The highlight of my weekend!!

I seriously had a great start to the weekend!!







I have always wanted to interact with these creatures and my wish came true on Friday as my Mom and I spent the day at Discovery Cove in Orlando. The dolphin experience was amazing!!!

These are just a few of the pictures I took with my cell phone and took pictures of the pictures we ordered, ha! So that explains the quality :) Sorry!

I have many more pics to share but they are on my camera and don't have camera cord at home :( Will definitely be back to show you more pictures from the weekend!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. What's been the highlight of your weekend??

Today is my Friday!

I am taking the day off with my Mom tomorrow.

We’re going to spend a fun day at Discovery Cove in Orlando swimming with these wonderful creatures..



and we're going to make a day of it! It's a belated Mother's Day gift for her and I'm so excited and pray the weather holds out for us!!! :)

And then Saturday my BFF is treating me to a one hour massage as my belated birthday gift and we're going to spend the day together!



Can't think of a better weekend!

I will be back hopefully with some amazing pictures of my dolphin friends!! :)

What do ya'll have planned this weekend???

A cross in my pocket!

It’s funny because I really had nothing specific to post about today!

But then a poem came to my mind.

It was 7th grade, I remember it so vividly. Our English teacher asked us to recite a poem of our choosing in front of the whole class. I instantly knew what I was going to recite. It was a poem I had actually come across not too long before the assignment was given. It was bold because I was in a public school, but I had no reservations and nothing was said after about the subject of the poem.

A Cross in My Pocket
by Verna Mae Thomas

I carry a cross in my pocket
A simple reminder to me
Of the fact that I am a Christian
No matter where I may be.

This little cross is not magic,
Nor is it a good luck charm
It isn't meant to protect me
From every physical harm.

It's not for identification
For all the world to see
It's simply an understanding
Between my Savior and me.

When I put my hand in my pocket
To bring out a coin or a key
The cross is there to remind me
Of the price He paid for me.

It reminds me, too, to be thankful
For my blessings day by day
And to strive to serve Him better
In all that I do and say.

It's also a daily reminder
Of the peace and comfort I share
With all who know my Master
And give themselves to His care.

So, I carry a cross in my pocket
Reminding no one but me
That Jesus Christ is the Lord of my life
If only I'll let Him be.


Looking back I often wonder why nothing was said and amazed. But even more amazed how God was working in my heart even back then and gave me boldness to recite that in front of the whole class. The words weren’t just words to me. They mean just as much to me now as they did back then. I must have worked forever days before the assignment so I had it down pat. But when it resonates with your heart, it really isn’t that hard

I think back to that poem quite often. The truth of the words. I don’t know what happened to that little cross that did actually come with the poem. I got it from the store and the poem was small enough to keep in your purse.

But you know, I carry the cross with me all the time. The cross is the price he paid for me. The cross is his love for me. The cross is his blood that was given for my ransom. The cross will live on until the day he returns.

But the cross isn’t mean for just your pocket, but it’s meant for all the world to see. In your actions, in your words, in the way you love people and in the way you love him and I carry it with me always so I can be a reflection of him.

And if I do remember correctly, I think I got an “A” on this assignment! Guess that’s what happens when you have the cross with you :)

Catch up on weekend pictures!

I had mentioned on Friday that I was going to my brother’s house to have dinner with them for my birthday Friday night and the lobster did not disappoint!! It was a great time!

The kiddos! My niece in the middle!


The yummy corn!


Nothing beats lobster and butter!


The cupcakes they got me. Yummy!!!


Such a cute picture!


This girl is a mess! She loves her watermelon!






Digging into the lobster!


It was a great night and a wonderful ending to my birthday!!

Saturday I woke up bright and early to attend a court reporting conference for school all day in Orlando. It was really informative and there was an abundance of court reporters from all over the state of FL. And we had a sit down luncheon and the food was not too bad at all! It was fun!

Where the conference was held!




The yummy food! (Sorry, the lighting was kind of bad).






My friend Trish!






After the conference on Saturday my Mom, her hubby, and Larry’s daughter Christy and her children and my Granny went out to eat for my birthday at a restaurant called Two Blondes & a Shrimp!


Have a funny story about this rooster!!


This rooster has made it's home at this restaurant and just won't leave and so they've kind of deemed it as it's mascotte, haha!!

Pretty outside eating where we sat!


Entertainment and they sang me happy birthday. Not embarassing at ALL. Geez, ha!!


My Mom and the hubby!


Emma, Ian, and I.


My pretty Grandma!


The food was amazing. For appetizers we had tomato pie and fried green tomatoes!


I had the pecan crusted chicken breast with grits and mashed potatoes.


Christy and I.


As we were leaving the rooster was calling it a night in it's humble abode in a tree right in front of restaurant!


After dinner we went down by the water and hung out for awhile and enjoyed the beautiful but humid Florida night!




The boats, but you could barely see them, ha!


This picture cracks me up because noone is looking the same way and it looks like we don't know each other the way we're sitting on bench, ha!


I spent the night with the rents Saturday night and on Sunday.... there was alot of this going on at their house!


My parent’s backyard is so serene and peaceful. Love it!


It was a very nice weekend. Hope everyone is having a great week so far!!

What kind of mirror are you looking through?

I had all intentions of doing a weekend recap today. But felt lead to write about what’s on my heart.

Yesterday I made last minute dinner plans with a great friend of mine for yesterday evening! She called me up and said, hey I have free time today, want to connect. And I’m so glad I said yes.

Let me give you some background. Every friend that God has brought into my life are so unique and different and wonderful.

My friend Kaysey is a precious precious person. She’s a 36 year old African American woman of God. She has a 14 year old son. We couldn’t be more different but yet our hearts our connected and we first met through a mutual friend. She makes me laugh so hard. She speaks life into me and encourages me. We don’t get to connect as often as I’d like, but when we do my love tank is full.

So we met up around 6:30pm last night and didn’t leave the restaurant until 9:30pm. I seriously wish it could have lasted longer. And it’s safe to say that 99% of our time together was talking and just sharing our hearts and lots of laughs.

She really just takes the time to listen to me and instills so much wisdom in our conversations and what I have to share with her. I was talking with her about some of the struggles I am dealing with right now and really she just encouraged me and let me know that everything is going to be okay.

One of the things I’ll admit right here and now is that one of the struggles I face at times is enjoying the life God has given me 365 days out of the year. It’s a flaw. I might seem like I have it all together, but I don’t. No one does. I have a hard time enjoying life when things are not going the way I think they should and according to my plans. I’m finding myself constantly questioning God and his plan when that’s not my place. He doesn’t need my help. But it’s getting that knowledge from my heart to my head. I’m robbing myself of precious time I can never get back. Kaysey really just encouraged me that I have got to stop doing that.

Also, one other struggle I face is loving myself and seeing the positive versus purposely seeking out and pointing out all my flaws. It boils down to having a struggle seeing myself as a child of God at times and in the same mirror as he sees me. Why is that so hard? It’s something I’m going to have to continually bring to him each day until I get better in this area.

Show of hands please, because I’ll take comfort in knowing I am not alone in these areas. We can be people of faith and still struggle from time to time in these areas, or maybe a lot of times!

I say all that to say this, I left my time with Kaysey feeling so much better than I found myself walking into that restaurant.

So I woke up this morning to turn on Joyce Meyer. The lady reads your mail. Or maybe God does, either way, today’s message she had was one of those “you talking to me moments” and it blew me away that God would know exactly what I needed to hear this morning. Her message was on loving your life and loving yourself!

Ummmm, coincidence, I think NOT!!

So, today, enjoy your life a little more and break the old mirror and get a new mirror (and I'm going to try to do the same) and I would ask, do you love that person looking back at you?

Hello 26!!

So today I bid hello to 26.

This is what 26 looks like.



Not a whole lot different, haha!!!

It’s 9:41am as I type this and I’ve already lost count of the birthday messages left for me on Facebook and Twitter. Not to mention texts and phone calls. Sure makes a girl feel loved.

I’m working today. Doing the cake and ice cream thing here at the office.

Then tonight I am going to a cookout at my brother’s house with his family. We’re having steaks and lobster. And I should say that the lobster is going to be the real deal from Maine. My sister-in-law’s family just got back from there (they are originally from there) and they brought some lobster back. YUM!!!

Saturday and Sunday I am attending a court reporting conference for school at Disney World. Saturday night my Mom and her husband are taking me out for my birthday to a restaurant called “Two Blondes & a Shrimp" Cute name, huh? Supposed to be amazing and I’ve been wanting to try it out!!!! :)

So it will be a fun but busy weekend, recap to come. Have a great weekend!!

Last day of 25!

So when the clock strikes midnight tonight it will officially be my 26th birthday.

I guess I woke up this morning feeling sentimental and flipped thru my baby book. Lets take a look at the beginning shall we?



On the front it says "Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord. Psalms 127:3.


@ 7:05pm a brown-haired, brown-eyed girl, entered the world!




And to this day, I still need the comfort of my Mom!


My Dad and I.


My Grandpa (who I never got to know because he passed away when I was a baby) and I.


My other Grandpa (who passed away last September and now in heaven) and I.


I never could have imagined the incredible brother, husband, and father this boy (man now, ha) would become!!!


And the scrapbook of my life has not even yet begin to close... so many more pages to fill and can't wait to see what's ahead!!