Beach Bummin'

We could not have asked for better beach weather this past weekend. There is nothing like setting up camp on the sand in the morning with a tent, an umbrella, beach chairs, towels, a big cooler, food, and friends and staying out there ALL day. We laughed alot. We swam (mostly when we had to use the restroom - be honest, you do it too). We attempted juggling the volleyball as a group (which created many of those laughs as well as an impressive showing of flexibility by Lucy). We talked. We slept. We soaked up the sun and then after we got burned in the first hour, we soaked up the shade with the cool breeze blowing on us. We had a fantastic weekend. It was one of those weekends that makes it so clear how blessed I am. Oh and also how much of a beach bum I am. It really is my most favorite place, not just because of the beauty but because of the people I get to spend my time with there.  This picture is at sunset. We had ordered seafood to go (and pizza for Hogan) and taken it back to the beach to eat. Such an amazing picture of God's beauty.

Btw, my hilarious friend Leigh is now blogging (http://thespontaneousplanner.blogspot.com/). Even if you don't know her, I promise you'll love reading whatever she writes. I persuaded her to start blogging and now I guess I've put even more pressure on her to blog - oops ;)

Aaaand, my hilarious husband Hogan (yes, I surround myself with humor) posted on his blog (http://ho2theworld.blogspot.com/). He doesn't blog often but maybe this will put more pressure on him as well to keep it up ;)

Hope everyone had a relaxing weekend! Thanks so much for reading!



Summer Fun

I love summer. I don't know if I can say it's my favorite season but it's just SO refreshing after winter and the crazy spring weather. I went out walking at lunch last week around the parks where I work and just soaked up that sun shining down on me! Anyways, it got me thinking of why I love summer so much. Here are just some of my reasons in no particular order...

1. Beach trips - I could go on and on and on about how much I love the beach.
2. Warm sunshine - It makes me smile and relax.
3. Limeade - I mean I drink this year round but it's just so refreshing in the summertime.
4. Cook-outs - LOVE some burgers and chicken on the grill with friends and family gathered round.
5. Flip flops - comfortable, cute, and easy
6. Sitting outside at restaurants - makes the experience so much more fun.
7. Sundresses, skirts, and shorts - comfortable, cute, and easy
8. Not having to layer clothing to walk Molly - this is huge when she wakes you up at 6am on most days.
9. Being tan - I mean who doesn't?
10. Starbucks frappuchinos - I really do only drink these in the summertime.
11. Hammocks - So relaxing
12. Sprinklers - we don't have one or a yard use one but I fully intend to have one to run through when we have a yard.
13. The smell of Hawaiin Tropic Suntan lotion.
14. Doodles - for those that don't live in Birmingham, you unfortunately don't get to experience this flavored ice yumminess.

In addition to all this wonderful stuff, we have some fun summer trips planned which make it that much more exciting...
-This weekend, we'll head to the beach to kick everything off - oh how I love 30A!
-During July 4th weekend, I'll be finally making a trip out to Tucson, Arizona with Leigh to re-unite with Becky, AJ, and Hanson, aka "the crew" (that's what we called ourselves in college, ha)
-In July, we'll head back down to the beach for a trip - did I mention I love the beach?!
-In August, we'll go to Richmond, VA for my cousin's wedding and I'm so stinkin excited to have all the family back together again to celebrate. Then we'll head over to Roanoke, VA to visit Hogan's family! This will be fun as I've never been to his hometown or house there.

Some of our very closest friends are expecting babies this summer as well and so I'm sure we'll be spending a lot of time loving on the new little ones!

It will all make for a very fun summer, I'm sure of it!

R.E.S.T.

Huge message yesterday at church. We had a guest pastor, Larry Stockstill, who is actually Pastor Chris's home pastor from Baton Rouge. Anyways, he is great - filled with so much wisdom. He gave a message on REST and I'd like to share a couple of the bullet points here because it really impacted me (you can also get the message online at our church website). The key scripture was Matthew 11:28-30, "Come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest..." This rest Jesus is speaking about though isn't sleep, it's not sitting around doing nothing, it's not getting away from the world. I knew this and I know I can find rest for my soul in the Lord - by seeking him and by spending more time with him, but Pastor Larry gave us an acrostic actually explaining how to find this rest.

R - Relax in who YOU are. This is where grace flows. Pride and ambition drive you to be someone you aren't or to go after something you shouldn't. Stop comparing yourself to others. What is wrong with who God made you to be? We wear ourselves out trying to do more things because others are doing more. We wear ourselves out thinking our life should be different (we should be married, we should have kids, we should have a house, etc) because that's what other's lives look like. This is exhausting us whether we realize it or not. God has a different plan for each of us and we have to rest in the plan he has given each of us.

E - Examine your life for sin. Examine your heart. Psalm 139:23. Sin wears us out. Whether it's something we think of as huge or maybe something on a different scale (bitterness, anger, frustration with others), it's all sin and it all wears us out if we don't deal with it and ask God to forgive us for it and wipe us clean from it. I've been dealing with some hurt in my heart from others recently and I HAVE to repent and get that anger out of my heart before it exhausts me and hurts relationships in my life.

S - Surrender to the will of God. When you are in the will of God, purpose will protect you.

T - Timing is critical. The Lord calls you to do something (places a vision/dream in your heart) and then the devil comes right after and tells you to do it NOW. This is huge for me! I had not ever heard someone say this before and this is something I've been dealing with. For example, the Lord has placed dreams inside of my heart for several things, one of which is to be involved in a youth soccer ministry in the Woodlawn area. Well when I heard that from the Lord, I started trying to make it happen. But over the last couple of months I've realized it's not time for it yet. And I think I exhausted myself and stressed myself out because I thought it was supposed to happen but nothing was happening or working out. Doors aren't opening yet. I can see things building for it possiby but it's not time to start. And hearing this yesterday gave me confirmation of that. The enemy comes in and places thoughts in your head that if you don't do it now, it's never going to happen. You are going to lose your chance to have this ministry. But that's not true. John 7 talks about how the brothers of Jesus tried to get Jesus to go to Judea to perform his miracles, but Jesus replied to them that it wasn't the right time for him to go. We have to realize we aren't going to MISS the plan that God has for us. He knows our heart and what we want and need and as long as we continually surrender our life to him, he's got us in his hand. He is in control.

Pastor Larry also stated to, "Stop working FOR God and work WITH God." I won't speak for everyone but I know I get caught up in trying to do more FOR God, FOR His kingdom, FOR His glory. I know I have the right heart condition - I really do want to advance His kingdom - but I'm wearing myself out because I keep trying to do more for him or I keep thinking that I'm not doing enough. Ministry isn't supposed to be like that. We shouldn't ever feel like we aren't doing enough or aren't doing good enough in ministry. When we realize we are working WITH God, I think these thoughts fall off. I mean if he is working with me and something doesn't pan out the way I hoped it would, well God must have wanted it to happen that way. There is no regret. There is no let down. I know I have to remember this...daily.

I love my church and am so thankful to be able to hear great messages like this. I'm so thankful to Jesus for giving me that word yesterday. I honestly feel like some weight has been lifted off me from hearing these truths.

Welcome Home Dyson

We bought a Dyson yesterday! Yes, we are now those crazy people that spend hundreds on a vacuum cleaner. But when you have this beast of a dog in your apartment, it makes a little more sense.

We have needed a good vacuum for a while now. Last week though when I cleaned, I couldn't get the top back on - I tried for days and as I started to feel suffocated by dog hair, we started talking about getting a nice, new vacuum. We did some research and while you will get good and bad reviews on just about anything, we decided to get the DC25 All Floors model. The BEST thing about this purchase is that we saved a TON of money on it. We were about to purchase it through Amazon (which had it marked down to $100 off retail price), but then we read a review that told us to use a 20% off BB&B coupon in the store and most BB&B stores will price match! So Hogan went at lunch with the printed Amazon price and the 20% coupon and they took it! We got this thing for like $200 off! Thank you Lord for a deal like that. I know it's totally silly but the Lord asks us to seek him in everything and so that morning on the way to work, I prayed for his guidance in this decision (I mean it was going to cost some money). I asked for a peace or a dis-ease. Needless to say, this confirmed to me that this was a reasonable purchase to make! I was so excited to vacuum last night (nerd alert). After I got done, I layed on the floor inspecting the carpet and I couldn't find a single dog hair. So far, so good Dyson!



A Year Ago

One year ago I was about to start my new job at American Cancer Society. My anniversary date is this Thursday, May 19th. God was so faithful in my transition from public accounting to this new job. I knew without a doubt I couldn't stay at EY any longer but I waited patiently for his timing. He shut some doors, which were pretty painful experiences, but then he opened this one, the perfect one - the one that led me to American Cancer Society. I remember being at EY, knowing I was good at accounting, but wanting it to matter more. And then he blesses me with an accounting job for a company I can be passionate about. He's so good.

One year ago I was also about to go on my first official date with Hogan, who is now my husband. Our anniversary date (of our first date) is this Wednesday, May 18th. We had actually already planned to go to dinner the night before I started my new job to celebrate - as friends. A week or so before though he had asked me if I would be interested in making it a "date" and I said yes. So we went to Bottega cafe for a delicious meal and then to Spain Park to swing on the swings and walk and talk. We awkwardly held hands (gotta love first date jitters, no matter how old you are or how well you know each other). We talked and talked. Hogan says I conveniantly locked my keys out of my house, so we talked some more while we waited for Liz to get home that night and let me in. It was such a fun night and simply confirmation of what we both already knew - that we would be together forever.

So much can happen in a year. It blows my mind if I really think about it. But it's fun that way - at least I think so!

Dolphin Trainers and Dreams

Well I actually wrote this post late last night in Word but the blog website has been down so just now able to post. I think the repairs they had to make deleted some of your comments from my last post as well so I'll try to get those back but if not, hopefully whatever happened won't happen again! Here's my post...

As a CPA, I have to earn continuing professional education (CPE) credits every year. Most of these are BORING – plain and simple. You get through it to get your credit and that’s about all you get out of it. Today was a pleasant exception. I could hardly wait to get home and write about today, get all my thoughts out about it, tell you about it. By far the best CPE credits I’ve ever earned but it was so much more than just that.

It was the Women’s Summit conference at the Wynfrey hotel here in Birmingham. ALL women, which meant lots of women stuff – door prizes, coupons to go shopping at lunchtime, great healthy lunch, merchants set up outside the conference room, and tons more – and did I mention this was for Women CPA’s…aka accountants…so like I said, a PLEASANT surprise. The speakers and topics were amazing. We didn’t talk about accounting at all. We talked about our careers and our personal lives and listened to fabulous stories and thoughts and advice from the speakers. I honestly don’t even know where to begin or even how to spew my thoughts from the day. It’s probably going to be one of those “you had to be there” days but nonetheless, writing is therapeutic for me so I will attempt to give you what I learned today anyways.

The speakers gave us some basic questions to think about and answer. They started off with a humorous one.

“What did you want to be when you grew up?”

At first I couldn’t really remember so just kind of assumed that I had wanted to be a soccer player and a teacher most likely, but as I was writing I remembered that I always wanted to be a dolphin trainer! I mean I loved water and I loved dolphins so why not. That gave me a good giggle when I remembered that. But as women told everyone their dreams from younger days, I realized no one was doing that now. I have to admit it made me a little sad. Almost like we had realized we couldn’t do what we dreamed of and had fallen into something else and settled. But as I write this now, I don’t think it’s really that - at least I hope not. I think it’s just the fact that dreams change and we go through different seasons, but the important thing I pulled out
from it is that our dreams we have in our minds now can really happen. It’s never too late. If you aren’t where you want to be, you can change it or add to it or take away from it. Now don't worry, I have no intentions of pursuing my childhood dream of becoming a dolphin trainer but it was freeing to actually take time to dream again yesterday. And maybe it’s not necessarily that you want to change jobs but pursue new interests or new areas at work or in your personal life. DO IT. Don't say, "one day..." And don't brush away your dream like it's nothing. Easier said than done, I know, but it's at least good to be encouraged in this every now and then.

Some other questions we answered were,

“What have you been told you are good at?”
“When have you felt a sense of real joy and accomplishment at work?”
“What activities are you involved in when you find yourself the happiest and most satisfied
at work?”

You’d be surprised how much harder these questions are to answer when you actually try to answer them and write your answers down. It was actually hard to come up with times that I’ve felt a joy and accomplishment at work. I have a fantastic job that I am truly grateful for and enjoy, so it was a little surprising that the question stumped me like it did. The speaker focused on finding the stuff you do that you are passionate about – at work and in your personal life - and pursuing it more. What do you lose yourself in doing? What are you doing where hours could go by without you even noticing it? Once again these seem like silly questions but when you actually start to answer them, it gets your mind going. I will share 3 that I could think of for my personal life (in no particular order) – running, writing, and spending time with my family and friends. The one that surprised me was writing. Until I took time to really answer this question, I knew I liked to blog and journal but I didn’t realize that I lose myself in it. Like I said before, it’s therapeutic to me. I love getting my thoughts on paper. A lot of the times I will pray on paper – write notes and questions to the Lord in writing. I recently got into blogging so I could share my life in writing with my friends and family but I’ve always kept a journal anyways for myself. I also lose myself in running. I love the feeling of being away from everything when running. No one can contact you (and vice versa) and your mind is free to think and dream. A lot of times I come up with so many ideas after a good long run. Other times I can’t tell you a single thought I had. It’s refreshing not to mention physically good for you. Of course spending time with friends and family is a no brainer. I love the relationships in my life and could spend all day with them. I can think of many other things I love doing but these are the 3 that stuck out to me that I can truly lose myself in doing. And my take-away from realizing these is to do them more! And to also be asking the Lord how to use them more for His glory. What are yours?

The last speaker of the day was incredible. Her name is Martha Lanier. She told us the story of her life in the most captivating way. You could hear a pin drop in that room it was so quiet waiting for her next word. This older lady (but very young in spirit and heart) has been through a lot - breast cancer, heart attack, sky-diving, triathlon - to name just a few…and that was all 50 years of age and later in her life. Her outlook on life is amazing though. Her energy is amazing. She has a published book called “Pink Lemonade.” I have no idea why it's called that but I guess I will see when I read it.

I went to Barnes and Noble to buy it right after the conference. Unfortunately they didn’t have it so I’ll have to order it on Amazon. If her book is even close to how she spoke today, it’s going to be an amazing read and I can’t wait. One of my key take-aways from her was her “sweet” lists that she makes. She makes lists where she pulls the positives out of a situation. For example, she had breast cancer so her “sweet” list included things like, “I don’t have to vacuum for weeks!” and “I get to have larger breasts and basically a tummy tuck at the same time!” (when they took tissue from her abdomen to reconstruct her breasts). She took a horrible situation and pulled out the positives. I know I can do a better job at this. The other night I was reading Philippians 4:19 which says, “And my God will supply all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” God gave Paul courage when he was facing death. I would have thought Paul “needed” to get out of jail, but the Lord gave him courage to face death while he was still in that situation. Obviously the Lord is not for death and disease and unemployment and similar situations but if we have to go through situations like that, He will give us what we need during them. I’m trying myself to not necessarily get hung up on changing a situation or just praying that it will be fixed but rather, pray for God to give me what I need while I’m going through the situation. And He will, I’m sure of it.

I apologize for the random and messy thoughts but in a large nutshell, that was my day. I really encourage ya’ll to take time and really answer some of these questions and think about them. Your life may not change. You may already know all about yourself. But if you are anything like me, I bet there are some things that will come up and some things you’ll start pondering and maybe some changes might result. But it’s now 11:30pm and I’ve lost myself in writing and am now way past my bedtime :)

Smoky Mtns, Starbucks, and Spinning

I've lived in the South my ENTIRE life and have surprisingly never been to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge...until this past weekend!

Back in December we had planned a trip there. It also ended up falling on our 6 month wedding anniversary which was neat.  Hogan grew up vacationing in the cabins there and so we both thought it'd be a fun weekend get-away. And it sure was. Now I have to be honest - I was not a huge fan of the actual towns of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge (a little too much Ripley's Believe It or Not and dinner theatres), but I loved our cabin! It was nestled way up in the Smoky mountains and so incredibly relaxing and private. Have I mentioned I LOVE weekend get-aways? Well I do. I am able to completely leave my mind back at home and simply escape for the weekend. I love my life but who are we kidding - we all need to escape the real world every now and then. And did I mention this was Hogan's idea? I might have taken credit above for some of it but it was all him. He's an incredible husband and I love that he not only enjoys get-aways but plans them for us! Here are a few pictures from the weekend (downfall of it just being the two of you is that you don't get many pictures together or in our case this past weekend, any, lol)...

On another note, Starbucks now has a seasonal Mocha Coconut Frappucchino which I tried for the first time today at lunch. Two thumbs up - incredibly yummy.



Today I also realized what a true love/hate relationship looks like...spin class. I love going, I love the workout, I love pushing myself, but seriously I want to curse the instructor in the middle of it - and that is so not me. It's so painful but I keep going back. I haven't tortured myself like this during workouts since marathon training. Although if I'm going to be downing these fraps, it's probably not a bad idea :)