Who's with me?

So, I'm going to sign up for my next 1/2 Marathon. Now the next thing is, who wants to train with me...mostly, Rachel Tidwell, I'm looking at you. I suppose I could have just sent you an email asking you, but this is much better. I'll call you out in front of my 10 readers (is that being generous? thinking I have 10 readers?). :) Anyway, any one interested in signing up and training for a half? I'm considering the Baldwin Park 1/2 Marathon in November and the OUC 1/2 marathon in December. I'm also seriously considering the Miracle Miles 15k in September. But that only leaves me about 4 weeks to get from 3 or 4 miles to 9...although I suppose that's not really much of an issue.

Okay, feedback time...leave me comments...GO! :)

Home, family, a wedding--good times!

Home was good. Scratch that. Home was great. I'll give a full recap soon (hopefully). In the meantime, enjoy just a few pictures. Unfortunately I barely used my camera (as in less than 2 times), so this is all I have.

Sister and I after Meg's rehearsal dinner. We were on the newly remodeled deck in our back yard. Check out that sunset in the corner. Gooorgeous.



Me and my princesses after the rehearsal dinner. Britony was crying just a few minutes before this because we wouldn't let her put on the dress that we bought her for the wedding. She was upset that I got to wear a pretty dress and she wasn't allowed to. I had to explain to her that the dress I had on was not the dress I was wearing for the wedding and that we had to keep her dress clean for the wedding. There's certainly no denying she's a girly girl.


My lovely sister playing the piano at the church for Meghan's wedding. She's good. Like really good. Like I aspire to be 1/2 as good as she is. And oh, that's her fiance Jordan. He's an okay guy, I guess. Ha ha.


Doing my bridesmaid gig for Meghan's wedding. This is the church I grew up in. Isn't the stained glass window amazing? Also, I think I was busting up laughing at this point b/c Caleb and I couldn't walk at the same pace and he was chanting "left, right, left, right" the entire way down the aisle. Good times.



The happy couple! Mr. and Mrs. Stephen and Meghan Malvitz. An amazing, wonderful, sweet couple. So honored that I was able to be part of their special day. Meghan was absolutely glowing.

Something to think about

I was over at Relevant Magazine's website reading around when I decided to take a look at the blogs posted there. I came across this blog post that I found interesting. Take a look. Let me know your thoughts. Very controversial issues both in and amongst the church and in our society in general.

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/community/blogs/Why-I-Offend-People.html

Movies I'd like to see

Here's the list. And their trailers. Tell me if you recommend any of them or if there are any I should steer clear of. Thanks!

1. Taking Woodstock



2. Julie & Julia



3. Public Enemies



4. Post Grad



5. The Time Traveler's Wife



6. Paper Heart



7. No Impact Man: The Documentary



There are more coming out later this year, but those are the first few that are catching my eye. Thoughts?

Gift Card Giver

Awesome organization. Here's their story (yes, taken directly from their website. Why should I paraphrase when it's written just fine?):

THE STORY
Four friends had an idea to collect gift cards and give them to people in need. They went to a gathering and asked 8 people how much money in unused Gift Cards they had in their wallets and walked away with $50 in Gift Cards to help people in need. GiftCardGiver.com was born.

Gift Card Giver is a new form of giving. The Gift Card industry has risen to be a 60 billion dollar industry. Ever wonder how many gift cards are unused? More than 10%. That means billions of dollars are waiting to be used for good on Gift Cards.

How many gift cards do you have sitting in your wallet? We guess you have at least $5 of unused gift cards in your wallet or purse right now. What’s 5 bucks going to buy you? Five bucks in Gift Cards may buy you a pair of socks…but 10 people giving 5 bucks will buy a kid a winter coat or 1000 people giving $5 from may give that same kid a warm bedroom to sleep through the night.

CARD ME

It is very simple to get involved:
STEP 1: Use as much of your card as you want (or send a full card).
STEP 2: Write how much is left on your card using a permanent marker.
STEP 3: Place the card in an envelope and send it to us at:

Gift Card Giver
490 East Side Ave SE
Atlanta, GA 30316

OUR COMMITMENT

We collect and distribute the cards to appropriate Non-Profit Organizations that can use those cards to help others. We have never used a card for ourselves and never will. Thanks for contributing. This is a grass roots campaign that has created a new form of giving and you are an important piece to the idea coming to life.

Check it out and the send them your unused Gift Cards! Visit www.giftcardgiver.com to learn more.

Card Me. The Story. from Gift Card Giver on Vimeo.

This is home

No matter how many miles separate me from this place or how long it's been since I've been here. It will always feel like I'm coming home.

This is home...

...where the corn grows high

...where the summer nights are cool

...where the grass is soft beneath my feet

...where the air smells sweet

...where the open roads invite me for a run

...where memories were made of

...preschool best friends

...middle school crushes

...high school loves

...athletic victories

...academic achievements

...musical engagements

...tree climbing adventures

...snowy playgrounds

...family bonding

...autumn time leave jumping

...spring time flower smelling

I'm thankful for the places God has taken me, but I'd be lying if I said that I don't miss this place. It's peacefulness is soothing and the memories fill my heart with warmth. I feel safe here knowing that I always have a place to call home.

And now I'm ready to rest my head as I listen to the rain pitter patter on the tin window awnings. A welcoming invitation back to distant memories and dreams of my childhood.

The Beauty in Tears

I'm an emotional person. Hard to believe, right? Wrong...if you know anything about me! I do things in extreme. When I'm happy, I'm ridiculously happy. When I'm sad, I'm sad about everything. When I'm excited, I'm really ecstatic. I rarely know how to be in the middle. And I'm okay with that. I'm okay that I wear my emotions on my sleeve and people can read me like an open book. That's who God has made me. Of course, that also means that I can cry at the drop of a dime. I cry when I'm sad, I cry at movies, I cry when I'm homesick, I cry when I listen to music, I cry when I pray, I cry when I praise, I cry when I see other people hurting. And sometimes...lots of times...I cry for absolutely no reason. And sometimes it just feels really good to cry.

All this to say, tonight at City Group as we were sharing stories a few of us were shedding some tears. And I began to think about how amazing God's creation is. Think about the act of crying. It's so simple yet so intricate. It's tied to so many emotions--sadness, happiness, joy and a wide range in between. You emotionally and mentally feel something and your body produces a physical representation of this emotion or thought. Isn't that crazy? It's like God knew that there would be times when we would needed to have a clearly physical way of displaying our emotions. And truly I feel as though crying (at least when sad or hurt or angry) releases a sort of pressure that has built up in our hearts. Sure, crying may not actually solve anything, but think about the times when you've been hurt. I know for me, that after I'm hurt, a good cry makes me feel better. It's as though the tears have washed away some of the dirt and grime and I have the ability to address the situation with new clarity.

Crying is such a simple act and one shared among all ages. It's something we're born to intrinsically know how to do. Something that can convey our emotions and feelings when there are no words.

I love seeing how perfectly God has woven His creation.