your feet

Tie your legs together and jump around

Juggle tennis balls

See how many slices of bread you can fit in your mouth

Eat of spoonful of half-sugar, half-salt

Blow peanuts out of your nose

Duct tape your mouth shut and see how long you can leave it

Play yourself in paper football and win

Put all pictures in your album upside down

Melt ice between your butt cheeks

Walk on thumb tacks (with shoes) and see how many stick

Play apartment golf

Put all your pillows outside

Tie all your towels together to climb down the balcony

Burn said towel rope and see if you can beat the flames up

Siphon water out of the bathtub into the toilet

Run around the complex holding your hands up the whole time

Of course what ge could have said was "Get off your butt and clean the house!" but he didn't and that's just one more reason to love him. =)

For Lisa....

So I just got a comment on "The Latest" asking how much I charge for a personalized Burpie Set. The thing is - no email address was left and since I know a couple of Lisa's I am just going to reply here for the world to see. The sets are $20 plus shipping. That price includes the name on the burpie and an initial on the bib. =)

The lastest

I just finished this etsy order:

It might be my favorite so far! I'm not sure why I like it so much - probably because it has green and brown and I'm a little bit obsessed with those two colors right now.

My Momma.

Love. That is the word that comes to mind when I think about my mother. She embodies love, and I have never once even thought of questioning her love for me. She has demonstrated it everyday of my life – even now that we live hours apart.

I sat down yesterday to make a little list of some of my favorite memories of Momma and of things that she has taught me and passed on to me through the years. What I thought would be a simple list of things that I could expound on and blog about today became a two page list that I could not “narrow down” even if I wanted to. So, dear readers, know that this post is long and drawn out and probably way too detailed, but it is for my mom. I want you to read it and know what an amazing and wonderful person she is, but MOST IMPORTANTLY I want her to read it and know that I love her and she means the world to me.

Momma, I love you and you mean the world to me. You know me better than almost anyone so I know that you know how out of character it is for me to write this. Douglas is the letter writer – I am the gift sender. I am terrible at expressing my true feelings around you and the rest of my immediate family – happy, sad, and everything in between. It is not that I want to keep these things from you or that I am embarrassed to say it – it’s a self preservation thing that even I don’t understand most of the time. Sometimes I’m afraid that my heart will explode and the tears will never stop (again, happy or sad) if I show any kind of emotion. I know you know this already – you’ve seen it time and again. But just because I have an issue sometimes with saying the words and talking about stuff doesn’t mean that I don’t love you or respect you or think that you are pretty much the greatest thing since sliced bread (or dill pickles).

My childhood was off the charts wonderful. I always knew to a certain extent that I was very blessed to have you and daddy as my parents, but now I understand more and more how truly rare my childhood and adolescence was and how great it is to have the relationship with you that I have today. I’ve been reminded in recent days from listening to so many of the ladies in my Bible Study tell their own stories – stories that are very, very different from my own. I am truly blessed.

We have wonderful memories. I remember going for walks and picnics pulling the little red wagon full of snacks. We would sing “The Ants Go Marching” over and over again and Douglas would make up words to it. We would find huge mushrooms that we called “boats” and we would walk around collecting feathers and flowers and pebbles to use for the boat’s decorations. We would search for the perfect stick and leaf to make the “sail” and then once it was “just right” we would go down to the swimming hole and set it out to “sea.”

I remember you hitting the rooster in the head with your high heeled shoe when it jumped me and Doug that Sunday after church. We learned not to lick the “beaters” with mashed potatoes on them in front of the chicken yard.

I remember building tents in the living room. You are the best living-room-tent-builder. We would use every sheet and blanket and clothespin in the house and then you would make popcorn and we would spend hours just playing under there.

I remember The Tea Lady and her crazy antics in the bathtub.

I remember riding all the way to the Camp on our bikes and the time we saw the water moccasin on Bobby Stewart Road and flagged Bobby down to kill it. He shot its head off and I remember thinking that I wanted to do that one day.

I remember standing on a chair in the old utility room so you could hem or pin or adjust whatever Halloween costume or pageant dress that you were sewing at the moment. I remember complaining incessantly about that part, but being so happy when Doug and I won the Costume Contest . . . again.

I remember the three of us swimming across the lake with only one float and how you would scream and pretend a turtle had bitten your toe and how I couldn’t get my whole body onto that float fast enough. I remember you thinking that was hilarious and me thinking that you should be kicked in the head.

I remember summer lunches in the cafeteria at the camp and Indian Campfires.

I remember that you believed me when, at the age of seven, I climbed down from that tree in the backyard and told you that “Jesus now lives in my heart.” It was true.

Yes, my childhood was wonderful.

I remember being so excited about my first youth group trip to MissionFuge the summer of 1997. Our group was leaving the church at some ungodly hour the next morning and Troy and I had already been on the phone for hours talking about how much fun we were going to have. I remember that around midnight or so you looked at me (still in the phone) and said, “Go load your stuff in the car. We’ll go over there.” There was no chance I was going to let you sleep anyway, so we loaded my stuff, drove to Troy’s and sat up talking all night with him and his mom. I vaguely remember falling asleep next to Troy on the floor of the living room shortly before it was time to leave for camp.

I remember wanting to be a cheerleader, like, my whole life. When I finally got the chance to try out as a freshman and made the squad I was thrilled. Little did I know that the coach would turn out to be one of the most manipulative, mean spirited, bitchy people ever to walk the earth and that I would loathe ever minute of being on that squad. I remember you not letting me quit – even when I cried and begged and cried some more. I didn’t understand then – you were trying to teach me to finish what I started – even if it was hard. What a life lesson learned there!

I remember you sleeping with me in my bed when I watched a scary movie or read a scary book and didn’t want to be alone in the dark.

I remember you staying up with me until all hours of the night writing paper after paper for my English IV class through LSU. We did an entire 2 semesters worth of work from January to April and I managed to graduate and walk with the Anacoco High School class of 2001. We both know that that would not have happened without you. At least I know that. Hopefully now you do too. It also wouldn’t have happened without Nash – he totally let me copy his geometry and chemistry homework every night of my life that year.

I remember coming home from two trips to Africa and seeing you and daddy standing in the airport with your arms open wide. It was your prayers that got me through that second trip. I cherish your prayers.

I remember making moles for chemistry. Stupid, stupid chemistry.

I remember knowing without a doubt that if I randomly showed up at the house with say, 10 college friends that you would cook for us no matter what hour of the night we showed up.

I remember thinking that my car had been stolen from the Esplanade Mall parking lot for thirty minutes or so and then realizing after a near panic attack on both of our parts that we were just on the wrong side of the mall. How were we supposed to know that the food court had IDENTICAL parking lots on each side of the mall? And I remember Papa making fun of us when we told him about it that night.

I remember watching you make my wedding cake the morning of my wedding.

I remember you letting me move home from Hawaii after I had a serious nervous breakdown from being separated from Justin. I remember you letting me move home from Korea when we decided I needed to return to the States and get a job. Basically I know that I can come home any time I need to and you will take care of me.

I remember that when all the crap went down with the church and what they accused me of that you (and daddy) never even asked me if any of it was true. You knew it wasn’t and that still means the world to me. I was having to defend myself to people that SHOULD HAVE KNOWN none of it was true and the fact that you didn’t make me defend myself to you spoke more love to me than you will ever know.

There are millions more memories like those.

You are the best momma ever and I would not be the woman that I am today had it not been for you. You raised me to the glory and honor of God and I know that He is so proud of the job you have done. I know I’m married now and not under your roof anymore, but you will always be my momma and I am forever grateful for that. I pray you know how much I love you and that when I fail to show it in normal ways (lets face it, I am so not normal!) that you can look back on this and know that it is true. Thank you for being who you are and for loving me the way you do.

Field Trip

Gracie's class had a field trip yesterday to The World of Coca-Cola and The Varsity and I got to go with her. We had a great time! We rode up there with two other girls in her class and their moms (grandma). I was in the back with the girls so I had to try really hard to hear the adult conversations taking place in the front seat. The three 6 year olds in the back with me were loud and throughout the course of the trip to Atlanta and back these are some snippits of what I overheard while trying to hold conversations of my own with the grown ups...

Grace: Mrs. Stephanie has a pool and a creek and a pond and rocks and stairs and a playground at her house.
Kid 1: Mrs. Stephanie... I'm coming to stay with you ok?
Kid 2: Me too! Me too! Me too! ME TOOOOOOOOO!
Me: Huh? Sure babes. Come on.

a few minutes later


Grace: Mrs. Stephanie sings in a band.
Kid 1: Really? Sing something Mrs. Stephanie!
Kid 2: Yeah sing something! Sing something! SIIIING SOOOOOOOOOOOOMETHING!
Me: What? Oh yeah - I am in a band.
Grace: Will you sing the bear song? Do it in your absolute best singing voice. I mean, please do it in your best singing voice Mrs. Stephanie.
Me: (praying that the ladies in the front seat are oblivious to what's going on in the back) sings:

"Bears, bears, they got no cares

Bears don't drink from a cup

Sharp teeth and claws and furry paws

To catch you and eat you up.

No grizzly bears don't wear underwear

Sock nor jammies nor gloves!

No baby bears don't wear diapers

No Pampers, no Huggies, No Luvs!"

Grace: That wasn't it.

Me: That soooo WAS it -- that was the bear song and that was my absolute best voice.
Grace: No it wasn't. Use the voice you use when you sing with the man on the cd.
Me: {thinking...thinking...lightbulb! She wants me to sing the harmony part!} so I sing it all again but this time I sing the harmony instead of the melody and Grace is all smiles and then there was endless applause and a standing ovation. Ok not really. But there was applause.
Grace: {looks at Kid #1 all I-told-you-so-ish} I TOLD YOU she could sing.


a few more minutes later when the car is completely quiet...


Grace: Mrs. Stephanie can shoot tears out of her eyes.
Front and back seats: HAHAHAHAHA!
Me: Oh good grief Grace! How do you even KNOW that?
Grace: 'Cause you showed me while you were sitting on the picnic table at that lady's house who has the dog named Georgia (Lori's house)
Front seat: Don't worry. Kid #1 does that to me ALL the time.


and yet a few more minutes later while we are completely lost in downtown Atlanta trying to find the interstate... (mind you, I wasn't driving)


Kids: Let's make up songs!
Kid #1: Grace, make up a song about Mrs. Stephanie!
Grace: in her most country accent "Oh Mrs. Stephanie is sittin' on the couch with her hairy armpits....."
Me: Grace Ansley! That was ONE time and it was winter and that was supposed to be our secret you little stinker!!

Oh the things I deal with everyday! I can only imagine that it's a million times worse when they are your own kids! Apparently the other moms saw all of Grace's crazy antics as a sure sign that she is attached to me. At least that's what they told me! So I guess this is a good thing. =)

And just so you know, I am totally blaming The World of Coke for the hyperness of these kids on the way home. They let you taste 64 different coke products as many times as you want and most of them have caffeine. Yeah.

Enjoy a couple of pics from our day:

This is the lobby of The World of Coke. They have these bottles all over the whole place and they were made and decorated by people in different countries. My favorite is the one with the bright stripes at the top - it's from South Africa and is made entirely of seed beads!

The girls in Grace's class. Kid #1 and #2 are on the right, respectively.=)

The rest of the pictures from the Coke place are on another camera that happens to belong to Grace's parents. I'll have to get those and post them later.

Grace at The Varsity - she ate two whole cheese burgers!

The only picture of the two of us from the whole day.=(

My life

Music is a huge part of my life. In fact, at pretty much any moment of any day (except today, because I am sick and sound like a dying goat in a hail storm) if you just happened to peek in on my life, I am probably singing, or humming, or whistling, or listening, or, or...you get it. I'm so grateful that I get to spend a good bit of my time leading fellow believers in worship, for this is my heart.

Zach and I for Sing Great @ 8 - a Night of Worship we do in Atlanta

At Inside Out

The Set List for Inside Out - a once a month night of worship in Conyers

The Zach and I at Sing Great

Mary, me, and Kristi at Sing Great. Kristi was in from Hawaii (her husband is stationed there) for a few days, and this was the only time I got to see her!

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!