randomness

i have a bunch of random thoughts floating around in my head so instead of trying to make one of them into a cohesive blog post, i thought i'd just list them and comment on each one. i'm entitled to be random on here...i mean, it is my blog and all :).

• first of all, i'd just like to say that the Lord completely knocked me off my feet this week--in a good way. at the beginning of this week, i needed at least 4 more teachers for my 4's and K wednesday night program (which is a super hard night/time slot to get people to commit to serve) and i had NO IDEA where they would come from. we had literally exhausted every resource and list and everyone said, "no." well, can i just tell you that we are fully staffed as of yesterday afternoon!!!!!!! literally, the Lord dropped the people in our laps. i'm amazed by His provision because i am quite aware that i don't deserve it. He is good.
  
• i did the whole vera bradley outlet sale thing yesterday at the merchandise mart and i walked away with at least two observations: 1) some people are willing to be violent over a purse or a wallet. seriously, it's just a piece of cloth but apparently, it means a great deal to some people. 2) it amazes me to watch women who are in line to check out who are still trying to see if they can get something better. people were standing over each other just waiting for them to discard what they were holding in their hands. craziness. i wanted to look at some people and say, "can't you just be happy with what you have?" anyway, the absolutely crazy part of that whole thing is that i think i'm going back today...for my mom who has decided she wants a few more things to give as gifts. i can't believe i'm going to go back into the madness but hey, it's my day off and what else would a girl do with her day off besides fighting other women for a good deal on a purse? ;)
  
• i'm very frustrated with my iPod right now. i purchased an album on iTunes wednesday night and then when i tried to sync my iPod so that it would load the new songs, i got a message that my iPod is too full and it doesn't have the space to sync it. so, i spent forever trying to figure out how to take songs OFF my iPod; i found the directions or whatever on the website but my iPod won't cooperate. usually when i can't get something to work i can't let it go until i fix it or figure it out but this has so frustrated me that i've decided i'm just going to walk away from it for a few days. any suggestions out there?
  
• this quote came to me today in a blog subscription and i really liked it, “the only thing harder than waiting on God is wishing you had." the Lord has been showing me (in various ways) that i'm not a very patient person...especially when He is calling me to sit quietly and wait. the cool thing about all this is that i can see the Lord working so my prayer right now is that i would be a good student (and that it would happen quickly...not really but i thought it was funny since i was talking about patience. i'm such a dork, i know ;).
  
• i just realized that this weekend is labor day weekend. i'm sure you're wondering where i've been but it just doesn't seem like it's time for september. had someone not pointed it out to me earlier this week, i probably would have gone to work on monday. i'm such a dork. but NOW i am excited for a 3 day weekend AND the fact that i have monday off. it's the little things that make me happy. :)

alright people, that's enough randomness for one post. i'm off to enjoy my friday. hope you all have a truly fabulous weekend.

what it's all about

take some time to read carl's blog. it encouraged me this morning...THIS is why we do what we do!

a little time in the woodshed...

i've been "strongly encouraged" by my friend cari to update my blog; since she took precious space in her latest post to admonish her blogging friends, i figured i should comply and try to post a better update than a united states map and michael w. smith. :) (although, i'm thinking, what could be more fabulous than a 90's flashback? ;)

i will go ahead and admit that this week has been really crazy and part of the reason there has been no update to the blog is that i just didn't have time to think about it. i also think that if someone is going to take time out of their day to read my blog, it should be a smidge interesting and if i'm lucky maybe a little humorous or thought provoking. face it, people...that's a lot of pressure! so if i'm not feeling funny, witty, or insightful...the blog remains silent.

anyway, back to the update. this week at work has been the kind of week where you sometimes sit at your desk and think, "are you serious? did my office all of a sudden move to the bermuda triangle?" OR "when did i make the move into the twilight zone?" this Sunday is Promotion Sunday for our children's ministry (the Sunday where all and i do mean ALL the kiddos from babies-fifth grade move up to their new Sunday school classes) which has meant that this week is super crazy, super busy, and lots of important stuff has to be done in an accurate and speedy fashion. i am happy to say that i believe that we are ready for the madness that is Promotion Sunday.

my other struggle this week has been a little more difficult. like any children's ministry, the challenge of recruiting and retaining volunteers is larger than life this time of year and it can be discouraging for the recruiters. i will admit that at one point this week i was discouraged and frustrated. in fact, i had my own little children-of-Israel-wandering-in-the-desert-grumbling -and-complaining moment with the Lord and i love how the Lord answered me (well, love may not be the right word...how about thankful and humbled)...my time with the Lord that evening led me to dueteronomy 1 (especially verses 26-34). it's a pretty sobering passage where the Lord is fed up with the children of Israel and He's letting them know that they won't see the Promised Land.

"But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. You grumbled in your tents and said, "The LORD hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us. Where can we go? Our brothers have made us lose heart. They say, 'The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.' " Then I said to you, "Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the desert. There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place." In spite of this, you did not trust in the LORD your God, who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go." (vs. 26-34)

it's interesting when our focus becomes our defeat, our fears, our worries that those things can sometimes look SO MUCH BIGGER than God. so, after my time in the woodshed with the Lord, i left with a new perspective and the "banner" over the last part of my week has been, "the LORD my God is going before me; the LORD my God will fight for me..." i've witnessed His amazing provision before and i am trusting in His faithfulness.

i feel like i've rambled quite a bit in this post but hopefully it's been coherent. :) i am excited that we are going to the panther's game tonight...ohhhhh AND i get to see bebo in concert tuesday night. go ahead and be jealous, it's okay ;).

oh the places you'll go...

well, maybe "oh the places you'll go" isn't really an appropriate title for this blog because this map illustrates all the states i've visited...not necessarily the places i plan to go. but i thought it was a cute name (you know, the dr. suess book and all). i think, though, there is good reason to assume that i should start heading west in my travels seeing as how my map of the united states looks a bit lopsided! now i'm sitting here with the song "go west, young man" stuck in my head (you know, that old michael w. smith song...where he had the crazy hair and wore completely ugly and unfortunate clothes). okay, so, ya'll have to check out this youtube video...admit it...you're dancing around your room RIGHT NOW and rocking out with all the fabulous 90's outfits and hairstyles.



anyway, i've digressed but it's been that kind of day. you know the kind of day i'm talking about, right? the day where you had SO MUCH to do but really didn't accomplish a single thing. i have to admit, though, that finding the youtube video of michael w. smith and all of his 90's groupies made me happy. good times, good times.

slip 'n' slides, s'mores, and high school musical 2

this weekend has been a great weekend (cause, let's face it...my work week starts bright and early tomorrow morning at 5 am) and today was a fun-filled, action-packed day.

today was a super busy day but it was also lots of fun. my cousin, megan, turned 11 and had a big slip 'n' slide party. now, slip 'n' slides are super fun alone BUT imagine a slip 'n' slide covered in a foam like substance (but the consistency of bubbles...like bubble bath soap). i know, words just can't even describe it. the kids and adults alike had a lot of fun. the floam (that's what i decided to call it since no one else could really figure out what it was) made the slip 'n' slide extra slippery and it's just fun sometimes to be really messy. unfortunately, i did not have my camera to memorialize the craziness (imagine that...two events in a row and no camera. i am such a slacker) but trust me when i tell you that it was crazy fun.


i am also blogging right now in the middle of our high school musical 2 girls' night party. yes, that's right...we are having a high school musical 2 premier party the night after it premiered. we had planned for weeks (we= my niece, my sister, and me) to have a girls' night on friday, august 17, but that was before i noticed that i had made a serious calendering mistake. (alison krauss on friday night.) we regrouped and realized that the disney channel was airing it on saturday night, too...so, here we are on saturday night having the girliest of nights. we've had junk food (pizza bites, queso and chips, and s'mores) and have been singing our hearts out with troy, gabriella, sharpay, and ryan. good times. :) we just might break out the nail polish to paint our nails ;)well, i've given my blog way too much attention...back to the party for me. i hear a duet with troy calling my name :).

a boot-free toe AND flip flops

the flip flop countdown has officially ended...yay! my toe is boot-free (for the most part...it's supposed to be a gradual process) AND i'm driving! apparently, not driving for 8 weeks has affected my sense of direction because i've gotten lost a couple times in the last few days. well, "lost" is kind of strong...missed my turn is probably a better description. thankfully, i've found my way around each time :).

i'm off to find the mates to all of my flip flops...

(apparently, i am LOVING google images today ;)

fondue goodness

a few friends decided that we needed a girl's night so we made a visit to the melting pot for some fondue goodness. the plan was just to enjoy the chocolate course (yummm) but by the time everyone arrived and they were able to seat us, we decided to go for it and have the cheese and chocolate course. all i'm going to say is that if you ever had the opportunity to visit the melting pot, you should. it's soo good but it's also a lot of fun. like a dork, i forgot my camera but i did find a pic to illustrate the yumminess that is the melting pot. :) and, can i just say...i had high school senior prom flashbacks (because we ate at the melting pot) and it made me wonder...what was i thinking? fondue is fun and fabulous but it's also messy...it's a wonder my prom dress made it out of the restaurant unstained. (i do realize that is quite a random thought but it was something i thought about last night...so i thought i'd share. :)

i can't believe that i've just written an entire post about cheese and chocolate...i'm such a weirdo ;).

worth the wait...

for the last month and a half or so, my niece, anna, has been waiting on a surprise promised to her by my dad (her "poppy" as she calls him :). 6 weeks is a very long time to wait on a promised surprise for a six year old (good grief, who am i kidding? it's a long time for anybody!) but especially a six year old little girl whose brothers have already received their surprise. now, my dad wasn't trying to prolong the wait or anything, i know for a fact he was in search of the perfect surprise for anna. daddy wanted to give the kids (andrew, daniel, and anna) something from him that they could keep...something that would always mean something to them. the boys gift was a given...what else do you give 12 and 10 year old boys that they will treasure forever? knives. yes, that is right, my dad bought them knives (which are kept out of their reach, by the way). well, last week sometime, daddy decided that he would give anna a locket (all girls love jewelry, you know;); so, he made the trek this morning to the jewelry store. i wasn't there when he gave anna the much anticipated surprise but was later told that after she opened it, daddy asked her, "anna, wasn't this worth the wait?" and she told him that it was. after my dad left my sister's house anna approached my sister and said, "mommy, what does 'worth the wait' mean?"
i think there are lots of things in life that we wait for and some of those things we anticipate the moment happening so often that we miss out on all the stuff that happens while we're waiting. God has been working in my life in a specific area...patience...and i hate to admit that in the last few days, i've failed miserably. so, today, after i heard anna's story i started thinking about whether or not i'm making times of waiting worthwhile. am i enjoying and savoring the small moments that happen or am i impatiently sitting on the sidelines missing life and lessons as they're passing me by. don't get me wrong, waiting times are important times but i want to focus not on the end result but on the lessons to be learned...while i'm waiting.

"waiting times are growing times and learning times. as you quiet your heart, you enter His peace...as you sense your weakness, you receive His strength...as you lay down your will, you hear His calling."

inexpressible joy

So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though the going is rough for a while down here…you love Him even though you have never seen Him; though not seeing Him, you trust Him; and even now you are happy with the inexpressible joy that comes from heaven itself.~1Peter 1:6,8 (TLB)
my prayer today...that i would walk in the "inexpressible joy" that comes from heaven itself!!

do ya'll remember?

do ya'll remember playing MASH in elementary school and junior high? oh my goodness, i used to play it all the time with my friends and LOVED it. well, you'll never guess what i found...click here to have a little sentimental fun.

the verdict is in...

i couldn't take it any longer...i visited my favorite salon this evening. i went for it and had my hair cut; maybe, i'll be able to have a little more patience to let it grow out next time. or maybe not...i kinda like it this way :).

i'll post an updated pic sometime soon. today i am not so much "picture worthy."

i would also like to announce my excitement that this saturday, august 11, begins one of my favorite times of year... football season. the panther's first preseason game is this saturday. bizarro, i know, but this girly girl loves her some football. :)

until next time, thank goodness for last minute hair appointments AND for tonya at carmen carmen!

back in the day...

yet another blogging challenge from a friend. i'm supposed to answer these questions about my high school years :). such fun...because i really liked high school (and..gasp...junior high, too!).

1. Who was your best friend? i had two best friends from high school (actually they were also best friends from junior high, too) courtney and nikki. such sadness that i don't really keep in touch with them any more. occasionally, courtney and i email or have lunch but i don't even know where nikki is. craziness.

2. What kind of car did you drive? i had a 2 door honda accord. unfortunately, i had a wreck in it (not my fault) not even 24 hrs after my parents gave it to me, but we had it fixed and it was as good as new. i named it sallie (am i the only weird person who has ever named their car? i hope not. perhaps this is information is too personal to just throw out there in blogland.)

3. It's Friday night, where were you? during football season, i was definitely at the ballgames cheering the greenwave on. on any other friday night, i was with friends...hanging out, etc.

4. Were you a party animal? nope. not at all.

5. Were you considered a flirt? i don't think so; i typically put all my focus on one guy at a time ;).

6. Were you in the band, orchestra or choir? i was in the concert choir (which was THE thing to do back in my day) AND i was part of an auditioned group, the gaston county choral ensemble. i loved it.

7. Were you a nerd? nope.

8. Were you ever suspended or expelled? no. i was a good girl :)

9. Can you sing the fight song? absolutely and could maybe still bust out in the little dance that went with it.

10. Who was you favorite teacher? mrs. mary layton. she was my ap english teacher my senior year. i LOVED her.

11. What was your school mascot? the greenwave. personally, i think he looks like gumby but a friend of mine's mom (from high school) thought he looked like a giant lima bean.

12. Did you go to the prom? yep


13. If you could go back, would you? umm...yeah, i think i would. i really like high school. i would, however, avoid a few friends that turned out to not really be my friends (if you know what i mean).


14. What do you remember most about graduation? i remember that i had to sit beside kevin granelli...a boy that i did not like so much (he was not a nice guy) but i was destined to always sit beside him...homeroom, graduation, etc. because of our last names... granelli, grayson. anyway. i also remember that it rained which meant we couldn't have graduation outdoors in the stadium but had to have it in the auditorium, which meant that each graduate could only have 2 people at graduation. sad times because my entire family had planned to be there (aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.).


15. Where were you on senior skip day? we didn't have official senior skip days; i was more concerned about not having to take exams (if you had more than 3 absences, you had to take exams) so, i didn't skip. (does that make me a nerd? i don't think so...i think it makes me a slacker who was trying to get out of studying and work ;)


16. Did you have a job your senior year? yes. i was an intern for my youth group; i really loved that job.


17. Where did you go most often for lunch? we had to stay at school...we weren't supposed to leave. i do remember, though, that i ate a lot of blueberry muffins (with a bottle of water). that was my standard lunch.


18. Have you gained weight since then? oh goodness, yes. so depressing.


19. What did you do after graduation? immediately after graduation went to the beach. that summer i continued working as an intern for my youth group and then after that, i headed off to college at gardner-webb.


20. What year did you graduate? 1997


21. Who was your senior prom date? we actually went as a big group...there were a whole bunch of us (girls and guys) who had grown up together, so we all went together.


22. Are you going/ did you go to your 10 year reunion? i don't even think we're having a reunion. if we are, this would be the year but i don't really think i'd go...who knows.

demotivators

these make me laugh. you can find more demotivators here.

flip flop countdown

i mentioned in an earlier post that i had 27 more days in my flip flop countdown (which would be the day i can wear TWO flip flops instead of just one and then a clunky walking boot on the other foot. it is NOT a count down that has to do with crazy and annoying politicians who can't make up their mind about their "political views" on certain issues...just thought i'd clarify ;).

the official flip flop countdown is: 10 days!!!!!!! :)

ohhh...and that would also be the countdown for when amy can start driving again. such excitement for me (it's the little things, i tell you...the little things).

can i just point out that it's 1 am and i am blogging?! i have no idea why i am not fast asleep--i should be. tomorrow is sunday which is a pretty important day in the life of my work week but here i am awake (not quite wide awake) and blogging about flip flops. such craziness.

i am yellow...

i took a color code test thingy that a friend sent me and apparently, i am yellow (well, that's my color code). i'm not so sure it's a flattering description...

Congratulations. You are YELLOW. YELLOWS are motivated by FUN. They are inviting and embrace life as a party that they're hosting. They love playful interaction and can be extremely sociable. They are highly persuasive and seek instant gratification. YELLOWS need to be adored and praised. While YELLOWS are carefree, they are sensitive and highly alert to others' agendas to control them. YELLOWS typically carry within themselves the gift of a good heart.
YELLOWS need to look good socially, and friendships command a high priority in their lives. YELLOWS are happy, articulate, engaging of others and crave adventure. Easily distracted, they can never sit still for long. They embrace each day in the "present tense" and choose people who, like themselves, enjoy a curious nature. YELLOWS are charismatic, spontaneous, and positive; but can also be irresponsible, obnoxious, and forgetful. When others interact with you, as a YELLOW you respond to them best if they take a positive, upbeat approach and promote light-hearted, creative, and fun interactions with you.

Understand that no two YELLOWS are exactly alike. Although you share the same core motivation as many others, your personality is still unique to you alone.

so, that's what the description says; i am not so sure that i am sold on being a yellow...i'm not so sure it accurately describes me. something to ponder on this thursday morning. you can take your own color code test here.