Tales of the Trees

Lunch Help

2010-07-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

I think it is obvious that life gets harder with age.

When you are younger all you want to do is grow up. But when you grow up there are decisions to make, hardships to face, and people to please.

One of the hardest decisions I have had to face as an adult is lunch.

Seriously lunch.

Think about how easy lunch was when we were younger. Our lunch was either packed for us and so kindly deliver to the lunch room for us or we were able to select a scrumptious meal courtesy of the school cafeteria.

Yes I am in the small percentage of about .2% of kids that like the cafeteria food.

I am just about the least pickiest person you will ever meet.

But now that I am a boring adult I do not have the luxury of somebody packing my lunch, or a tasty cafeteria with a yummy new meal everyday.

I have to figure it out for myself, and it is hard.

Now bringing my own lunch to work seems like such a small "problem" to have in life, and in fact it is a small "problem". But even small problems matter people!

First of all there is the problem of remembering to pack your lunch.

Most days I am running out of the house as fast as I can trying to make it to work only 15 minutes late and not 30 minutes last. Packing my lunch is not on the top of my mind.

Second of all there is the problem of not knowing what to pack.

What do you bring for lunch? A sandwich seems like the typical thing to bring but after eating a sandwich for lunch for more than 3 days in a row I start to gag with the mere through of a sandwich.

I am ashamed to admit that a lot of days I end up going out and grabbing something fast. Usually Chick Fila or Subway. I HATE spending money on this, but its usually what I end up doing.

Does anybody else have problems coming up with something other than a sandwich to eat for lunch? Anybody have any good lunch ideas?

I really don't want to spend money eating out everyday, but I also need some creative ideas of what to pack for lunch.

It seems like such a small issue, but everyday around 11:30 I start to have a panic attack about what to eat.

I miss the school cafeteria. Turkey Ala King was my fav.

Neighborhood Charity Case

2010-07-27T20:05:00.000-07:00

When Luke and I first found our house we loved it. We fell in love with everything about it. One main thing we fell in love with was the yard. Three quarters of an acre of green grass to run around on.

However, when we would tell people how big our yard was, they would ask if we were crazy. Who on earth wants to mow that much lawn?!?!

Luke thought this question was absurd, he grew up on a lot more than three quarters of an acre and strangely enough he was looking forward to mowing the lawn.

Yes, looking forward to it.

He had it in his mind that mowing the lawn would get his body back in shape.

Now I don't think he is out of shape but whatever.

So Luke went and picked out a fancy schmancy new push mower because he was so excited about getting in shape.

No riding lawn mower for this Indian.

After a couple of weekends of living in our house it was evident that our yard needed to be mowed. Luke was getting anxious about spending several hours on Saturday morning mowing the lawn.

He was a man with a plan. A mowing plan.

His mowing clothes were ready, his shoes were by the door, the mower was gased up, he was going to get his mow on. And tone his body while doing it. Or so he thought.

Side note, is it even possible to tone your body by mowing the lawn for an hour once every two weeks? I'm not one to question my husband's thoughts as he is usually the smart one, but this seemed a bit odd to me.

So back to the mowing......

Luke was out mowing the lawn for about 5 minutes when a man on a riding lawn mower pulled up and started helping him.

A complete stranger we had never seen before in our lives.

Who literally came out of the middle of nowhere.

It was like a little riding lawn mower guardian angel.

I thought this was so nice.

Luke thought it was nice, but was looking forward to mowing the whole lawn by himself.

He late asked me if he looked like he was mowing wrong and needed help.

I had no idea.

He was clearly disturbed by the riding lawn mower guardian angel.

I started to realize that Luke needed to mow the lawn. It was important to him.

One more thing about him that I will never understand.

Fast forward to the next mowing session. Wait, I don't remember when it was because somebody else in the neighborhood mowed our lawn before Luke had a chance.

I mean completely mowed it, we came home and it was already mowed.

I thought this was amazing.

Luke was frustrated for two reasons.

1. It was messing up his awesome workout plan

2. It was threatening his manhood

Finally there were a couple of days when Luke got to mow the lawn by himself with no help.

Those were victorious days.

A couple of weeks ago he was mowing the lawn while I was watching TV. I looked outside to see how much he had left to mow and much to my surprise he was nowhere in sight but instead there was a woman mowing our lawn.

A WOMAN. It was one of the funniest things ever.

Then here comes Luke from around the back. Luke and the anonymous woman mowed our lawn together and then she went on her merry way.

I really should have taken a picture.

When Luke walked in he looked at me and said "Do I just look pathetic when I'm mowing?"

I really didn't know how to respond. I mean obviously he doesn't look pathetic mowing the lawn, but there has to be a reason why EVERY NEIGHBOR HELPS HIM MOW THE LAWN.

OK, fast forward to present day:

Luke was planning on mowing the lawn today. I believe his last words to me this morning were "I have to mow the lawn before somebody else in the neighborhood does it."

Famous last words.

It is like mowing the lawn has become a personal and unattainable goal in his life.

At the end of the day I was driving home from work and I thought to myself "I sure hope Luke gets to mow the lawn today, he might doubt his manhood if he doesn't."

As I pulled in our driveway from work, what do you think I saw?

I saw a friendly man driving by on his riding lawn mower, waving to me as he mowed our lawn.

The riding lawn mower guardian angel strikes again.

I immediately called Luke to notify him of our friendly mower. To which he replied "go make him stop!"

Ok yeah, I'm going to go out to the extra friendly man who is mowing our lawn for FREE and ask him to stop, because my husband thinks he is going to get in shape by mowing the lawn and he finds some sort of manly fulfillment by mowing the lawn.

Not gonna happen.

I did go out and ask the man if he would like some water, he kindly denied the water and said he was almost done.

Poor Luke, when he got home he looked so defeated. He thinks he is now the charity case of the neighborhood.

In fact he may have screamed 'I'M THE FLIPPING CHARITY CASE OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD"

I may or may not have been laughing hysterically.

I think Luke is very manly, even if he doesn't mow our lawn.

However I think he needs to stick to The Shred if he wants to get in shape, I don't think he is going to be mowing our lawn anytime soon.

Thank you anonymous mowers of our neighborhood. I appreciate you!

Lessons Learned Two Years Later

2010-07-26T20:37:00.000-07:00

When Luke and first started dating we were two young crazy kids in love.

Well I'm not sure if we were in love at that point, but it came eventually.

But we were young and still had a lot to learn.

One area we still had room to grow in was the art of giving flowers and the art of knowing how to receive a gift.

Luke=Flowers

Me=How to receive a gift

We both had a little something to learn.

So lets go to the day we both learned a lesson.

I can't remember what the occasion was or why Luke was giving me flowers but I do remember it was within the first 6 months or so of us dating.

Maybe it was our first Valentine's day, which was awkward. I wasn't good at dating, which could be why Luke is the only guy I've dated, and also why I wanted to marry him after the first year and just be done with the whole dating thing.

Too bad it took me FOUR MORE YEARS to decide to marry me.

How many times can I beat a dead horse?

Anyways, back to 2004 when we just started dating. We were celebrating something and Luke came to my apartment with a vase of flowers.

The ugliest flowers I had ever seen in my life.

I took one look at them and said, and I quote:

"hm, those are nice did you pick them in a field on the way over?"

No lie. I said that.

Just to clarify Luke is the sweetest person I have ever met. And very patient. Obviously.

I on the other hand am not, and there are probably plenty of people who could testify to this.

We do not need your testimonies right now, thank you.

I don't remember what happened after that, but I do know that we STILL laugh about that incident and he did marry me.

So he knew what he was getting into, just saying.

He swears that it did not hurt his feelings and he liked it cause I was "real" with him.

The moral of the story is he has gotten better at buying me flowers and I have gotten better at holding my tongue. Most of the time.

I mean look at these beautiful flower he sent to me today for our anniversary:

These definitely weren't picked from any field.

Oh and for further clarification, he didn't pick the original flowers out of a field either.

And please don't hate me after this post, I was young, and well, young.

But don't worry after the incident we got married and two years later we are celebrating our anniversary. Here we are in all our two year marital glow.

Proof that you will never look as good as you did on your wedding day.

By the way, after we took this picture Luke told me he thought my hair looked good. Bless him. He is a good husband.

This and That

2010-07-25T19:52:00.000-07:00

1. This weekend Luke and I went to the local Farmer's Market and I bought this huge bag of Okra. Now I have no idea what to do with it. I would like to do something OTHER than fry it (which is obviously the most delicious but least healthy way to cook it). Anybody have any good okra recipes?

2. My husband has been recording a new song. Here he is in all his recording glory (and will probably kill me for putting this picture on here). When we first got married I thought I would never get sick of the sound of his singing voice. Two years later when my husband locks himself in that room for hours and I can't hear my precious TV over his LOUD singing, I find myself wishing he had a soundproof recording studio with a red light outside of it like Uncle Jesse. Everything's better on TV.

3. I don't like to rush time, because it goes fast enough as it is, but I am excited for Fall. Crisp air, holidays, football games (yes I said it), apple cider, boots, sweaters. I'm ready!

4. When I started the Harry Potter series I had a hard time deciding whether I should read the entire series first and then watch the movies, or watch the movies after I finish each book. I decided to go with the second option and I am so glad I did. While the books are better, the movies are very comparable and I LOVE the actors. I'm so glad I decided to read Harry Potter. I am hooked!

4. I had to start moderating my comments because I am being infiltrated with Chinese spam comments. It is SO annoying. Seems like blogger could do something about this? Maybe not.

5. This time last year we were on our way to Disney World with my family. Oh how I wish we were going there again this year. I would LOVE to go to Disney World in the Fall.

6. On Friday we had friends over, we grilled burgers and just hung out and talked for several hours. There are few things better than good friends that you connect with, which I have found is so hard to come by. We are thankful for good friends.

7. If you aren't watching Friday Night Lights you are missing out on the best show ever. Luke and I watched seasons 1-3 in record time and are contemplating watching season one again. Do yourself a favor and watch it.

Virtual Pets

2010-07-22T20:02:00.000-07:00

Does anybody remember those Tamagotchi pet things?

If you don't know what they are, they are vitural pets. When you get a Tamagotchi Pet an egg hatches and thus your virtual child is born. You have to take care of your pet or it will eventually die.

They became really popular in 1998 and were all the rage.

I think I was a bit old for them, but as a person who is NEVER going to miss out on the current fad I had one, and I loved it.

LOVED it.

I may have been nerdy, and I might have taken my little Tamagotchi pet a little too seriously but I loved it.

I would nurture my sweet little virtual pet and when be so disappointed and feel like I failed if it died.

Fast forward to 2010. I am now married, and I had no idea I was married to a man who shared my love of taking care of a virtual pet. Until recently.

Let's back track, the other night Luke and I are in bed, we are about to go to sleep when Luke freaks out that he needs to water his followers before he goes to sleep.

Um, hold up, WHAT?

He then pulls out his iPhone, goes to some app and begins to feed his followers.

I sat in schock. My 26 year old husband had his very own version of a virtual pet.

The next day after church we are sitting down to eat with friends, when Luke, who usually lectures me about sitting on my phone with friends, pulls out his phone and begins to care for his followers.

When our friends asked what he was doing and his honestly replied, taking care of my followers, they lost it, complete hysterical laughter.

I mean really, what else can you do in this situation?

For the last week I have watched my husband water his followers, feed them, put them to work and put them to sleep, so that they will be rested up for the next day.

I am by no means making this up.

I don't really understand what the game is, because between you and me I honestly don't care but my husband is obsessed with it.

Obviously you have little followers whom you take care of. I don't really understand much more than that.

It is weird to have flashbacks of Jr high when watching your husband play a game.

I better watch out, next thing I know he is going to be playing Dream Phone

My Steps

2010-07-21T19:04:00.000-07:00

The summer after my junior year in college I decided not to travel back home to live with my family as I had done the summer's before, but instead I decided to stay in my college town and live there for the summer.

It was a hard decision but I felt it was the right time to stay there for the summer.

This was also the summer that my trusty ole right lung decided to stink out on my and quit working.

In other words it collapsed.

At the beginning of the summer when I decided to stay in my college town, away from my family I had no idea that I would end up spending a week and a half of that summer in the hospital.

Such is the story of life. You never know whats gonna happen.

The weekend that my lung collapsed I "just happened" to be at my home town at a wedding.

I was about to hit the road and head back to my college town when I decided that I should probably stop by the ER to figure out what that weird feeling was in my chest and why I couldn't catch my breath.

That was back in the day when I was still on my dad's insurance and I made periodic stops at the ER just to get things checked.

Seriously.

Luke put a stop to that real quick when he took over my medical bills.

Which is why I now live my life through Webmd. I miss my carefree days when I could make a quick stop at the ER, get checked over, and leave knowing I was fine and healthy.

Anyways.....

That night when I stopped at the ER to get checked over I was admitted immediately, set up with oxygen and wheeled to a room where I would end up spending the next week.

The hospital that I was admitted to was less than 5 minutes away from my parents house.

My family spent the next week going back and forth between my hospital room and home.

It was so convenient that the hospital I went to was so close to their house. Me being in the hospital didn't inconvenience them much, they could still carry on with their lives, while also catering to me at the hospital. And I needed LOTS of catering to.

If I had gone to the hospital in the town I lived in, they would have had to packed up their lives and came to where I was, or driven back and forth throughout the week.

It is a small thing, and it wouldn't have been that bad, but it was so nice that I was in the hospital so close to them.

I think about this situation many times.

Not because my lung collapse is my claim to fame and I use the excuse "I have breathing problems" when people want me to work out with them. Shady I know.

I think about this situation because to me it shows God's absolute provision.

Here I was living several hundred miles away from my family, yet "somehow" I ended up at a hospital in close proximity to them.

I know it was God, I know that he made sure that I was close to my parents.

I stopped at a random hospital yet it was one that took my insurance and everything was paid for through my dad's insurance.

It seems so small in the grand scheme of things, but, to me, this is what is so amazing about God, nothing is too big or even too small for him.

I do my best to follow the Lord everyday, spending time and communion with him. Striving to be more like Him everyday. Seeking His will for my life.

And when I do this, I know that He directs my steps. Even when I cannot visibly see it.

I had no idea that weekend when I debated whether to even go home for that wedding that I would wind up in the hospital, but He did. And He directed my steps to the place I needed to be.

Everytime I begin to doubt God providing in a situation, or start to question whether I am where I need to be in life I think back to this story, and how he guided me. I was committed to Him and gave Him the steering wheel and he led me, even when I had no idea I needed leading.

What a faithful God.

Sometimes things happen that don't make sense, but I have to remember I am looking with my own eyes, and cannot see the workings behind the scenes.

Admittingly it is hard to remember this sometimes, but I try my best.

The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way? Proverbs 20:24

Weekly Weekend Update

2010-07-19T18:08:00.000-07:00

I haven't done a Weekly Weekend Update in a while, I think it's time for one!

Thursday night Luke and I headed to my house to spend a couple of days with my family. We always have fun there and get to spend lots of quality time with my sweet nephew. He is so much fun!

I found this weird bear hat thing and put it on him. Doesn't he look thrilled?

Friday morning me, my mom, youngest sister, and grandma woke up early and went to a craft show. I love craft shows with all of my heart. Does that make me a nerd? I LOVE them.

Later that evening I left Luke with my family (they love him) and went to hang out with my bloggy friends. It's always a great time with these girls. I wish we could do it more often!

Lindsey, Me, Katie, Jessica, Megan and Emily

After my bloggy friend get together I went to get Luke so that we could head back home but there was a big storm so we decided to stay and hang out more with my family

Saturday morning we woke up and headed back home. We spent the weekend with some friends just hanging out and eating.

Jodi, me, Jayma

Me and my main squeeze:

Sunday after church Luke and I headed back to my hometown to go to a church gathering where Luke was leading worship. Part of my family came and Luke's mom and dad came.

Us with part of my family, (my sister was working and my dad was home sick)

And with Luke's parents

It was a great and exciting weekend, but also, very exhausting!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

A (second) Year in PIctures

2010-07-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

Last year around this time I put together a post of a picture of me and Luke from each month of our first year of marriage. While the second year of marriage may not be near as exciting as the first year is I decided to do it again. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I have nothing to blog about. Nothing.

I do have a little disclaimer: I wasn't as good at taking pictures during the second year of marriage as I was the first. Sad day. Some of these are pretty bad pics. But it's all apart of life right?

So here we go:

August:

At a Sugarland and Keith Urban concert. We aren't big fans of either bands but his parents had some extra tickets and we will never pass up anything FREE. I'm pretty sure Luke played risk on his phone the whole time.

September:
At our friend Tambra's wedding. It was such a beautiful night.October:
Another wedding. This is a bad picture but its my only one from October.
November:
Thanksgiving at my Uncle's house. Luke is squeezing me extra tight just because he loves me THAT much, not because he was sick of taking pictures.

December:
Four-wheeling on Christmas day. Please don't be jealous of our cover-alls.
January:
Spending time with my family. This is the ONLY picture I have of us together from January. There is an extra little guy in the picture. That's our nephew.

February:
This was either for Valentine's Day or Luke's birthday. I'm sure I could look back on the blog and see but it's not that important.

March:
This month we bought a house!! Praise the Lord! Standing on the front porch of our new house.
April:
This was after Luke's band played a show. I'm always such a good little groupie.
May:
This was on Mother's day.
June:
Spending time at the lake in Branson with Luke's family. We had a lot of fun!

So that brings us to present time. After reviewing through my pictures I vow to take more pictures during our third year of marriage!

P.S. Our anniversary isn't until the end of July, this was just a fun early review!

I do not understand

2010-07-07T17:13:00.000-07:00

There are many things I do not understand.

Here are some things I do not understand right now.

I do not understand why......

I gain weight when I quit drinking diet coke, quit being the key word here

When my hair is short I want it long, and when my hair is long I want it short

I wait so long to get my hair colored and have the darkest roots I have ever seen. It is embarrassing.

On earth Bella would choose Edward over Jacob. I mean seriously............

I can spend hours watching a TV show, but find it so hard to spend time in the Word

My face looks like it is going through puberty, hello acne at the ripe ole age of TWENTY SIX

The change I continue to pray for seems so far away and unreachable

People find it so hard to believe that my husband wants a career in music. Its our normal, get over it.

I feel like I need to eat something sweet after every meal, I once heard if you eat a Hershey's Kiss after every meal this will take away your sweets craving. Doesn't work for me.

Reba isn't on TV anymore. It is hand's down one of the funniest shows ever. Don't knock it till you've watched it!

We spend so much blasted money on food. I can't find a good coupon system that works for us.

There are many other things but this is all for now. I have important things to do right now like watch Friday Night Lights because it is amazing. And also eat this wonderful new pasta dish I found online at $5 recipes. It is delish.

We be Grillin

2010-07-05T20:10:00.000-07:00

From the moment that Luke and I moved into our home I have wanted a grill for our backyard.

I find it t hard to come up with meals in the summer. It's too hot to do a big casserole from the oven, and usually a cool salad doesn't feel us up (we are big eaters unfortunately).

So when we moved into the house I instantly wanted a grill.

However there were wood floors to buy, a new guest bed, bookshelves, various decorations, etc etc.

And the grill got put on the back burner.

Until the beautiful month of July when we decided it would be the perfect month to get a beautiful grill.

Well first Luke decided that we would get a grill, then he started crazy talk about needing microphones, and microphone stands, and all sorts of musical equipment that would not cook wonderful steaks and hamburgers.

After a bit of convincing Luke agreed it was time for the Tree's to purchase a grill.

Here I am with the grill trying not to gloat. This is where I sat, next to the girll convincing Luke that it belonged in our home.

We brought it home and put it together (we being a relative term, Luke might have been the only person who put it together) and then we (again, relative) grilled some yummy burgers!

I have a feeling this is the beginning of a long and beautiful relationship.

In other news I saw this T-shirt today and it took everything within me not to purchase it. I mean what child of the late 80's early 90's doesn't need this t-shirt??!?!

Are there any fellow grillers out there? What is your favorite thing to grill? Any secrets we (Luke) should know about?!?!

A Moment of Silence

2010-07-01T18:52:00.000-07:00

Me Right Now

2010-06-29T19:22:00.000-07:00

I have been disconnected from the blog world lately. When I sit down to write the words do not form like they once did and my mind is blank.

I am also insanely behind on reading all of my favorite blogs.

I hate this and it makes me sad because blogging has become such a big part of my life. I have met some of my best friends through blogging. Seriously. It's like the E-harmony for friends.

Friend-Harmony. Somebody market that quick.

Anyways I don't feel entirely disconnected from my blog friends because I keep up with a lot of friends through Twitter and this has helped me when I feel like my blogging days are over.

Today a sweet friend on Twitter reminded me that I just need to be myself on my blog. That is what first drew people to my blog, nobody expects me to always be "on" people just want me to be real.

It seems so simple, but when I received her simple message it really resonated with me.

I have always been real on this blog and I want to continue to be that way.

So for now, this is who I am right now, the real me on June 28, 2010.

I am an employee who is trying to balance a crazy new work load. Who is loving all of the new work, but at the same time overwhelmed and wanting to succeed in every way, without letting work overcome my every thought. An employee who is taking everything one day at a time.

I am a wife who loves my husband more than I ever thought I could. A wife who wants to cook dinner for my husband every night and keep a clean house, but realizes I can't always do this on my own and I'm learning to accept help. I am a wife who wants to walk beside my husband, I do not want to be spiritual dead weight that he has to drag.

I am a Christ-follower who is working through an ugly case of bitterness right now. A believer who often forgets to fill myself with the daily nutrients I need through some one-on-one time with my Creator. A person who fails everyday but strives to live a life that is pleasing to Him. A Christ-follower who is learning to not ask so many questions, but instead learn to seek Him more.

I am a girl who sometimes opens my mouth when I shouldn't. Who knows all to well what it feels like to wish I had just kept my mouth shut. But at the same time I am a girl who loves that trait about myself, learning to use it appropriately is a goal I am working towards.

I am a friend who is thankful for all of my friendships. Long distance and close, blog friend through email and blog friend turned real life friend, work friends, family friends, and friends who came out of nowhere. I am thankful for all of these friendships, and I hope that when people think of me they think of me as a good friend.

I am your typical "first born child" who is always worried about something and tries to "fix" everything, even when it's not my place to remedy the situation. I will (and have) spent hours laying awake at night worrying and trying to resolve a situation that is out of my hands. I am working on trusting God more (obviously).

I am a reader who is working through the Harry Potter series right now and is loving every minute of it.

I am an avid TV watcher who is currently obsessed with the series Friday Night Lights and can't believe I have lived this long without watching it.

I am a family person. I love family time so much and am thankful for the family that surrounds me. Not only do I have an amazing family, but I married into an amazing family. Blessed is a good way to describe how I feel when I think about my family.

I am a blogger who is sick and tired of Chinese spam comments and wants them to GO AWAY.

And lastly I am me. A me who is trying desperately to balance everything in my life and realizing that I can't always please everyone, solve every problem, or change everybody who I feel like needs to be changed. I am in a season of learning and growing. I stumble everyday but never take my eyes off of the One who created me to be me.

A recap of sorts

2010-06-20T19:08:00.000-07:00

Hello friends, this is me trying to explain to you why I have fallen off the blogging face of the earth.

I really don't know why. I mean life has gotten a bit busier lately, but thats no reason to neglect the ole blog.

So, because I use the ole blog to keep an update on my life, I want to use this time to update myself on what I have been doing.

I have been told that when you have kids you think to yourself: "what the heck did we do before we had kids?" so that is one reason why I love keep track of what we do, to show "what we did before we had kids."

Plus I'm a nerd.

Here we go:

1. In early June I signed up as a consultant for Scentsy wickless candles. I love the products and so far I am absolutely loving being a consultant. I had an open house at our house a couple of weeks ago which was fun because several friends who had not yet seen the new house got to come by!

The setup in the dining room:

The kitchen:

I found this super cute glass drink thingy at a garage sale the day before my party and I was SO excited. Until my party came and the flipping thing didn't work! Garage sale rip off!

Some of my beautiful family members came to the party. It was so fun:

(grandma, me, sister Haley, mom, nephew Maxton)

2. In mid-June Luke and I joined his family for some time away at the lake. We all stayed in one big cabin and had such a great time. We spent our time:

talking:

eating:

playing wii:

driving go-carts, (which I might add I completely wrecked and got hit about 10 times, oops)

and I spent some quality time with my main squeeze:

I am so very thankful that I married into a family that I love and love spending time with. I realize how blessed I am in that area.

3. I conquered my after workout hair in the morning. I now wash it at night, let it air dry and then use a curling iron to "curl it down." My beautiful friend Amy did a vlog on this and it has been a miracle worker for me. Check it out here. (fyi, my hair doesn't look near as good as Amy's hair, but, I'm attempting).

Me after bootcamp one day, with the miracle curl: AKA: curl down:

I just did a recap on my hair process. That is sad.

4. My guest room has now been turned into a Scentsy room and I have been a crazy woman putting orders together. I am loving it.

Cards on the bed, orders on the floor, and laptop with all the orders ready to go and bags on the bed to wrap the orders in:

Completed orders, wrapped and ready to be delivered:

Piles of scents stacked on the desk, in baskets, and on the floor:

5. This past Saturday I, along with two other lovely ladies, hosted a bridal shower at my house. I am so thankful for a home that I can use to bless others. It was a fun time. I love weddings, they are so exciting!

(Julie, the bride Stephanie, me, and Melanie):

6. Today my mom and dad drove up to eat lunch with us for Father's day. We had a great time. I made Pioneer Woman's lasagna. Yum Yum.

(me, dad, and my mom):

Well, that was a giant recap of basically nothing. But it's what we've been up to for the past month.

I plan to be more consistent with blogging from now on, cause giant recaps like this are pretty boring!

Love love love to all my bloggy friends! I have missed blogging!

Bitterness

2010-06-15T08:07:00.000-07:00

As we all know I'm obsessed with Webmd and googling certain "sick symptoms" that I feel.

If my right pinky toe is tingling I will look it up on Webmd and before you know it I have diagnosed myself with some sort of disease only found in a third world country and my leg will need to be amputated.

Its a sickness. Also known as hypochondria, which I have also looked up on Webmd. And would you believe that I fit the profile for a hypochondriac? I mean it was scary how much the symptoms matched my personality. Freaky.

Lately I have tried to stop looking everything up on Webmd. Let's face it, its not as reliable as I once thought it was. I wonder how many irritated Dr.'s there are across America because 88% of their patients come to them with their diagnosis in hand, positive that they already know what is wrong with them?

I made up that 88% number but it sounds legit to me.

Recently I was thinking about my current state of mind, you see I haven't been blogging lately, but thats not the only syptom that just doesn't seem right. There are several areas in my life where I'm just not myself lately.

I won't go into all of the ways I have not been myself, because really, who wants to hear about how I have been irritable, or how I will worry myself to the point of real life tears, or so on and so on.

None of those things would be flattering, and who wants to show themselves in a non-flattering light?

Not me.

Except for when I post pictuers of myself in my pajmas for the whole world to see.

Which is just scary.

But not as scary as the nasty bitterness that I have been battling lately. I was thinking about this word one nigh and decided to google it.

As a Christian I know that bitterness cuts me off from the Lord. When I allow bitterness to flood my heart, I am in essence cutting off a close connection with the Lord.

When I googled bitterness I found several key definitions. One definition stated that bitterness can cause a loss of emotional stability, peace, and joy.

Bingo.

Which made me think; how many times do I turn to the Internet, or Webmd, or the world in general, to tell me whats wrong, when really I should be turning to the bible?

I so often will feel something and will chalk it up to a physical symptom, when sometimes, my heart is simply crying out to be renewed.

I feel like lately I have been living in a fog of bitterness. It started a couple of months ago and I have let it escalate much farther than it should have gone.

So now I need to cleanse myself and get back on track, and get rid of this nasty bitterness.

I feel like I am always battling bitterness, it seems like I would learn to nip this thing in the bud.

Maybe one day.

I know this isn't the best post after not blogging for a week or so, but this is what is on my heart right now. And I think the plague of bitterness on my heart has had something to do with the lack of blog posts.

But that is one thing I love about having a blog, I can record all the way that God is speaking to me.

And also record what happens when I cut off conneciton with him.

BITTERNESS.

Sick.

So thats all I have for now. I will return with my pointless random posts soon.

I feel like I still have so many pointless random things to blog about. Like the fact that I hate pencils. It makes me shudder to think about using a pencil. They are sick. We can talk about this later. I wonder if there is a fear of pencils in Webmd?

Bad Hair Day

2010-06-02T10:14:00.000-07:00

Holiday weeks throw me off.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE them, but man, they throw me off.

And just in case you are wondering. In my mind a holiday week is when I have one day off of the week. (i.e. we had Monday off of this week)

(i.e. I don't know if I am using i.e. right but my 10th grade biology teacher always used it and it makes me feel smart)

Yesterday Luke and I went to a local Mexican restaurant and I was SO excited because it was 99 cent taco night.

I'm not the biggest fan of tacos, unless they are 99 cents. Then I am taco's #1 fan.

So I asked for several tacos. For the record I asked for more tacos than what I would normally get. I mean they are 99 cents right?

Wrong.

After the less than enthusiastic teenager working the register rang me up he told me my amount, and it was MUCH more than I expected.

To which I told him, umm It's Monday tacos are 99 cents.

To which he said, umm actually it's Tuesday.

Perfect.

Then for reasons I will never know I got up this morning at 5:30 and went to a boot camp class at 6:15.

Clearly I have gone insane.

The class itself wasn't bad if you are into that working out thing.

Which to be honest I'm not really.

I mean, my legs feel like jello right now. WHO WANTS THAT?

But I understand working out is good for the heart, yada, yada. And I don't want knees that look like two elephant butts by the time I'm 30 so it's time to start working out.

And yes I'm still doing the Couch to 5K, also known as the Couch to NEVER.

The boot camp wasn't that bad, other than the fact that I had to run a stadium for 10 minutes and I can't feel my legs.

However it was the aftermath that made me never want to go to boot camp.

It wasn't the smell of my body after rolling around a football turf. (shiver)

It wasn't my shaky jello legs that scared me away from ever going again.

It was my hair.

My hair that looks like somebody stuck my finger in an electric socket.

Which is oddly how my legs feel. Interesting.

I tried straightening it. (my hair not my legs)

I tried curling it.

I tried teasing it to give it some sort of structure other than the look of electrocution.

It wasn't budging.

So here I sit with my nasty hair in a pony tail, looking roooooough, wondering if I will go to boot camp again.

I actually enjoyed getting up early and doing something active, but this nastified hair is about to push me over the edge.

And I'm not even a girly girl, so you know it must be bad!

The next class is Friday morning so we shall see.

Decisions, decisions.

Does anybody else work out in the mornings? What are you secrets for getting ready for work and not having hair that looks like you got struck by lightning?

Summertime is Here!

2010-05-31T20:05:00.000-07:00

I love this weekend every year. It ALWAYS kicks off the summertime feelin!

Love. That.

It is supposed to get past 100 degree sometime this week and that makes me excited!

I know that seems crazy, but I get really grumpy when it's cold, so hot weather is fantastic with me.

Yes I may sweat.

And yes my thighs might stick to my leather seats in my car.

And maybe I can only wear dresses in the summer because they are nice and breezy.

But regardless, I enjoy a nice HOT summer day.

I love everything that comes with summer.

Well minus the spiders that have INFESTED my house. Our plan is to get some spray this week but in the meantime I don't even want to think about how many spiders I am swallowing at night.

They say the average person swallows a lot of spiders in their lifetime.

I say a lot because I have no idea how many. I googled it and got anywhere between 19 and 59.

Basically A. LOT.

Back to what I love about summer.

Snow Cones.

Flip Flops.

Cold spaghetti salads.

Green grass (even though it makes me break out and my eyes turn puffy and red like there's no tomorrow).

Tank tops.

And so on and so on.

We had a great weekend spending lots of time with friends and family by the pool.

I love summer!

My Wishes

2010-05-26T11:27:00.000-07:00

"If you could wish for anything in your life and get it, what would you wish for?"

It's the age old question.

No matter how old I am, where I am in live, or whoever asks me this question, my answer is always the same:

"I wish that I could have a beautiful singing voice."

I have always wanted a beautiful singing voice. And it was further intensified when I started dating, and eventually married a musician.

Luke never makes me feel this way, but I feel like I am sometimes failing our relationship because we can't sing together.

Ya know, break out our guitars and have a mini jam session in our living room singing together.

Actually come to think of it, yeah right, I'm not sure I could actaully ever pry myself away from the TV long enough for a mini jam session.

Well one day Luke asked me what my wishes would be if I had two of them?

I didn't have to think long or hard about that question.

I told him what my two wishes would be:

1. To have a beautiful singing voice so that we could sing together all the time
and
2. To have long happy lives together with healthy children.

So of course, naturally, I asked him what his two wishes would be.

Without hesitation he said:

1. To have a time machine and travel to any time period
and
2. That the Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory was a real palce and I could go there and see the oompa loompa's.

I really had no words.

That right there defines our relationship.

And I love it.

New Pants, New Mirror, and B minus

2010-05-25T07:16:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went to the mall and bought a new pair of dress pants.

I have been looking a bit drab at work lately and felt it as time to purchase a new pair of pants to spruce up my summer wardrobe a bit. I think looking nice at work is so important and here lately I have been failing in that area, so it was time to make a change.

I went to the mall, loaded with coupons of course, NEVER shop without coupons or pay full price for anything. IT ALL GOES ON SALE.

And that was your Public Service Announcement for the day brought to you by Megan.

I found a couple of pairs of pants, bought them, brought them home and tried them on.

Before I tell you about the pants,I have to tell you I got this new beautiful full length mirror at a discount store the other day (never pay full price for anything). I brought it home, hung it up (had Luke hang it up) and looked at myself in it and started crying.

This brand new, beautiful full length mirror is a mix between a carnival mirror and your reflection in the side a car.

In other words, short, squaty and penguin-like.

My husband is a tall, slim man who could car less about his reflection and even he said the mirror was a travesty and gave all mirrors everywhere a bad name.

Or something like that.

So here I am looking at my short, squaty, penguin-like self in the mirror and I feel something in my back pocket.

The back pocket of the new pants that I just purchased.

I reach in and pull out 3 empty earring holders.

So basically I just purchased pants that somebody took into a dressing room and used to steal jewelry.

Which really irritated me, because they used MY pants to steal. Even though they weren't my pants at the time. STILL, it irriated me.

And I am no stranger to shop lifting. Well I have never shop lifted, but I once worked at a large chain store that can be found in malls across America and we had a horrible shop lifting problem.

I eventually became the person that was in-charge of standing by the dressing rooms counting each article of clothing that went in, and each article of clothing that came out.

Also known as, talking to my friends, while pretending to work.

And I will never understand why I worked at this particular store, other than the fact that my best friend did.

This store charges $150 for one cotton t-shirt that could easily be purchased at Target for $20.

Have you ever heard somebody say, "omigosh I've turned into my parents?"

That above sentence is living proof that of that statement.

And I am still scarred from my time of employment at this store. Our manager would rate us on our appearance and one time my friend and I found his grading sheet (perhaps we sought it out) and he gave me a B minus.

I mean really, who gives somebody a B MINUS? Just give them a flipping plain B. The minus is unnecessary and hurtful.

I will forever think of myself as a B minus.

However it helps to remind myself that this said manager who gave me a B minus is probably alone somewhere, wearing "Fierce" cologne, crying, thinking about how he gave a high school senior who is still learning to love herself, a B minus and scarred her for life.

And it's also the reason why I can never shop in this store again. Plus they have naked people on the walls (who I'm sure are hotter than a B minus) and I don't care to see that nonsense.

Anyways, I got way off track. Clearly I have some belt up issues with ANDREW who gave me a B MINUS. Let's go back to present time:

So here I am standing in front of my short, squaty, penguin-like self holding empty earring holders and all of a sudden it dawns on me.

This is why people say to wash your clothes before you wear them. Because a THIEF could have tried on the pants before you and got their THIEF germs on them and now you are wearing THIEF pants.

I instantly felt dirty.

And then internally debated whether I wanted to wash these brand new pants and get them all stiff and have to go through that process of getting them to feel good again and be somewhat comfortable although we know they will never feel as good as they once did when you first purchased them, or wear pants that were once touched by a thief.

I chose the latter. Comfort is important to me

Comfort being important to me could also be the reason why I am a B minus.

And that's the story of my new pants, new mirror and old scar.

Also it's the reason I am reading So Long Insecruity and why I will never allow my kids to wear a shirt with a moose on it.

Flipping B minus.

Slump of Funk?

2010-05-19T19:54:00.000-07:00

It seems that here lately everytime I write a post I mention that I am in a "blogging slump or funk."

So I vowed to not say that anymore because who wants to continue to hear that over and over again.

And then I didn't blog for almost a week because I had absoluetly nothing to say other than I was in a "blogging slump."

Back in the day when I was a young, youthful, witty, writer with the world ahead of me, not a care in the world, people would ask me. "How do you find something to blog about everyday?"

I would laugh with ease and explain that something just comes to me, whether it was serious, silly, or just plain random something always came to me.

And then one day God turned off those serious, silly, or just random thoughts and all that was left was boring, meaningless thoughts.

I could tell you about how we have had storms here almost every night and every time I go outside to look at the sky to see if there is a tornado above my house, I see atleast two other neighbors doing the same thing and it makes me laugh everytime.

Or I could tell you how I wore leggings to work already TWICE this week and how unprofessional I think that is, but it was raining and I felt I had no other choice. Plus I ate almost a half tube of cookie dough the night before and I had to resort to an elastic waistband. Please don't judge.

There could be a story about how running outside is the worst thing ever and my 1 1/2 lung(s?) cannot keep up and most days I want to sit down cry.

So instead I come home, sit on the couch, and eat cookie dough out of the package. It soothes the soul. And then I have to wear elastic waistbands the next day.

But those would all be boring.

In an effort to spark my blogging juices I actually went back to my myspace page (which hasn't been logged into since November) and read my blog from "back in the day."

I was bloggin before bloggin was cool.

Those posts are the most random, usless, funny stories back from when Luke and I were dating, and it reminded me why I blog.

Well I blog for many reasons, but one reason is to remember those funny stories. Even if they only make me laugh.

So hopefully some blogging juices will come to me, otherwise my blog will be one of those that was once updated but now sits back in the blogger vault somewhere never to be touched again.

Oh the horror.

In other news:

Today two years ago I became an aunt.

And now today, I am an aunt to the most precious two year old in the entire world.

Back then, I had no idea how much I would love that little guy. He is so much fun and keeps us laughing (and constantly moving chasing after him) whenever we are around him.

And he only gives me baby-fever a little, teeny, tiny, bit.

Happy birthday Maxton!

Cooking Stress

2010-05-13T07:02:00.000-07:00

Last night was a stressful night.

There were no tornado's, there was not a power outage, it was not a weather-related stress.

It was a cooking stress.

In order to make myself feel better I am going to assume that everybody has had a cooking stress at one point or another.

Sidenote: A teacher my senior year of high school told me what happens when you assume and now I can never use the words without thinking of what happens when you assume. Sidenote over.

Luke recently started leading worship for the youth at our church so on Wednesday nights he gets home from work late.

Between you and me, I semi-look forward to this time.

You see I take my TV seriously, and when I am watching a show that I love (i.e. Army Wives, or Glee) Luke stands behind me and unknowingly groans, make comments, and makes fun of the show.

Which totally takes away from the show and makes me want to throw something at him.

Sometimes I do.

However I do have to say some of our favorite shows that we watch together were once shows that he made fun of. I consider it a personal victory when Luke starts to like a show he once claimed to despise.

Mark my words, by the end of the season Luke will love Glee.

Mark. My. Words.

I mean, when we first started dating he made fun of my favorite band Hanson all the time.

Guess who bought their last album for our collection? It wasn't me........

Anyways, I use every other Wednesday night to catch up on my DVR and enjoy my shows in peace and quiet.

I was looking forward to catching up on Army Wives and Glee last night but first I had to prepare dinner.

Usually a simple task.

Usually.

I had all of the ingredients for this soup and started to lay them out.

It was then that I decided this was going to be too much work. I had lots of shows to watch and as amazing as the soup sounded I didn't want to cut up a bunch of veggies. That's precious TV watchin time!

My chicken was already boiling so I knew I had to cook something that involved boiled chicken. I began hurriedly going through every single recipe. This was already cutting into my TV time.

I came across lots of recipes that I could cook, but they were loaded with cheese, and butters, and lots of fattening things.

Usually this doesn't bother me too much but lately I have been feeling a little tight in the waist area and have committed to start cooking healthy food items.

I pulled out my new Cooking Light cookbook and found a soup that I had almost all of the ingredients for and decided to cook that.

And that should be where this story ends.

But it's not.

True to crazy-Megan form I started fretting that the soup wouldn't be good. Or wouldn't make enough

And then I would be stuck with a gross soup, and I wouldn't have enough for consumption by two people and then OH THE HORROR.

So I decided to make some homemade macaroni and cheese to go with it.

Because homemade macaroni and cheese does wonders for the waist line.

And goes perfectly with healthy soup.

It was a weird night and I finally finished dinner around 8:30ish.

I did watch Glee, and I did eat the healthy soup (cause it was amazing). But I didn't eat much of the mac and cheese. It was an impulse decision.

Impulse decisions never end wisely. I have several 'impulse decisions" in my closet that can testify to this fact.

Also several of you asked about my Chicken Lime Salad recipe. It's actually not a recipe. It was a mix that can be found here. I just added the chicken and veggies. Yum. Yum.

So thats my food post for the week.

Most people post recipes, or tips for the kitchen, I talk about how I cooked two different meals cause I didn't know what I wanted.

Just another day in my complex mind.

Tornado Season

2010-05-12T07:51:00.000-07:00

It's tornado season here in Oklahoma and its always an interesting time.

Not so much interesting because of the storms, but interesting because you find out who is terrified of storms and who could care less.

It's always surprising.

It's always interesting because you get to watch the local news completely sensationalize everything. They referred to our hail as the size of "hen-eggs." Not baseballs, or golf balls or the usual terms.

No ya'll, this is Okie and we got hen size hail.

I firmly believe that the majority of people in Oklahoma are scared of storms because our weather men make SURE you are scared.

I grew up with a family that is not scared of storms. In fact one time the tornado sirens were going off and my mom was in the backyard grilling our dinner and us kiddos were playing on the swing set. My dad got home from work and exclaimed that we needed to take cover immediately.

So my mom finished our shish-ka-bobs and we ate them in our tiny powder room while waiting out the storm. Two adults, Two kids, 1 baby, and a smallish dog in a tiny powder room eating shish-ka-bobs.

Some of my best memories came from that small blue powder room.

It was always fun to me, which is probably why I'm not really scared of storms.

And I say "not really" scared loosely because there are times when I am scared.

Like when I am at my office, which was built in the early 1900's and could be compared to a small stack of hay. Sometimes when a strong wind comes by I'm pretty sure the office is going to fall in.

And when we lived in the 2nd story apartment because they always tell you to go to the bottom ground when a storm is coming and we didn't know the people that lived under us, so we just had to take our chances in our 2nd story apartment.

Tornado's are a good reason to get to know your neighbors.

Everytime those sirens would go off I would think, dang I really wish we knew that lady below us.

One rule you should know is that you are never supposed to be in a car when a tornado is coming.

On Monday I stupidly decided to drive home during the storm and regretted it instantly.

While I was driving home it was pouring rain. In a quick moment it was as if the rains parted and the car got silent and then ever so clearly I heard the man on the radio say:

"we cannot see these tornado's through the heavy rain, if it is raining where you are a tornado could pop down at any moment, take cover now."

Then it started pouring immediately, thunder started pounding and it got dark.

I may have imagined all of that, but now 48 hours later, it is exactly how it plays out in my mind.

Well I didn't exaggerate what the man on the radio said, just the weather conditions.

Remember when I said I'm "not really" scared. Well in that moment with just me, the exaggerated weather man, and my light little car that I imagined flying through the air, I got really really scared.

I called Luke to see where he was but I couldn't reach him.

My phone wasn't working that well and it was hard to connect.

Apparently during tornado's everybody calls their loved ones.

So I somehow managed to call my mom and told her I loved her if I got swept away by a tornado that popped out of the sky.

She said to me:

"WELL IT'S HEADED OUR WAY ALSO SO WE COULD BE GONERS TOO!"

Such the sensitive soul she is.

Finally I reached Luke to let him know that a tornado might pop down and get me and that I loved him and he said:

"Well be careful. How do you want your steak? I'm at Outback getting us some steaks for dinner."

Which made me excited and took away some of my fears.

So we spent the rest of our night eating steak and watching the local news that I so complained about earlier.

Somtimes I need a little exaggerated local weather news in my life. It's what makes the world go round.

Also, they were cutting into regularly scheduled programming so there wasn't really anything to watch on TV.

We are supposed to get more storms tonight, I am praying for those that lost their homes on Monday, these storms can be scary! Especially when we get that there hen size hail.

Project 365 - Week 18

2010-05-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness. I was horrible at taking pictures this week. Most of these are from my phone which I hate because they are grainy and not the best quality. I am trying to get better about taking pics on my good camera but that thing is just so dang heavy to lug around!

Sunday May 2nd:

After church we went to my parents house to give my mom her Mother's Day gift. I took this pic of my mom and baby sister. They are so beautiful! We met up with Luke's parents for dinner and gave his mom her Mother's Day gift. I made our mom's frames which I will probably do a post on soon.

Monday May 3rd:

On my way running out the door I noticed that our rose bushes were blooming. I got so excited and snapped a pic of this pretty rose blooming. I love the beginning of all seasons. And loved that I saw this blooming on Monday morning. I new rose for a new week!

Tuesday May 4th:

Every semester at graduation my office hosts a come and go reception for 3 days for graduates to come pick up a free gift. This was day one. We turn our kitchen into the gift room.

Wednesday May 5th:

Another slow day, so lets check out those rose bushes. We desperately need to trim them up and clean out the leaves in our flower bed. I planned on doing it last weekend but it was 62 degree. No thank you.

Thursday May 6th:

You've heard the story. Girl lift ginormous tree limb that was heavy. Old news.

Friday May 7th:

Friday was the last day of the semester at the university I work at,and also the last day for one of our student worker's. So we took them out to lunch. It was a good last meal. Luke randomly joined us for lunch. It was a good time.

Saturday May 8th:

Luke and I woke up early and went to the Farmer's Market. We got some fresh veggies and then make this yummy lime chicken salad thing for dinner. It was a nice and relaxing day.

It's Been Four Years...

2010-05-08T18:14:00.000-07:00

This day, four years ago I graduated from college.....well I walked across the stage in a cap and gown.

Those four years of late nights, long classes, projects, speeches and the occasional drama flew by. But the four years following college just might have flown by faster.

I heard recently that "the days seem long, but the years fly by" I'm sure it's an old quote that I only heard recently, but it is so true.

In those four years since graduating I have.....

Watched my boyfriend graduate from college only to find my name in the graduation program and find out that due to some "late paperwork" I also officially graduated that day, one year after my walk across the stage. Weird.

I started my first job, working at the university I graduated from.

After several months I left that job and I moved onto a start-up company that my dad advised against but I chanced it. I shouldn't have. Those are months I will never get back.

Despite my D's in math all through high school and college I worked at a bank.

Thank God for computers that do everything for us.

I went back to work at the university I graduated from and have enjoyed every moment.

It was there that I got my first "big girl" desk:

I went to the mountains a couple of times:

Went cruisin'Spent many fun days and nights with my friends:

Went on my first business trip and also my first time to visit Washington D.C.

Started a blog and made some amazing friendships. Some of my closest ones today.

Became an aunt to the most adorable little boy:
Married my best friend who still makes me laugh every single day:Went on a couple more trips.

Bought a house.

And made many other memories both big and small.

It's been a good four years since college. However I'm still waiting to feel like an "adult." Maybe I always will be?

Luke and I on my graduation astonished that I finished on time after changing my major seven times. Little did we know.....

Tree Trimming

2010-05-06T21:24:00.001-07:00

Do you ever have weeks where you are so busy you feel like you come home, change into your comfy clothes and then lounge on the couch before you hit the sack?

That is what this week has been like for me. It has been pretty busy. I do like busy weeks because it means I'm alive and kicking and enjoying life, but I also like having a little down time.

Tonight we had a free night and I was looking forward to it.

We kicked off the night with a nutritious and delicious meal of hamburgers, french fries, and onion rings.

Then we decided to go on a small jog that promptly made me want to throw up.

Since Luke is an "experienced" runner, he likes to remind me quite often what to do and what not to do when running. He won some sort of medal in high school for track and now he is my coach. Whether I ask him to be or not....

Well tonight Couch warned me that the burger would not mix well with my jogging.

I did not listen.

And I regreted it.

Always listen to Coach, I have mentally jotted it down.

As I was jogging I started to feel nauseous and tried to make it home as fast as possible. As soon as I got home I collapsed in the front yard that I have so yearned for in the past year.

I love having a yard.

There is something so peaceful about a yard.

Me and Coach hanging out in our yard:

While we were lounging in our yard, Luke noticed some dead limbs that needed to be taken down.

So we spent our Thursday night taking down dead tree limbs.

We are such suburban-ites, don't tell Luke, he wants to be a rockstar.

Here he is trying to knock down a dead limb, most normal people use a saw. Not us, we are wild. It's that Indian blood Luke has, it makes him feel like he can do anything.

My job was to take the dead limb to the appropriate wood pile. It should be noted that it is not the same limb, despite Luke's valiant efforts without a saw he couldn't get that beast of a trunk down.

Actually I'm not sure if it was my job, or if I said "let me see if I can lift this." And then when I did Luke randomly snapped a picture.

Or I might have said "This is perfect for my Project 365 TAKE A PICTURE!!!"

Something like that happened.

And then Luke took my picture:

And told me I was the biggest nerd he has ever known.

Which I beg to differ. Luke has told me what he and his friends would do in their past-time while growing up and it involved video games, Bob Dylan music, and Lord of the Rings.

In fact one time far too recently, while preparing for bed, Luke asked me if we could listen to the Lord of the Rings audio CD while we fell asleep.

His romantic efforts cannot be matched by anyone.

And I rest my case that I am in fact NOT the nerdiest person he has ever met.

So anyways, that was our Thursday night. It was pretty average, minus me lifting a GIGANTIC tree limb.

Please never call me weak again.

Unless we are talking about my self control towards cookies.

Because I am totally weak when it comes to some warm, gooey, chocolate chip cookies.

Just don't tell Coach I ate them before our jog.

Who I Am

2010-05-05T20:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight I was looking back through un-posted posts on my blog. I wrote this particular last September and for some reason I never posted it. This was before I read So Long Insecurity but from this post I can see God was preparing me for that book. Becoming secure in who I am in Him is a journey in life but one that is attainable.

So many times I beat myself up for who I am.

There is a verse in Psalms about "turning off the flow" and sometimes I'm pretty sure that it has my name written in front of it

I am louder than most, and more times than I care to admit I will think before speaking.

Which most times cause the whole 'foot in the mouth' situation.

Tonight I was going through our guest room closet desperately searching for an old journal when I came across two photo albums full of pictures from my college years.

So of course, I had to stop what I was doing and open the album to view the contents inside.

I moved to my college town not knowing a single person or what I was getting myself into. I went to my university on a "whim" and I have been thankful that I went there every since.

I have mentioned this before, but I truly became who I am today through the experiences I had in college. I am me because of those four years.

I grew closer to God during that time.

I learned what it was like to be apart of a church community on my own.

I found my true love.

I lost my true love.

I got him back and kept him this time.

I made some amazing friends.

I lost some friends.

I found friendship in the most unexpected people. Friendships that are still alive today.

I learned how to work through emotions of bitterness and forgiveness, and in fact I am still working on learning that one.

I learned that people will fail you, even those that know your heart and soul, they will fail you.

I learned that you can't study for a test at 4:00am and expect to make a good grade.

I learned the same thing applies to writing a 10 page essay.

I found out community restrooms really gross me out.

I found out that I am me.

I found out that I don't like fake people.

I learned how to be the real me and to stick to it.

I learned to give people a second chance.

I realized that manual labor is not my friend.

I learned this while my church was renovating our new building and I still get made fun of for my lack of help and instead excessive amounts of whining.

I found that when I am away from my family my "first born characteristics" tend to come our very strongly.

I was called bossy for the first time during these years.

I learned that sometimes bossy is a negative word for leader.

So many times I beat myself up over things I say or things I do.

I am a little louder than most, and sometimes I say things that I don't think twice about saying.

But I am a work in progress. God is growing me and teaching me.

So I looked at the pictures and then closed the album and put it back in the closet, and realized something.

I realized it was ok to let the memories flood back. To let the emotions of joy, sadness, anger, happiness, and forgiveness enter my heart.

They made me who I am, and I am still learning, still learning that it is ok to be me.

It took four years and a whole lot of money to figure that out.

Money well spent in my opinion!