this time of year

I love Florida!  I'm a Floridian and will always be a Floridian!  However, during certain times of the year, I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA!!!!!!  Actually, the only time I'm not real thrilled with North Carolina is the summer!  Let me tell you why...Florida's beaches are THE BOMB and North Carolina's "ocean" beaches just don't compare!  I love the Gulf of Mexico!  The water has beautiful shades of  blue and the sand is so soft and warm!  North Carolina's beaches are nice, but the water is nowhere near as pretty and the sand is HOT!!!  I mean, scorch the bottoms of your feet HOT!

So, the fall, winter, and spring are the BEST in North Carolina.  

In the fall, we get beautiful colors and cool days with windows down and breezes blowing thru them!  I love sitting outside in my swing and reading or playing in the backyard with the dogs!  I love to watch the leaves float down out of the trees in the backyard.  

In the spring, we get more beautiful colors and fragrances!  I sit on the front porch and watch the Bradford pear tree come alive with beautiful white flowers!  The Crepe Myrtle tree blooms with pinks, purples, reds, and whites all along the street!  There are so many different types of flowers along the different yards, I couldn't begin to describe the colorful canvas!  It's marvelous!

My favorite season has always been the winter.  I guess being a Florida girl, I didn't really get a real winter season until I moved up here!  I remember the first time I saw it snow here!  It was February of 2006 and it was 7am!  I know this because I was so excited that I called my mom & dad to tell them!!!!  I just stood outside and let it fall on me.  It amazed me.  I'm not sure why, it was just amazing to watch.  This last winter's snow was the most beautiful thing I've seen!  It was a blanket of beautiful white!  I made my first snowwoman!  I had a snowball fight with my husband!  I LOVED IT! 

So, this time of year makes me excited!  Some look at it and get a bit sad that the year is almost over.  NOT ME~  

A new one is right around the corner, so I'm gonna enjoy the days left!  

I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR!

Time to work!

Today, I have a full day trying to get things in order so that we can start working full force on our 3rd annual PARTnership Appreciation Dinner in November!  

I'm excited about it, but there's ALOT of work to do!  I've got some terrific friends who will be helping with party favors and stuff like that so it's gonna be GREAT!!!!!

OK, off to work I go...to my upstairs "office"!!!!!  I LOVE BEING A PORTABLE CHURCH at times like this!

Date Nite!

I got to go on a date last night! 

My husband came home, brought me flowers (ROSES!!!), and took me out to dinner and a movie!  Claude had planned a date night for us!  It was so awesome!  We spent the evening with no phone, no computer, no animals, no distractions!  He chose the movie!  I loved it!  AND, the neatest part was that we only spent $14 dollars!

We had a gift card for The Outback from a boy that Claude helped with his truck.  We had 2 movie passes that were given to us for something else as a thank you!  So, after the giftcard, we spent $7 at Outback!  And after the movie passes, we spent $5 on a large drink (I know, that was hard for me to do, but we "splurged").  

I was so excited!  I love spending time with my wonderful husband, but date nights are a rare thing for us!  Even though we don't have kids, we have ALOT of stuff that happens during the week nights.  And to be able to take a night with NO PHONE and NO COMPUTER!  It was so nice.  Then, topping it off with so little money out of pocket...what a blessing!  Anyway, I was just happy to have the nite!  

Thank you Dylan for the Outback gift card!  

BTW, here are the roses he brought me!  Aren't they beautiful!?!

Then & now pictures

OK, since March 16th, Claude & I have been working hard to get healthy.  I've been focused on losing weight, but lately I've not been worried about the number as much as the "muscles" I'm seeing!!!  It's cool to look at my legs and my arms and see muscles!  I feel so good about myself and I am loving the fact that NO CLOTHES fit me!!!  It does create a problem since we don't really have any money for me to get new clothes, but I don't even care about that!  I like to "window shop" and try clothes on because it makes my day to see myself in sizes I NEVER thought I'd ever wear again!  

So, here are some then and now pictures to show my friends & family that don't get to see me on a regular basis.  

THE "BEFORE" PICTURES

June 2008 

(Davey & Janelle Kolk's wedding)

July 2008

(at IHOP before my parents & niece left to go back to FL)

February 2009

(Valentine's 2009)

NOW FOR THE "AFTER" PICTURES!

May 2009

Childrens' Church 

September 2009

Marcus & Theresa Barefield's wedding

Aren't we so adorable!?!  Thanks to Chris Thomas for an amazing picture!

Thanks again, Chris, for taking the pictures!  I'm always behind the camera & forget to get pictures of ME!

So, I FINALLY broke 170lbs!  Yesterday morning, I was 169!  I've gone from a size 18-20

to a size 12!!!!!   I am so excited!  I want to be at 155lbs by the end of the year and in a size 10.  I know I won't be able to "get rid" of the "TOP" of me (some of us are just born "lucky" I guess!), but I'm still shrinking in the waist and hips!  So what if I'm a little top heavy!  There are worse things, like having nothing on top at all, right?!?

Anyway, thank you to all the friends and family who've been sending prayers and encouragement my way!  I'm so grateful!  

Little decisions, big consequences

It's funny how the little choices you make in life can affect you in big ways.

Yesterday, I made a wrong turn coming out of Target.  You see, I had a meeting with a lady from the Baptist Association @ 2:30 and so I figured I'd spend some time in Target looking then go to meet her.  When I came out of the parking lot, I went the wrong way.  "Oh well", I thought!  "I will just go around the block instead of doing a U-turn.".  Well, that choice cost me our minivan.

Yes, you read right, we no longer have our car!  I was travelling down the "wrong road" and the lady in front of me decided to stop in the middle of the intersection.  She slammed on brakes and I hit her.  Luckily, we weren't going more than 30MPH, so there were no serious injuries.  However, it did enough damage to our car that it's gonna cost more than we can afford to get it running again.    I was pretty shaken up.  I've never really had THAT kind of accident before.  The airbags deployed, my arms got bruised up and I cried my eyes out over my "paid for and still running" car.  I seriously understand how folks can be in shock after something like that.  I couldn't focus on anything that day.  

So, I started thinking today about the whole irony of this situation.  I considered it in spiritual terms to see what I could come up with and here's what I got:

1. Small choices make for changes/consequences in your life so consider your choices carefully.
2. Going the wrong direction with the intent of turning around will cause problems so make the U-turn as soon as you realize you're heading the wrong way!
3. Don't sweat the small stuff...after all, it's just stuff.  (although, I will admit that I cried today when we signed the title over.  There are alot of good memories from that van.)
4. You gotta have Faith!  I'm not sure what we're gonna do now that the trusty minivan is gone, but I'm sure that God will take care of us.  He's never let us down before so I know He won't start now!
   

Pray for us that something will come our way and that we will use wisdom to make the right decisions regarding our transportation!  Also, pray that my stiffness will work itself out.  My arms, shoulders, and neck are a bit sore.

Thank you, Kim, for calling me and checking to make sure I was ok!  You are so sweet and I love you, my friend!

Thank you, Jason & Lora, for the sweet flowers/candy/drinks to make me feel better!  The flowers made me smile, the candy...DUH! and the drinks...another DUH!  We love you guys!