The Run Down

I realized that I haven't posted in a while. Well, like normal, life is crazy and hectic and absolutely beautiful right now. So, as not to disappoint my readers (Yep Mom, this is for you), here's the run down. (Isn't a peek inside my life almost as entertaining as going to the movies? I should charge ya'll 10 dollars just to read my blog. Extra if you want some popcorn.) :)

My Crazy Busy Week:

• Sunday consisted of quality worship time and a sermon that has had me thinking all week. Also had some really great lunch conversation and then got to hang out with Ryan and have some quality friend time Sunday night.

• Monday I got some good roommate time as it seems like Fawn and I rarely see each other any more. I mentioned to her on Monday night that it seems that we see each other less now that we live together than when we were just neighbors. I also got to go for a nice bike ride and then a run while Lainee biked next to me. It was just a good evening spent hanging out around Celebration.

• Tuesday we got to tour Bay Lake Tower for work and it was really nice. It's also always fun to get out of the office for a few hours and experience some of that Disney magic! Tuesday night was super cool. We had a Mother Blessing for 2 of the women at our church that are going to have their babies in the next few weeks. We all brought a bead that reminded us of the Mothers and then gave it to them and had a good time of prayer for them.

• Wednesday night I got to hang out with Dan and go to dinner and Epcot (Epcot in the evening is probably my favorite thing at WDW) and then Jellyrolls. Even with the rain it was a really great evening. I relish an evening spent with good company, good conversation, and lots of laugh.

• Tonight (aka Thursday) Matt and John cooked dinner for Fawn and I. Fawn and I had cooked them dinner a few weeks ago and they promised to return the favor. It was a nice little trade off. It's great to share a meal with friends. Our friend Steve was also there and we've decided that he and his fiance are responsible for the next dinner. I could get used to this regular dinner and fellowship with friends. And, we also played a bit of Guitar Hero World Tour and let's just say that I believe I have a hidden talent for the drums. Good stuff. Oh, and also during the day I got to have lunch with my friend Melissa. I feel like even though we work in the same building on the same projects, we never have time to talk and catch up so it was nice to get away for an hour and catch up on each other's lives. I appreciate her insight and advice and wish that I was able to spend more time with her.
  

Upcoming Excitement:

• Tomorrow night (aka Friday) is the Children's Ministry Banquet for the church. Love spending time with City Church folks so it should be a very enjoyable evening. Afterwards, I get to hang out with Ryan and Jessica!! Jessica just got back from an internship in Chile so I'm anxious to hear her stories. I'm sure they'll be good ones!

• Saturday, Ryan and Jessica and I get to hang out some more and hopefully find something fun to do. Ryan and I have tentatively decided we're going to De Leon Springs but we'll see if the weather and Jessica (if we can get her out of bed at a decent hour) cooperate. Saturday night I get to hang out with Dan again and see 500 Days of Summer. I've been wanting to see this movie since I saw previews for it when I went to see Sunshine Cleaners so I'm super excited. And, of course, I'm looking forward to some good times with good company once again :)
  

• Sunday I'm looking forward to worship again. Love City Church and the amazing people there. Have I mentioned that a time or two before? And Sunday night I'm going to a Gift Card Giver party that some people at church are hosting. Should be interesting.

• Next week--Looking forward to seeing my City Group again after we've taken a 2 week hiatus. And then Friday night I head home to Ohio for 9 days!! Praise Jesus! Looking forward to some quality time with family and friends. I haven't been home for this long since Christmas. And I haven't been home for this long when the weather is warm and beautiful since before I moved to Florida in 2006!! Oh Goodness!!
  

• Near future--I also get to head back to Ohio for Labor Day Weekend to enjoy some football festivities with the best friend. Who wouldn't look forward to that???

Life is so very good and I feel as though I'm starting to see that even in the times when I'm feeling down and frustrated. God's plan is so much better than my own and I'm so desperately longing to give up all control and allow Him to take over. I know that sometimes in my desperate desire for that I try to control giving up control (if that makes any sense!!) and so I'm trying to learn and listen to what He's calling me to do. It's certainly a never ending process but it's surely what makes life beautiful.

And there you have it, my friends. The run down of my life. Don't you feel better now that you know? :)

My princesses

My parents and nieces were in town for a long visit and I loved every minute. I may write more later, but for now, enjoy some of my favorite pictures from the week. I took some great video with my Dad's flip camera, but it's in Ohio and I'm here soooo you'll have to wait for that!
If they aren't the cutest kids you've ever seen, well then, we're gonna need to talk!


Hot and sweaty after spending the day at Magic Kingdom for Grandpa's birthday.


Check out our pretty nail polish and lip gloss. Aren't we gorgeous?


Took Britony on the 400 ft Characters in Flight tethered helium balloon at Downtown Disney. She loved it and wasn't even a little scared.


Ready for the safari!


Kerigan loves the carousel! Look at those bright blue eyes!



The performer at the Boardwalk jumped in our picture. The girls loved his show--he was balancing knives!!


Britony playing in the waves at Cocoa Beach. Her face is classic in this picture. Kerigan didn't so much enjoy the waves, but she loved building sand castles with me!!! I'm still getting sand out of my swimsuit!


Straight up thuggin'. I promise you this was her idea. She's 4. Coolest kid I know.

Africa

Talking about the song this time...Check out this rendition by a Slovanian Choir. It is truly amazing.

Living on Less?

So here I sit pondering whether I should buy an iPhone while at the same time wishing I could quit my job and just do worldwide missions. Well hmm. That presents a problem, doesn't it? My heart is calling me to go and serve while the earthly side of me is desiring every trinket and gadget available. I'm facing a dilemma that has surely plagued believers for some time. How to live on less so we can live more fully. I think it comes down to this idea of wanting to be accepted and wanting others approval. If I have a new iphone, trendy clothes, a big nice home, new running shoes, a new camera, a blue ray player, a new bike, fancy furniture, the latest kitchen appliance, new dress shoes, concert tickets, movie tickets, downloaded songs, etc, etc, etc, I'll fit in, right? People will have to like me, right? But when does this mass consumption end? With each pay raise I say I'll give more. I'll support missions and charities. I'll give beyond my tithe. I'll even save some! But with each pay raise I feel entitiled to a higher standard of living.

But really?

What's the point?

Is my iPhone, my new clothes, my concert ticket worth more than...

...clean water in Africa?

...homes for the homeless?

...a chance for an education for all children?

...food for the hungry?

...supporting ministries?

...the Gospel reaching ALL of God's children?

It's a battle I'm constantly fighting in my heart. How do I fight the constant desire to conform to this world and instead allow my heart to be molded by my Savior?

Is this something you struggle with? What are your thoughts?

My perfect life

My perfect life would consist of these things:

1. Total dependence upon Christ
2. Good music. Constantly. Live music would be even better.
3. Quality conversation.
4. Quality times of silence.
5. Going on runs that always felt good.
6. Never feeling lonely.

Seems pretty simple, right?

Happy Belated Independence Day

Let me begin with saying that a year ago my best friend Katie and I decided that it's silly for Independence Day to be called the 4th of July. So I've decided that it should always be referred to as Independence Day. I've also decided that Independence Day is Will Smith's favorite holiday (ba dum psh).

Anyway, with a 3 day weekend on my hands I knew that I had to find a fun adventure. Luckily, Ryan (my friend, ya'll, just friends) was thinking about heading to Niceville (near Destin, FL in the panhandle) to go home for the long weekend. I talked Ryan into letting me come along because I wanted to go fishing in the Gulf with his brother and dad and I basically just love his family and knew it'd be fun to hang out with them for the long weekend. Of course, it didn't take much convincing on my part because I make a 6 hour drive more fun so naturally Ryan would want me to tag along.

On Thursday afternoon we left Orlando at about 4:30. At about 4:35 I realized I had forgotten my sunglasses in my car that was parked in front of my house. Bum-mer. Two hours later, we arrived in Gainesville for a pit stop at Burrito Brothers (world's best burritos. No, seriously) and dessert at D'Lites (amazing delicious and healthy ice cream...and they have Gator sprinkles. Yum!). We were then back on the road for the final 4 hours. I would explain our hilarious car ride to you (my loyal readers...all 3 of you), but I'm pretty sure it's one of those experiences where you have to be there. Let's just say that in the 6 hour drive there was about 5 minutes of silence. The rest of the trip consisted of us singing aka wailing at the top of our lungs, impersonating people and then interviewing each other with our new personas, and me creating awesome dance moves and car aerobics. So. Funny.

We got to Niceville and pretty much just went to sleep because we were getting up bright and early on Friday morning to head out on the Gulf for some fishing. Mr. Walker, Jason, Ryan, and I headed out at about 5:00 a.m. I got to see the sun rise on the bay and it was GORGEOUS. We ended up catching 3 king mackerels. We would have had more, but the dolphins kept biting them off of our hooks. When I was trying to reel one in, I couldn't figure out why it was so incredibly hard (like I thought I was going to fall over the side of the boat into the water) until we finally got the fish up and it was just a head...a dolphin had been hanging on my line half the time eatting my fish. No wonder I couldn't reel in a 300 pound dolphin!!! Jason ended up reeling in a shark too...the stupid shark kept chasing off our fish too. Bummer. About an hour and a half into the boating adventure I started to get really really seasick. Yuck. The waves were really big so it was just tossing our boat around. After we finished fishing we headed into the bay and stopped at Crab Island which is this sand bar right in the middle of the bay where the water is about 2 feet deep. We got out and swam and it was so beautiful! We also saw a bunch of dolphin swimming around. It's amazing.

When we got back to shore, we headed over to the Walker grandparents house for breakfast. Delicious biscuits and gravy. We were back at Ryan's house by 10:30 and I had felt like I had already put in a full day! I found the energy to head out for a run along the bay and just take in the view. Finally I headed back to the Walker's house, showered and we all (The entire Walker family--Mr. & Mrs Walker, Ryan, Jason, Sean, and Allison and me) headed to Sandestin to go to Mitchell's Fish Market for lunch to celebrate Jason's 23rd birthday. I rode out with Allison and had fun catching up with her. Lunch was hilarious and I couldn't stop laughing and the food was soooooo good. They brought out a free dessert since it was Jason's birthday and I swear it was the largest dessert EVER. And the Walker boys did a mighty fine job demolishing it too! The rest of the day was just spent running a few errands around Destin before heading back to the Walker residence to just hang out for the rest of the evening, enjoying some delicious chicken wings for dinner, and amazing Oreo Cake made by Mrs. Walker for Jason's birthday.

The plans for Saturday were to go fishing again but Jason and Ryan pooped out so I woke up around 7:30 and headed out for another run along the bay. It was much cooler at 8:00 compared to my run at 11:30 the previous day!! After I got back, Mrs. Walker, Ryan, Jason and I loaded up the truck to head to the beach for a picnic. We ended up staying for 4 hours and the day was beautiful. Ryan and Jason taught me how to body surf and Jason taught me how to surf (kinda). I at least got up on the board for a split second. We also played a nerve-wracking game of cornhole. When we finally realized that we were all getting toasty and red, we packed up and headed out. We drove through a bunch of small beach towns, one of which being Seaside, FL where The Truman Show was filmed. It's such a cute town. We stopped in Panama City at Pier Park before we all decided we were tired and ready to go home.

When we got home, Mr. Walker grilled the fish that we had caught the previous day and let me just say it was seriously some of the absolute best fish I had ever tasted. YUM! And it was exciting to know we had caught it!!! We just relaxed the rest of the evening (with bright red skin!), I played some Bananagrams with Mrs. Walker and Allison (I may be really competitive when it comes to this game!!), and then laughed a bunch with the two of them as we watched TV.

Sunday morning I went for one last walk along the bay before we headed to church. We enjoyed a bit more time hanging out and laughing at the Walker house before starting our journey back to The City Beautiful. The 6 hour drive back was equally as hilarious as Ryan and I played the Alaphabet billboard game. Ryan won by what I would call a fluke find of the word "Zoo." We then continued to make up random games the rest of the ride home and sing really loud at the top of our lungs to some stellar music (thanks to my mad DJing skills). And of course, we made a pit stop in Gainesville at D'Lites for more ice cream. (One is opening in Orlando soon and I am SO excited!!).

We got back to Orlando with just enough time for me to unpack and head to bed. The weekend was so relaxing and I am so blessed to have a good friend who is willing to share his family with me when mine is so far away. And I'm so blessed that the Walkers are incredibly welcoming and amazing people. I feel like I've known them forever and it's fun to have brothers that I've never had. I talked a little bit with Mrs. Walker about why God brought me to Orlando (as I feel as though I'm still figuring that out some days) and she said something along the lines of "Well if you had never come to Orlando then you would have never met Ryan and then we would have never met you." and it just reminded me that maybe God just brought me to Orlando to meet amazing people who are constantly speaking into my life and teaching me what authentic faith and authentic relationships are. If that is the only reason I'm here, that is enough and I'm thankful.

It's a good life a good night to be alive

Last night Rachel, Rebekah, and I went to The Social to see Andy Davis play. He opened for Josh Hoge and was also joined on tour by Tim Brantley and Mikey Wax. The show was really great with 4 talented musicians. Plus, Rachel had seen on Andy's facebook page that he needed help selling merch, so Rach and I sold merch last night. It was a great way to see a sweet concert for free. We got to chat a bit with Andy as well and even take a nice little pic at the end of the night. Anyway, be sure to check out Andy Davis if he's touring around you. A talented musician and a quality guy. And while I'm plugging great musicians, you should also check out Matt Wertz, Dave Barnes, Gabe Dixon Band, Jon McLaughlin, and I can certainly give you more to check out if you'd like. :)