give THANKS

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Christmas, family, friends, giving Thanks, Thanksgiving

We were SO very fortunate to be able to go back home for Thanksgiving. I love this holiday, it’s all about family and love and praising God for the blessings He’s given us when we don’t deserve it. It’s even more special because Tony and I’s parents live about 20 minutes away from each other we celebrate the holiday all together, no alternating between the parents, no missing out, we’re all together under one warm roof. Thank you Lord, for that.

I also spent a few days with my dearest friends. It’s been a tradition to visit my very best friends the night of Thanksgiving mostly because that’s the one night everyone is together and it just works out for all us. Thankfully, and hopefully their families don’t mind so much. My friendships with these girls are CHERISHED, for when I’m away 600 miles and we’re back together, nothing skips a beat. It’s a TRUE friendship, an ACCOUNTABLE friendship, a LOVED friendship. Thank you Lord, for that.

I was able to partake in black Friday shopping with my mom. I know, I know, for some it’s absolutely ridiculous and for others, it’s the pinnacle of Thanksgiving. And yes I do admit, staying up til 12 or waking up at 4 to get inline to go to a store to buy things it’s a little ridiculous, it’s it’s kind of fun. And mostly because I can spend it with my mom, even if it’s just walking around, or shopping together, it’s time well spent. Thank you Lord, for that.

A meal around the table with my parents, my brothers and sisters in law and friends is one of my FAVORITE things ever. The last night we were in town, we had Tony’s younger brother and sister Chris and Shannon, and Chris’s girlfriend Megan, and my mom’s friend Etta, come over for a filipino meal. There’s something magical about having a meal together, without the t.v.. It’s community and fellowship over a meal that was cooked under our own house, with money that was spent for the food, purely for luxury. There was a lot of laughter and afterwards, a game of wii bowling! And I have to add that I proudly won the battle between Chris and I! But as I sat waiting for my turn, I felt the warmth of friendship and togetherness. Thank you Lord, for that.

We put up Christmas tree with the help of our used-to-be-but-still-are-even-though-we’re-out-of-state mentors and friends, the Mullins. They were kind enough to come over to our house and catch up and watch us put the home-made ornaments on our tree. The lights were going, the heater was warming, the stockings were hung up with care. Christmas isn’t about the lights though, nor is about the presents, or the bing crosby album, or home-made wreaths. It’s solely about the birth of a child, the son of God, our perfect Father who loves and loves to the end of the earth, that would later sacrifice himself for all of US, all our faults, all our wrong doings, all our we-know-betters. That special night has been hallmarked, and I admit I do partake in the red and white stockings, the Christmas lights, and the new Michael Buble album about winter wonderlands and silver bells. All that can be fun, but let us not FORGET the true REASON of why we are here, the sweet babe that was born into our world, to save US. Thank you Lord, for that.

fall fall fall

you’re finally here! an excuse to wear sweaters and scarves and boots and special coffee drinks. I welcome your cooler weather and beautiful changing leaves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a great week and weekend. We went to Chattanooga for the night and it was so very nice. We had a nice dinner at a lovely restaurant and then found the local coffee shop where we shared a huge soup-bowl mug of a white mocha latte. The next day we drove around Chattanooga’s scenic roads and found ourselves at the top of look out mountain over looking the greens, golds and reds of the land. I honestly don’t think I could even think of the creativity and beauty that God has. It’s almost kind of simple how red, orange and yellow can become rust, gold and tangerine to paint a beautiful picture sitting on a dark tree trunk.

It was just a great weekend for Tony and I to have together enjoying each others company. We have busy schedules and there’s never really weeks were I wonder “wow I haven’t seen him for a few days”. Thankfully, he only has 2-3 nights of odd hours, but I still cherish the weekends or nights where we eat dinner at a reasonable hour and not have to rush to get to bed because we have to get up early in the morning.

Breathe.

it’s almost that time of year again

I figured I would let some of the pictures do the talking…

Our mini-vacay, weekend trip to Myrtle Beach, SC was SO relaxing. No work phone calls, emails, or anything, just me, and Tony and the beach. It was so wonderful to get away by ourselves to enjoy each other and God’s SO good creation: the beach.

I went home for a week to spend time with my dad while my mom is outta town, but I managed to sneak a trip to the TX state fair that I haven’t been to in a few years. Nothing like seeing that big ole ferris wheel, and I tried this years fried food…fried butter! Which was actually divine because it was more of a butttery biscuit mix deep fried and rolled in sugar cinnamon and honey. Yum-O!

Had to sneak in a little bit of wonderful friend time

At our work employee appreciation day, it was hosted at the Nashville Zoo! Got to hang out w/ these majestic creatures and beautiful tigers for a few hours on a gorgeous Friday afternoon.

Had to get a little silly.

This up coming weekend I am so excited as we are going to Chattanooga to see the fall leaves in it’s glory, and have another mini “vacation”. Can’t to take and post pictures of the amazing art my God can create!

food

This may not be a new realization but I feel like I’m realizing all over again that I love food. And not in a “I eat unhealthily every 2 hours” way but I love food blogs, pictures of food, new recipes, making it, baking it, I think it’s a beautiful thing..is that odd? Everyone should enjoy what they eat. I never really cooked much when I was younger, my family and I were very fortunate and blessed to have a full time nanny that made all our meals and lunches, and you would either think that I would hate to cook or that I didn’t know how, now in my 20s. But really, I LOVE to cook and I’m pretty good at it I believe. I might have..2 bad meals a month? I have a joy in finding beauty in food and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

Which sorta leads into what’s been on my heart lately, emphasized by my pastor at church this past Sunday. “What is the current substitute for GOD?”

That’s a huge question, and very honest, and even if you don’t physically say it out loud..most of the time the answer is already right on your heart and on the tip of your tongue. I wouldn’t say I have an obsession of food, but I can very much thing what a certain food can do and what it can’t do for it. Which leads very “rabbit trail like” into what I think about myself and what I think others think about myself..what I’m supposed to look like. What I’m supposed to be doing. What I’m supposed to be wearing. It’s SO very easy to get wrapped up in the spider web of appearance and self consciousness, especially now where twit pics and facebook and social networks come in faster than the fastest pizza delivery. Where text messages come in so much quicker than it should. I get so focused on things, I’m human, I forget that I’ve put all that before my relationship with God and CULTIVATING it and focusing on HIS purpose for me. I forget to CULTIVATE relationships with others, to be encouraging others TRULY encouraging others rather than wondering what they think of me.

Sometimes I wish I could plunge into an ocean and come out with all the answers and kind of a fresh start. And I know with the sacrifice at the cross, I am forgiven and have been given love and freedom. But I distract myself with such crazy things like TV, thoughts, fillers… I want to be rich in relationship with the creator, I want to have invested friendships and relationships. And being a DOER. It’s a challenge, and I pray that you will be convicted to look at your life from the outside, as I am doing now. I pray that we encourage each other through this journey of life. That our eyes are truly fixed on the One who has given us LIFE.

fall is upon us

Another half of a year has gone by and I can’t believe the sights and smells of fall are just around the corner. We just recently came back from hot as heck Texas and I am reminded every time of how blessed I was to live in that state…and how I wouldn’t think twice about moving back, I would have my bags packed in a day.

Right now, sometimes I feel like I’m in a fork in a road, I could go anywhere, I could do anything and sometimes I fret too much over it, but all that matters, all it comes down to is wherever I am and whatever I’m doing, is right in step of what God has planned for me. Sometimes it’s so hard for me to grasp when seems like such an easy note to just TRUST Him and follow Him. Why is it so hard? We’re impatient is part of it, we want things now, we want questions answered within the hour, we wanna see that light at the end of the tunnel before we’ve even been through it. And part of it is a confidence that needs to take the back seat..I think we feel like we know what we’re supposed to be doing because of what school we went to, what we majored in, what friends and family have told us, our gifts, and we feel like we possibly might know what’s best for our future to succeed and maybe provide for the family, even when we don’t audibly admit it. Life is full of wonderful things that God has made and blessed your life with. Surrender to Him, truly SURRENDER to Him, and we may experience a joy we’ve never had.

“The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.” 

- Hebrews 11:1-2, The Message

in a funk

whenever I’m in a funk with my God, whenever I feel so disconnected from Him, whenever I am discouraged and confused, or whenever I don’t know what I’m doing..nothing makes me feel more in rhythm with my Savior then when I look to the skies. when I look UP from what I’m doing or going through, when I wake in the early morning, in the cool of the day, that is when I know I am a child of God. that He LOVES me more than I could know. everyday His mercies are NEW.

cicadas

These little nasty, no, big bugs are E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E. I stole this pic from my friend’s blog, mostly because I would never willingly get close to one of these things to get a picture. They’re called cicadas, they come in every 13 years and it feels like a bug plague to me, even though it probably doesn’t come close to the Bible times. They literally give me the heebeejeebees every time I go outside. They’re supposed to die out in a couple of weeks and I cannot wait to rejoice on that day

Other than that, this past weekend I took a last minute trip back home to Texas. Something about just me and the open road is very relaxing, most of the time. How do I keep myself occupied? I used to make a lot of mix CD’s in high school and bought a lot of CDS, and I kept them all in a big barrel CD holder, and from Nashville to Dallas and Dallas to Nashville, I went through one CD after another curious to see what songs were on it, it was quite fun. Other than that, it was a nice quiet time. Left Tony back here to working a way this weekend.

It was so good to see my parents, living back home and being ‘younger’ I took advantage of the time I saw them everyday, so every time we go home I cherish the time we have together even more. A big plus was that we traveled down to San Antonio to visit my almost 92 year old grandmother, and stayed at Aunt Linda’s.

Family.

One of the most important things in my life is family. I know they won’t be around forever, and I know we may not agree on everything, but at the end of the day they’re family and I love it and I love them very dearly.

In other news, today is the 2nd day of June 2011. I told my dad that pretty soon before we know it, Christmas will be here! He laughed, and so did I, but we all know the years just keep flying by, faster and faster. And I thought to myself, I’m too young to think the years are going by fast! Summer is gracing us with her heat. I look forward to being a water baby as much as I can this summer. We will end out the summer with a trip to the actual beach in September, but in between then I want to travel to the lake as much as possible. Canoeing is my first love and I can’t wait to hit the waves, paddling.

So raise your glass of lemonade and enjoy the heat, because in the blink of an eye, we’ll be bringing out our festive sweaters and bundling up again.

April showers brings craazzy weather

I don’t think I’ve ever heard more severe thunderstorm warnings and tornado warnings in my life (24 years) than this month of April 2011. I never enjoy a good hearty storm, and never will, maybe an occasional rain once in a while and only if that is a day of napping inside, but a “rain” would be an understatement! Despite the nasty weather, this past Saturday was a b-e-a-utiful! A couple of friends, Ryan and Rebecca, came up from Dallas to run the Music City Half Marathon with my brother in law as well, and it was a great day to be outside to cheer em on! Or…really people I didn’t know because the place I picked was on the full marathoners course only.

After a nice shower and lunch at Chick Fil A, we then proceeded to the annual Main Street Festival in downtown Franklin A.K.A. our backyard.

The day ended with some BBQ at Martins BBQ and watching people street dance back at the festival. By the end of the weekend, I was worn out and so was Tony as he was in Dallas all weekend and trying to get home Sunday night…that’s another story in itself.

This past month I also realized as far as my ‘blog’ goes, I definitely want to blog more often but I also want to share a few snapshots. I think it’s fun to really look at pictures, just like when we were kids and had picture books. My descriptions can either be boring, too much, doesn’t bring enough justice, so I figure why not sum it up with a snap shot. So hopefully these two goals will be met in the weeks to come!

Until then, stay safe and DRY!

I love the month of April

I’ve always loved the month of April, one being it my birthday month! Two, always being that home stretch month before school gets out in May. Three, spring time weather arrives, it may bring a few showers but it’s not -33 degrees outside with white stuff covering the ground.

I just can’t believe it’s April already! March came and WENT. I am blessed and blessed, I was able to vacation to our nations capitol for 5 days with Tony and my parents and see as much of Washington D.C. as we possibly could in 6 days without overkill. It was cold. But was it oh so wonderful! There was so much history and so much to see and beautiful blossoms and great family time, and a vacation from work! Of course we didn’t see everything, and we’ve actually started a “next time we’re in D.C.” list, which may be a while with the government shutting down and all. Another thing that made March fly by was visitors. I LOVE VISITORS. It was family and friends that are basically family, and even though we had just a few days to spend with them, every moment was cherished. I realize a lot that community and friendships is a very very important thing.

Speaking of, we have been visiting another small group (or village as we call it). A group of 3 other couples all around our age going through life with the same circumstances, what do we do, no kids, and savings. It’s been really awesome, and so refreshing to getting to know a group of people, especially a group that you know you will come to trust with lifes’ precious and vulnerable moments. I see some tight friendships in the future.

I am going to copy and paste a verse I saw in a friend’s blog that I have been dwelling on.

“Forget the former things;

do not dwell on the past.

See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness

and streams in the wasteland.”

Isaiah 43:18-19

It’s so easy to complain or wish for greener pastures when we don’t see what God has in store for us. I am SO SO very thankful for a job, but I do have moments where I think of what if I could be at this company. I am SO thankful for where I live, but I wish I owned a house. I am SO thankful for the finances we do have to be able to but sometimes I dream of just one more vacation or more nights out to dinner. And I know I’ve listed mostly material things but it can really shape my thought life, and my spiritual life it I let it. And I just need to take the words of the gospel and God’s truth and hide them in my heart and constantly look to it for strength and renewal. God is a BIG God, and though I never doubt it and never will, I must not let the things of this world nor Satan’s persuasion lie over me. At the end of the day, I am just SO thankful that I serve my God, who hears me, who listens, who holds me, who guides me, who cares and loves me SO much.

And there I will end this note Love and be loved! And hopefully I will get back to this before the end of this month, haha.

a stroll in the park

Well today hit the 50s! Forget the 50s..the weather shows 65 degrees right now! I do love cold weather and snow (I know, hard to believe) but after these last few weeks I was happy thrilled to see the sun out and the warmth up. Tony woke up and made breakfast for us which was a great surprise! And before he had to head off to work later in the afternoon, we drove over to the swanky neighborhood of Westhaven and walked on their walkways through the neighborhoods.

It was so nice to have a ‘breather’ amongst our lives of his crazy, inconsistent work schedule and mine of just..a normal work schedule. We haven’t been walking together in so long, and granted the weather hasn’t been so pleasant as it was today, but we really do enjoy walking. When we’re home for the night, we catch up on our t.v. shows which takes up most of our free time which is nice for us, to be able to laugh, wonder and solve the mystery together of the latest CSI investigation. But the talks do allow us to not only get a little bit exercise in but really enjoy each others company and talk about whats been on our minds lately. We do have time for that whether its right before bed, while making dinner or doing chores on the weekend, but there’s something about a stroll in the park that is so relaxing and lovely.

Lately God has been reminding me of patience..annndd..not wanting what other people have. I have to remember that His timing for us specifically is more perfect than I can ever plan. After just graduating from college and while I am very very blessed and thank the Lord for my job DAILY, I can’t help that I’m ready for the next step. I’m ready to move up in work. I wish I didn’t have student loans. I want a house. How do we know when it’s the right time to start a family. And as always, whenever my mind starts to wonder, or occasionally throw myself a pity party because I see what other couples have that we don’t have, God reminds me that His plan for us is different and that I just have to trust that He’s got it all under control, and praise the Lord for that because I think I’d mess my own plans up if I was allowed to plan it out myself

I feel like that lesson is such a common, youth group “what did you learn in your quiet time today” answer because that’s something we can always learn, but it’s been pressing on my heart and I just wanted to encourage anyone who’s going through that anxious “what if” game….

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

And really..if you live in Nashville, take a stroll these next few days, it’s good for you and who knows if we have another snow storm coming through