Late night text!

I received a text last night a little after midnight, but was already asleep. It was from my Mom. I had forgotten to turn my alarm off on my phone for my walking time during the week of 5:30am. So when I went to go turn it off, it's then I realized I had some texts.

My Mom is finishing up reading the Redemption Series by the christian fiction author Karen Kingsbury. I got her hooked on her books after I said she must start reading them because I knew she'd love them. The whole Redemption Series is based around the Baxter family.

So this is the text she sent me:

"Just finished Reunion (the last book in the series) and found myself sobbing! I just wanted you to know how much I love you! We are the Baxter's my dear and redemption is our family's story too (just know our family has been through a whole lot and have experienced some redemption of our own)...We still have many chapters to experience...and many include you and the husband that has been choosen for you. Keep a prayerful heart and ask for his will to be done. I learned that from Elizabeth Baxter (the Mom in the book). Good night precious."

That's me speaking in the parenthesis.

So here I am crying at 5:30 in the morning. What can I say, we're a family of criers, ha!!

This woman speaks such life into me!!! Therefore, just proves my point that I have the best mother in the world.

Happy Saturday!!

Happy birthday to my Momma!!!

Everyone could probably give a list of a million reasons why they have the best Mom in the world! But seriously, since the early years I knew hands down I could not have been blessed with a greater Mother.



My Mom wears many hats…

Mother. (Couldn't find a picture with my brother in it)


Wife. (The day they got married)


Daughter.


Mar-Mar. (What my niece calls her)


Friend. (My Mom and her best friend Harriet)


She wears all the hats well.

She has more strength and courage than I would know what to do with in a lifetime.

She makes me laugh.

She strengthens me as a person and in my relationship with the Lord.

She is the best cook I know.

She is my voice of reason at times.

She is my biggest fan and I am hers.

She is the best listener and gives the best advice.

She is my mother.

She is my best friend!!

She's everything I want to be and all the good inside of me! Happy birthday, Mom :)

I love you gobs and gobs and oddles and oddles!!!!

Headbands!

Thank ya’ll so much for all the hair love!!! I am so happy with it and just LOVE LOVE LOVE the cut!!!

With this new shorter style my hairdresser suggested I start experimenting with headbands. I am excited about trying out some headbands that I know will be so much cuter with this style.

I was online and these are a few that I found!!

Some I LOVE and some are just out there, but just wanted to share.







Ha, get a load of this one? HA! Don't know if I'd ever be that brave, LOL!


Not sure if I'm digging this!


Love all the colors in this one!


I love how small and simple this one is!


This one I love!


This is differerent and I like!


Love black and white!!


I think it’s so fun how headbands are coming back in style. What about you? Do you wear headbands?

Tada!

I present to you...................


The new do!!!!!



What do you think???? :)

Time for a hair change!

It's a rarity when you find someone that you really, really love to cut your hair.

It's been almost a year since I've done anything with my hair.

My hair person who was awesome has since moved. She did great hair and really knew my hair and I was just REALLY pleased with her, but it's time to find a new person.

It can be scary to trust someone with your hair!

But I made an appointment tomorrow with a new person.

I know her and have heard nothing but great things about her and a couple of co-workers of mine go to her and seem to really love her.

I get in this perpetual habit of chopping my hair off, letting it grow, chopping it, letting it grow, etc..... I get in this major rut.

Does this happen to y'all too?

This is the look I'm going for and hopefully it will turn out the way I like!



I will probably keep it this length and style.

What do you think??


Just for giggles I went on one of those websites where you can try on celebrity hairstyles.

Lady Gaga


Jennifer Aniston


Angelina Jolie


HAHA! Which celebrity hairstyle do you wish you had?

Garage sale and a birthday dinner!

Friday night I went over and spent the night at my parents house to help them prepare and set up for their garage sale they had on Saturday. My Mom cooked yummy tacos for us Friday night.

We had to get everything priced.


And set up.




It was so hot here on Saturday but the garage sale was so much fun (but alot of hard work to prepare for) and sold alot of stuff, but there was still so much stuff left over. Which I think all the leftover stuff we're just going to see if the Salvation Army will come and pick up.

The adorable rents waiting on the next customer, ha!!!


The stuff just waiting to be bought.


I just realized this and started cracking up. I'm sure the lady bending over will thoroughly enjoy me posting this, haha!!!


It was weird. Either there would be noone at all or there would be tons of people all at once. This picture just happened to be at a slow point and there was noone!



HAHA!!!!

There was everything at the garage sale from clothes, shoes, kids stuff, home decor, etc...

So we decided we'd dress up in random clothes, shoes, and get different props and see who could be most creative!!! Oh man, I don't think we've ever laughed so hard. Love the memories I make with my family!!!

I had so much fun doing the garage sale. I love wheeling and dealing with people and meeting people. So many people that came to the garage sale said it's an every weekend thing for them, checking out different garage sales. It's nothing we really did when I was younger but my Mom and I were talking and thinking we should start doing that together. It's amazing the neat treasures you can find. What about you? Do you like garage sales or yard sales? Do you go to them often?

Then last night we went out to dinner for my Mom's birthday. Her birthday is not actually until the 30th but her and the hubby are most likely going out of town next weekend to celebrate both of their birthdays. His is August 3rd. There's nothing more my Mom loves than having all of her kids together. So she was in heaven. We ate at a mexican restaurant called Fiesta Grande.

My sis and I.


My beautiful and VERY pregnant sister-in-law!!!


The birthday girl and SIL.


My sister sneakily let the waiter know it was her birthday and they sang a song to her in spanish and she had no clue and totally took her by surprise.

They made her wear a sombrero. HAHA!! How cute is she?




The rents.


Ha, the sombrero is bigger than my niece's body!!


The parentals and I. Love them!!!!


It was a fun night and a yummy dinner!!

Hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend :)

2 years - And the blogging journey continues!

I totally skipped right on by it, but this month two years ago, July 5th to be exact, I started blogging. Go here if you want to read my first post.

I NEVER would have guessed how much I’d come to love blogging and the friends that I would make. A lot of bloggers I’ve been able to meet in real life, and there are so many others of you I’d LOVE to meet and someday hopefully WILL meet.

There really is something truly special about the blogging community.

This has become such an outlet for me.

When I signed up for a blog I had no idea what I’d say or if I'd even stick with this, but as you can see it’s apparent after 2 years, I have no problem talking and sharing.

I often STILL sit back and scratch my head and ponder why it is that you all take interest in my little ole’ life, but I guess it’s for the same reason I take interest in the blogs that I read.

I’ve shared my highs and my lows with you.

I’ve shared my imperfections.

I’ve shared my doubts.

I’ve shared my worries.

I’ve shared my family.

I’ve shared my friends.

I’ve shared my faith.

I’ve shared my life.

And I hope that just a smidgen of what I’ve had to say has encouraged and inspired each and every one of you in some way or another.

That’s truly what this blog is all about and the rest is just the icing on the cake.

I appreciate each and every one of you that take the time to comment or to even read this blog if you do not comment. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

And here’s to another year of "Walking This Journey Called Life" :)

Perfect gift idea!

My Mom's birthday is coming up on July 30th but she and her hubby are going to be going out of town the weekend of her birthday to celebrate both of their birthdays because his is August 3rd. But we are going out to dinner to celebrate this weeekend. So had to get her gift together.

My Mom told us not to give her anything for her birthday and to save our money and that being her children was enough...Awwwwww, so sweet!!

But seriously, not getting you anything? Not happening.

So I took this to Twitter and instantly an idea was given to me by someone who was in the same boat with her Mom one birthday and her siblings came up with a fantastic idea and I thought it was perfect for my Mom.



Each of the siblings will type up a list of one sentence things we love about our mom. They can range from her character, love, memories, to our favorite food she makes! We just want as many as we can come up with. I will cut them in strips, fold them in half and put them in the wine glass. I got a similar wine glass like above from TJ Maxx. Then I will put something in the card along the lines of "like wine, having you as a mother, gets better with time". Whenever you need a good glass of wine, remember why we love you so much.

How perfect, right? And we can add to it each year!

The suggestion given to me was a little different as it was called the rainy day jar, pick me ups for when her mom had a rainy day and needed reminders of how loved she is, and an apothecary jar was used. But I just changed it up a little.

And I think my Mom will love it.

I know you might have similiar situations when trying to buy for people and this might just be something that they'll like.

It's so simple and not expensive, but yet will mean so much more than any material thing!!!!

And don't have to worry about sharing this on the blog as my Mom won't read this :)

Can't wait to give this to her this weekend!!

Hysterical lyrics!

Haven't been in church since
I don't remember when
Things were going great
Til they fell apart again
So I listened to the preacher
As he told me what to do
Said you can't go hating others
who done wrong to you
Sometimes we get angry
But we must not condemn
Let the good Lord do his job
And you just pray for them

I pray your brakes go out
Running down a hill
I pray and flower pot falls
From a window sill
And knocks you in the head like I'd like to
I pray your birthday comes and nobody calls
I pray your flying high when your engine stalls
I pray all your dreams never come true
Just know wherever you are
Honey, I pray for you

Really glad I found my way to church
Cause I'm already feeling better and I thank God for the words
So I'm gonna take the high road
And do what the preacher told me to do
You keep messing up
And I'll keep praying for you

I pray your tire blows out at 110
I pray you pass out drunk with your best friend
And wake up with his and her tattoos

Wherever you are, near or far, in your house or in your car
Wherever you are honey, I pray for you

I was listening to the country station yesterday and heard this song for the first time. Some of ya'll may have heard it. but this should give you a good Monday laugh for those who haven't.

I would never wish for a flower pot to fall on someone's head or their brakes to go out (okay, maybe sometimes...Don't we all??? Ha), but you have to admit, pretty funny!!!!

What songs are you loving right now??? :)

A Restaurant, the red road and the best hot dogs in town!!

Facebook is a funny thing!

In my case, all the latest happenings of our town can be found on Facebook. I’m never out of the loop, LOL! If someone’s getting married, I know it. If someone’s pregnant, I know it. And sometimes you know a little bit more than you want to.

Gotta love the good ole’ Facebook status!!

But lately, I’m almost tempted not to even get on there, because frankly, it’s just depressing!!

Case in point (three cases actually):

A few months back I learned thru Facebook that a historic restaurant that’s been in our town for years had burned down due to an electrical fire.

We as a city are still on our knees praying it will be rebuilt.

{{TEAR}}

Then about a month ago I found out some more devastating news. We have a local road here that for as long as I can remember has been deemed “the red road”… Yes, you guessed it, because it was red. Everyone knows the red road. Giving directions, you’d say “Oh, you know the red road?”… And never would the response be no.

Well, imagine my shock when I read a Facebook status that said, “This city will never be the same, the red road is no longer the red road.”

That's how much we've come to love that red road.

It’s now been repaved to black asphalt. And every time I drive it, I can’t help but think of what was. There was no City Hall meeting where we could voice our opinions, but bame, without warning they just took it upon themselves! A crying shame!

{{And the tears keep flowing}}

Oh, but the bad news doesn’t stop there.

So this morning (knew I shouldn’t have checked Facebook) I get yet another blow. Our local and ONLY hot dog place called Deputy Dogs has shut down.

{{Insert sobbing here}}

But I’ll always have the memories of the emblem, the dog dressed up like a sheriff deputy, forever etched in my heart.

Ummm, what is going on in this city?

And what has the world come to when you can’t drive down a red road and there’s no hot dog to be found in the city limits?

It’s gone mad I tell you, just mad!!

Facebook, don’t know how much more bad news I can take!

Walk

By the looks of it to you with my blog posts this week, perhaps it seems like nothing exciting is going on in my world this week, ha…

But for me, I have something to be pretty excited about.

I started walking this past Sunday and have woken up at 5:30am every morning this week so far to walk for an hour.

I really hope this continues.

I’m proud of myself. Every part of me wants to be able to keep this up, so we shall see.

One might think why is four days to be proud of? Give it a month and then you’ll have something to be proud of. But for me, this is a huge thing.

I’ve had memberships to the wellness center. It never lasted. I’ve been on exercise kicks but never lasted. Time and time again I’ve tried the exercise thing and it just never lasted.

I have about 10 pounds I would like to lose.

Every single sleeping cell in my body wants to stay in that bed in the morning, but it has been so great for me. I have more energy throughout the day and I just feel better about myself because I know I made the effort. I listen to my music while I’m walking and love having that time to myself before the world wakes up and everything is just quiet and still.

“Be still and know that I am God!” Psalm 46:10

And as I towards the end of my walk, the sky starts to lose some of its darkness which lets you know the sun is ready to make its way out and the world is ready to resume at its crazy and hectic pace.

I’ve actually come to where I enjoy these walks. I think I’ve just come to really enjoy the stillness, where the distractions of this world are just non-existent at least for that one hour and I can just be still and know that he is God!

And if I lose a few pounds (listening to me God?) along the way, then who am I to complain? Ha! :)

2 Cor. 5: 7 we walk by faith.

Eph. 5: 2 walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us.

1 Jn. 1: 7 walk in the light, as he is in the light.

Rom. 6: 4 walk in newness of life.

Ps. 116: 9 I walk before the Lord.

Deut. 10: 12 fear the Lord . . . to walk in all his ways.

So there’s my exciting week… anything exciting going on in your world?

In honor of my 400th post!!

Inner Peace: This is so true


If you can start the day without caffeine,

If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,

If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,

If you can eat the same food everyday and be grateful for it,

If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,

If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,

If you can conquer tension without medical help,

If you can relax without liquor,

If you can sleep without the aid of drugs.....

Then You Are Probably The Family Dog!




Well, actually my 400th post was yesterday, but still. You needed the laugh, right?? :)

Thanks for continuing to read what I have to say in my little part of the internet world! Still blows my mind that you take interest in my little ole’ life. I’m always encouraged when something I’ve said has encouraged you and you let me know. It never ceases to bless me and makes me feel like what I have to say and share has some value and worth. Thank you!!

Put your left foot in....

Put your left foot out....

This Christian walk is alot like the hokey pokey!!!

So I’m in the midst of starting a new book by Karen Kingsbury, I started it last night.



She is a Christian fiction author and I suggest if you haven’t read any of her books, run, don’t walk to the nearest book store or library. So I’m getting in the bed for the night and I’m multitasking by reading and I turn on the TV.

And ya’ll, I turn it to Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami.



And on commercial I’d mute it and read my Christian fiction novel.

See the irony?

I watch Keeping up with the Kardashians as well.

No disrespect to the Kardashian family but both of these shows are pretty much trash and not good food for the soul… it’s raunchy and at times you feel gross just watching it.

And if you watch these shows, not saying anything towards you, but these are just my own convictions.

Here I am reading a book that is edifying and builds up my spirit and good meat for my spiritual bones and yet I had one foot in the world taking in this junk that is useless television.

I laughed when I realized what I was doing but in reality it’s sad how many times we as believers do this.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2

Just think about it, what are you taking in? Is it good for the soul?

Whether it’s tv, music, advertising… the world is always going to throw something at you.

It’s just the world we’re living in today, but we don’t have to be conformed!

Just a little insight God gave me yesterday…….

Sorry Kardashians...

I'm not choosing the world!

Happy 1 year Mom and hubs!

You can read about their wedding day here!

You could not have found two people who belong together more! They have taught me so much about love just in their one year of marriage. But honestly, it's felt like they've been together a lifetime.

It was a blending of families when they married and it happened with such ease and I'm blessed to have gained a family when they said their " I do's" :)

This is the cute card I got them!





Happy Anniversary to the lovebirds, Mr. & Mrs. Rowland!!!

Change of weekend plans!

It’s so funny how plans can change on a dime.

Up until a few minutes ago I was going to be meeting a friend for lunch tomorrow (which was rescheduled thankfully) and then spending the evening with another friend, going to her Saturday night service at church and going to the married and singles group that meet afterwards and then spending the night over at her house. Well, turns out there’s the bug going on in her house. So scratched out those plans.

Then my sister-in-law emailed me this morning to see if I would like to keep my niece for a few hours tomorrow morning while she runs errands and then go camping with them on Saturday night and go scalloping on Sunday with them. Ummmm, yes!!!!!

I’ve never been scalloping so I’m excited!! Have any of ya’ll ever been?

So there’s my weekend folks!

Today we’re having a big birthday luncheon for the July birthdays in our office. Ordering in yummy Italian.

It’s a great Friday in deed!!

What are your weekend plans? :)

$166 lesson

We've all done it before.

Texting and driving.

I'll admit, I have a horrible habit of this. I have heard it so many times..

DO.NOT.TEXT.AND.DRIVE

Seriously, I now realize there's nothing so important that it can't wait until the car is in park.

I was on the road yesterday evening and was distracted by texting. I was pulled over by an umarked police vehicle.

I am human, I made a mistake and know I should never have been doing that.

Statistics show that texting is worse than drunk driving.

I was distracted and my car swerved to get back center in the lane and thus I was pulled over.

The first thing the police officer asked me is if I was texting while I was driving. And I was honest and said I was. And he said this is exactly why they are trying to make it illegal.

And he did say they are trying to make it a crime by the end of the year.

Then I was slapped with a $166 traffic ticket for careless driving.



Totally deserved.

I was totally embarrased and really had no excuse.

In the grand scheme of things $166 is nothing compared to what could have been, which it could have been way worse.

Texting while driving is no joke and I learned a huge lesson from this whole experience.

I'm sure there will be people who may read this who have been affected by accidents or deaths contributed to texting while driving and I don't make light of that.

Do you have a habit of this?

If you text while driving, STOP!

It's not worth it. I don't just say this because I got a ticket but you can kill yourself or someone else.

And I'm glad to pay that $166 and take the class to keep the points off my license if it means I will stop.



I saw this bumper sticker before and it's so so true!!!

Prayer requests!

I am always in awe at the way the blogging community comes together when people are in need and the prayers that are lifted up on behalf of others. It blesses me to the core and I am always so humbled and amazed by it.

I just wanted to give a couple of links out to ya’ll.

If you have a minute, please go here and read sweet Ava’s story. She is 5 years old and is facing the battle of her life. She and her family would covet your prayers.



I attend the church here in FL where Ava’s grandfather is the Pastor. This family is beyond precious. The Pastor briefly for the first time this past Sunday spoke about her battle with this rare form of cancer and gave us all an update and it took all he could to not break down.

You might have seen Kelly from Kelly’s Korner mention it here. Please spread the word and please keep her in your prayers.

Also, please keep sweet Adrienne’s precious boy Bennett in your prayers. He was born at 27 weeks. He is currently doing very well and thriving so far but it’s going to be a long road. I’ve had the privilege of meeting Adrienne and her adorable family during my trip to Nashville earlier in the year.



How precious are these little feet?



Adrienne’s story of how she came to be a mother of just 1 to 4 in one year is nothing short of a miracle.

Thank you in advance!

Have a great Wednesday!

Why does the mind always feel like a battlefield?

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to discover that the huge battle wages in our mind and in our thoughts.

What direction is our mind taking and where are we placing our thoughts?

I have to ask myself this daily.

Joyce Meyer has a book called “Battlefield of the Mind.” And isn’t that exactly what it feels like?

It’s like we’re in a constant battle and have to have our guard ready for when the enemy declares war.

I’ve been in a major struggle for sometime lately and I know a large majority has to do with where my thoughts are placed.

I started school in May 2006.

Here we are in July 2010.

And guess what, I’m still in school.

Has it been easy? No.

Have I always enjoyed the almost hour ride to and from three nights a week? No.

Has my heart always been 100% into it? No.

On the flip side...

Is this where I’m supposed to be? Yes.

Have I met some amazing people and friends along the way? Yes.

Will the sacrifices be worth it? Yes.

Will the tears shed have been worth it (oh, I have cried)? Yes.

And that’s just it, there’s always a positive.

It is so hard to picture life outside of school because I’ve been at it so long. I know in the end no one is going to ask how long it took me to complete it, but just the sheer fact that I completed it will be all I’ll need.

There are still times when I doubt if I can do this. Times where I lose sight of how far God has gotten me in this journey, forgetting how much he has blessed me along the way. His hand has been on this from the very beginning, and his hand is still there.

My motivation has been lacking. Doubt has been creeping in. I’m just tired and worn out and frankly just want school to be over.

But I still have a job to do, and a bright future to look forward to.... and that job is to finish the task that God has put before me. He opened this door for me. A chance to have a career I can be successful at, and now it’s up to me. How badly do I want to get through that door and how hard am I willing to work to make that happen?

The mind, it’s a HUGE open battlefield.

BUT I can and I will do this.

I don’t know if any of ya’ll are like this, but I tend to be afraid of success and I think that’s holding me back. Kind of crazy and it doesn’t make sense, but it’s true.

From hereon out I will no longer surrender to this type of fear! The enemy will no longer have control over my mind and thoughts in this area of my life.

I just needed to write this down for myself today. And hope it encourages someone along the way who battles with the same thing!

And my God will supply all my needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to me in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

July 4th weekend!

Hope everyone had a great July 4th weekend!!!!! :)

Friday night I went to grab sushi with my friend Lisa and we stuffed ourselves silly!


Then we went to go see Toy Story 3. Here we are with our glasses ready to go!


It was such a cute movie and cried at the end. I love all the Toy Story movies, they are so sweet. And it was so funny, and my favorite part was the monkey, ha!! It was a fun evening!!

Friday night my sister came in late for the long weekend and stayed with me Friday evening. And she brought her cute little beagle pup she just got named Chevy!!



Sooooo precious. I know it looks like I'm choking him, but promise I'm not, ha!!

My parents also got home from Costa Rica on Friday and we got together around lunch time on Saturday and ate with them.

My sis and I at lunch!


My dog and my sister's dog playing! The eyes are crazy in this picture, ha!


Saturday night my sister, granny (My Mom's Mom), and I went over to the parents house to spend the night.

It was a rainy start to the July 4th weekend!!


In the kitchen getting dinner ready!


We had a hodge podge of stuff. Yummy pork chops, broccoli, asparagus, potatoes, cottage cheese, and pasta. It was a delicious dinner. Always love my Mom's home cooking. Nothing like it.

Then it was time for a game of Mexican dominoes!!!


And I am proud to say I won BOTH games!!!

The winner deserved a treat! :)


It's so fun and we had the best time and laughed so hard. We ended up playing till midnight!


Sunday we all went to church and it was a great service as always. I'm really thinking of ways that I can get more involved and have some things in mind, so I'm really excited!

After Church we went and ate at Crispers. So yummy!


My sis and Granny!!


I got delicious flat bread and tomato bisque soup!




We spent a low-key day back at the parents house.





We napped, played games, watched TV, ate leftovers for dinner and didn't do the July 4th traditional cooking out. And then of course it rained AGAIN....


We were worried that it might interfer with the fireworks but it cleared up and we were able to go. We went to the city fireworks at the lake near where my parents live.

We got there about an hour before the fireworks began and there was an out-of-this-world sunset!


All the cars lined up for the fireworks!


Isn't this gorgeous?


Our watch station!


Mom's hubby broke out the cowboy hat, ha!


People setting off sparklers before the fireworks!


Let the fireworks begin!






It was a great end to a wonderful day!

I came home this morning and just relaxing and enjoying the day off. My sister left to go back to school and I'll leave you with one last picture of the pup who was laying with me this morning. Sad to see him go, ha!


Such a wonderful weekend and I love spending time with my family and love when we're all together. Sorry my pictures aren't the best quality, were all taken with my phone camera. Happy Monday!!