Crazy Fun Weekend

Last weekend we made a quick trip in to Mississippi to go to Southern Miss' Homecoming, run in Hayley's tribe's 5K, and go to her pinning ceremony. It was only after waking up at 4:30 am to make it to the race by 6:00 am that Hayley realized she got her dates mixed up. Nenemoosha's 5K is this Saturday. Props go out to sweet Ashley Chapman for allowing us to enter and get t'shirts for MC's Homecoming 5K. I think she felt sorry for us or was embarrassed for us for our mix up.

A shout out to my mom for participating in her 1st 5K. Not bad for a woman of her seasoning....let's just put it this way, if she isn't in Court on Tuesdays, you'll find her at Belk shopping with her discount. We were all ok with our finish times. Greg finished in 30:09. I finished in 36:03 and my mom was around 49 min. Hayley assured me that MC was a Hill free campus, but I beg to differ. It's not Peachtree Road, but it has it's inclines.

After the 5K we rushed back to Benton to get ready for Southern Miss' Homecoming. Our good friends Darren and Tracy Short and their kids went with us. I hate we didn't get to do the usual tailgating scene but we still had fun showing them around the campus. I have no doubt where Cole and Halle will be furthering their education in a few years. We consumed an uncountable amount of delicious calories at Crescent City Grill and topped everything off with some New Orleans bread pudding, formerly known as Jack Daniels bread pudding. If I was in the position to tell some officers what I wanted for my last meal, New Orleans bread pudding would make the list. (probably only 2 doz. eggs in one serving)

Greg and Darren stayed for the game while Tracy and I brought the kids back. Because I can't come to MS without getting Bop's, Tracy stopped for me. Still so great....sugar free chocolate shake with a spoonful of peanut butter. We had a great time talking sweet about our men and our dreams. Hers of course is to pack up her family and move to Atlanta....the land of opportunity :).

Sunday we slept in. This is unusual for us. My mom got Newk's sandwich trays for lunch while also making taco soup. Jonathan, Andrea and the boys came over, as well as Hayley. It was great to have family time, even though it was so short. Hopefully we'll get more time at Thanksgiving.

2 Month Run Down

Wow so much has been going on with us the last two months, it's been hard to stop and blog. First, we had a leak in our kitchen that lead to the plumbers tearing up the wall, bar, cabinets and floor to find it. Fortunately, it was in the corner of the wall instead of the ground so they didn't have to break up our slab. Unfortunately, we've been living with a really messed up kitchen that the contractors taped up with butcher paper and visqueen. That look is so 2010.

For our 10 yr. anniversary we went to Disney World. We decided to wait and go in September because there are no lines, great weather, and it's a lot less expensive. My mom hooked us up with a sweet resort from her timeshare. Even though it wasn't on property, it was so nice to have 2 bedrooms, a full kitchen, a washer and dryer, balcony, and a jacuzzi tub in our bedroom...not our bathroom, our bedroom. We had a huge shower in the bathroom. The resort had 2 gigantic pools...one with a mini water park and the other with an indoor/outdoor option, hot tubs, zen area and dive in movies. Greg and I would only be able to stay in places like this with my mom's timeshare, so we were grateful for her generosity.

We realized how much we missed working at Disney when we met up with Kevin. It was so great seeing him again and meeting his wife. I miss the discounts, the parking, and the shortcuts through the parks. Kevin did take us to Property Control so we got some goodies. But, since we aren't cast members anymore we couldn't go to "the back of the store". :( We ran into one of the trainers from the store where Greg used to work. She still works for Disney, but she works in one of the HR depts now. We spent the entire safari ride at Animal Kingdom figuring out our strategy to get some real jobs with Disney and move back to Orlando. So worth it for the perks alone.


The weekend after we got back from Disney, my brother, sister in law and nephews came to see us. We had a great time catching up and showing off our new ghetto/retro kitchen. Greg and Jonathan went to the MSU/UGA football game while Andrea and I took the kids to Chick-fil-A and the Children's Museum. We dined at the finest dining establishments in Atlanta ... Cheeseburger Bobby's and Chow Baby. Good times.

Greg had to go to Chicago last week, and Kirsten and I had some much needed girl time. We did makeovers, watched princess movies, had tea parties, and went to Stevie B's.

Allison flew in to see me last weekend. That was fun. Greg had to work all weekend so Allison, Kirsten and I had girl time all over town. We went to Bumblebee Bakery for cupcakes and Cheeseburger Bobby's for dinner. We all went to church Sunday since Allison really digs West Ridge. We wanted to catch a word and James Griffin leading worship. So good. We spent Sunday afternoon at home reading tabloid magazines and watching tv, while cooking taco soup in the crock pot. It's been a while since I've had the chance to sit and chill on a Sunday afternoon. It was glorious.

I didn't take really take any pictures while my brother and Allison were in town. I really need to get better about that. I took hundreds of pictures on the Disney trip, but I didn't think about taking pictures while I had guests in town. I'll just have to do better next time.

Loving Difficult People , A New Perspective

I enjoyed the first part of Beth Moore's message, "Loving Difficult People", so much I had to go on and watch the rest of them. This message was so humbling. It taught me to see issues with difficult people from a different perspective.

Honestly, I just thought that for some reason, God didn't want me to have great relationships with the difficult people in my life. I prayed for years to have closer relationships with these people. As I grew impatient, and as matters seemed to get worse instead of better, I prayed for God to just help us get along with each other. I even went as far as confronting the people and explained that certain things they did hurt me. I offered my apologies to things I may have done that causes them to treat me the way they do, but this would just add fuel to their fire.

I then approached the situation with constant prayers for strength to offer forgiveness, whether they wanted it or not. I knew forgiveness couldn't be the end, because it didn't seem to leave me fulfilled. Satisfied, maybe, but not fulfilled. I would pray with wonder if I actually did forgive, because the matters seemed to get more and more challenging.

After this message, I realize that I have the ability to love, because God first loved me. Therefore, my love tank is filled from having His approval, not theirs. I can still offer them love without receiving it. I may never receive it. My only job is to love them. God will handle the rest. I need to find my peace in that.

I think that I saw things from the perspective of, "If you are nice to them, they'll be nice to you." This isn't always true. This is not what God means when he says to love the unlovely. He offers no promises that they'll love back. It's selfish of me to assume this. Instead, God tells me that He'll love me no matter how much I love them. BUT, if I don't love them, regardless of their response, I will not look like Him. He will not be seen through me. Basically, this isn't a mission to gain approval from these difficult people anymore. I already feel like a load of work is lifted off. It takes the chore of trying so hard out of it. I can be me, and just choose to love them. This opens the opportunity for God to work through me. He'll do all the work.

Here are the links to parts 2-6 of this message.

http://youtu.be/iio8A-bUShA
http://youtu.be/IH1gNZ4KIT8
http://youtu.be/Yw7vvhQcWdM
http://youtu.be/oj1Z840WH28
http://youtu.be/KviKf6QIq7M

WOW 10 Years!

I can't believe Greg and I have been married 10 years. Time flies. I've invited Greg to join me in writing this post since this is a celebration we share equally. Our marriage has definitely had its ups and downs, but mostly it's on the upswing. I am so blessed to have such a great man for my partner. He is the greatest gift I could ever have on earth. I believe this celebration calls for some lists in honor of 10 years. This is what we've come up with.

Top 10 things that make our marriage work:
10. Know each others' sensitivities and honor them.
9. Learn each others' love language and practice it.
8. Never talk about each other in a negative way to others.
7. Build each other up. Compliment each other.
6. Say good things about each other to others. Especially those that irritate each other.
5. Leave family drama with the family, and move away. Keep extended family time to a minimum to avoid the drama. This is Biblical.
4. COMMUNICATE with each other. Never keep secrets.
3. Make time for each other/date nights.
2. Be true friends and speak TRUTH to each other, no matter if it's hard to hear.
1. Have God as the center of your relationship.

Top 10 Hardest things we've dealt with the past 10 years.
10. Living together. We went from seeing each other once a week to living together.
9. Unemployment off and on.
8. Changing careers.
7. Fertility issues.
6. A huge move.
5. Living apart for 3 months.
4. Becoming parents and balancing that with time with each other.
3. Selling our house in a bad economy.
2. Finances / getting out of debt.
1. In laws/families

Top 10 Things I LOVE about being married.
10. The partnership.
9. Making decisions together.
8. Unchaperoned snuggles on the couch.
7. It feels like we're playing house.
6. Waking up every morning to each other.
5. Coffee in bed with each other before Kirsten wakes up.
4. Kirsten snuggling in bed with us on Sat. mornings to watch cartoons and discuss the day.
3. Parenthood and everything with it.
2. Being each others' wing man/wing woman. When we want out of something we use the other person as an excuse to not do it...oops, just gave away our secret
1. Each others' company.

Happy Birthday, Greg!

My most favorite guy in the world has a birthday tomorrow! Since we'll be out celebrating tomorrow, I am going to post my tribute to Greg today.

Top 33 Things I love about Greg!

33. He's the smartest guy I know.
32. He's brilliant.
31. He's the sweetest guy I know.
30. He's considerate of others.
29. He has integrity. I don't know many people I can say that about these days.
28. He's completely independent. Has been as long as I've known him...since he was 18.
27. He doesn't take advantage of people, and feels strongly against doing such.
26. He is an amazing person.
25. He treats me like a queen.
24. He treats Kirsten like a princess.
23. He's a great listener.
22. He's very patient.
21. He's slow to anger.
20. He doesn't talk about people or gossip.
19. He is compassionate.
18. He'll do anything to help out anyone.
17. He has his priorities straight.
16. He's not a pushover.
15. He takes care of himself.
14. He's fun.
13. He's hilarious.
12. He's a hard worker.
11. He's not lazy.
10. He's got extremely strong faith.
9. He's adorable.
8. He's got a great smile.
7. He smells good.
6. He looks cute in anything.
5. He's got my back if I encounter an issue with a "difficult person."
4. He's not someone to mess with.
3. He will never put you down or make you feel dumb for not knowing computer stuff.
2. I love how he calls out big talkers without making it obvious.
1. He's got a huge heart.

Happy 33rd Birthday, Greg. I hope it's great! Love you.

Loving Difficult People

I was doing my occasional YouTube scan tonight and I came across this Beth Moore message.

http://youtu.be/a-pEs7YpulE

It's 1 of 6. Like everyone else, I have some "difficult people" to love in my life. I have prayed for years for God to allow the relationships I have with these people to be easier to deal with. I have 3 difficult people in my life that at times seem to take turns poking me with their thorns. I know everyone has those difficult people they deal with. This message gave me some insight into what I can do to try to learn to not only deal with them, but with God's grace, learn to love them. It's easy to love those who love us back. But it's quite a challenge to love those who don't care for us. I am choosing to face the challenge in obedience and allow God to work on me so He can work through me.

My notes from the message:
1- Change my attitude about the situations
2- Remain in prayer, but take my pride out of it
3- Realize that God's got His hand in this and He's got a plan

These are small steps, but I think they are some that I could go on and try to achieve.

From Then Till Now

Wow, so many updates. It's been hard to find time to blog with Kirsten out of school for the summer. I haven't really wanted to take any of my time away from her since I'm gonna have to share her again so soon with her teachers. I used to dream of time to myself, but since she started PreK (can't believe I actually typed that) I treasure all the time I have with her.

Since my last post, Greg got a promotion which we count as a blessing. Not only will this help out a lot with paying off our debt sooner, it gives Greg the opportunity to shine. He's so smart. We're so grateful that God is allowing him the opportunity to share his talents, skills and example with others. He's now the Director of Project Managers at DTI.

Father's Day didn't turn out the way I planned at all. I planned out this "dadventure" for Greg, and nothing fell into place. That's so frustrating. I told him I wanted to make it up to him and try it all again, but honestly it wouldn't be same if it wasn't of Father's Day. So maybe next year. I'm not giving away my details because they're still a surprise for Greg. We did end up going to eat, after waiting for over an hour (expected) and the kitchen messing up our order from being overwhelmed. Like I said, I hope to get a do over for his birthday. Since it isn't a nat'l holiday, I hope it can work out.

My birthday was great. Greg took off the day of my birthday and the day after. What better way to celebrate ones birthday than partaking in all the free goodies offered to the one with a birthday. We started our day off at Whitewater water park. We spend a lot of our summer at Whitewater. For lunch we stopped at Jersey Mike's for my free sub. Greg and I split a chicken salad sub while Kirsten had her usual turkey sub with cheetos. From Jersey Mike's we headed to Firehouse Subs for my free birthday sub there. So, Greg and I split a grilled chicken sub. Kirsten ordered her usual grilled cheese on sourdough, but then realized she was too full to eat after Jersey Mike's.

We booked Isabella to babysit for two date nights in a row. She's in high demand so we have to make reservations with her many weeks in advance. Greg took me shoe shopping and to Provino's for dinner. Yes, my meal was free. He also got me a pink birthday cake and blue bell birthday cake ice cream cups. My favorite.

After date night, I got to open my presents. He knows me so well....I got a pink jeweled cell phone case, and a zebra case. Greg also got me a table saw so I can exercise and express my creative side. I have to make me some jeweled safety goggles, just because I'm me.

Friday I got to sleep late and it was glorious. I got to have my coffee in bed and watch the Today show and other updates on the Casey Anthony trial. We ran errands around town all afternoon before it was time for date night #2. We went shoe shopping again and had dinner at Maggiano's at Perimeter Mall.

My inlaws came in town the weekend of the 4th of July to watch Kirsten while Greg and I ran in the Peachtree Road Race. We all went to the Peachtree Expo and hung out and ate pasta. They offered to take Kirsten back with them for the week so we could have some time to ourselves and hang out with Chi Alpha since they were in town for the week. How nice was that? I was a little hesitant at first, but was fine when we presented the idea to Kirsten and she was all about it.

Peachtree Road Race was Monday, July 4th. It's a 10K that starts at Lennox Square and runs down Peachtree Road, turns left at 10th St. and finishes in Piedmont Park. Mile 1 is a very small incline, not even noticeable. Miles 2-3 are downhill. Mile 4 is between a 7-8% incline the entire mile. It's known as Heartbreak Hill. You feel every single step. Mile 5 is flat and a little down hill in certain spots. Mile 6, I can't remember...I think I was hallucinating and running on adrenaline by that time. The .2 miles into the park seem longer than the rest of the race put together. Forget you just completed 6 miles, that's not enough. They want to squeeze another .2 out of you. If not, you don't get the t'shirt. It was 82 degrees and 70% humidity by the time we started. It was hard, ridiculous, and mean. I can't wait to do it again next year. BRING IT ON Heartbreak Hill.

Greg and I spent Monday afternoon and night with the Askews and Chi Alpha from Liberty Baptist in Hampton, VA. They performed for the Paulding Co. YDC and had dinner at the Varsity. It was so great to see Jeff and Liz and catch up with them. Chi Alpha was awesome. I loved watching them shine and share the love of Jesus with the hurting. This is a great group of kids. I could tell they were being ministered to as well as ministering to others. Being able to share in being a part of XA again for just a few days was such a blessing and honor.

So what did I do on my week off from my "job"? I cleaned my house from top to bottom. I watched the Teen Mom marathon on MTV. I got caught up on the Casey Anthony trial. I took a nap twice. I organized Kirsten's room. I did my Bible study. Greg and I made late night icee runs like we did when we were in college. I went to work with Greg one day and shopped by myself. Greg and I went to a Braves game and Stone Mtn. with Chi Alpha. I did not go to the gym this week simply because I took the week off, I can easily go to the gym with Kirsten, and I burned over 2200 cal. at the Peachtree. (not my normal weekly goal, but it's excellent for a 1 day work out) We had a date night on Friday night. We went to the Vortex and a movie. Usually we can't fit in dinner and a movie with a babysitter. It gets complicated trying to time it right. We didn't get home till about 12:45 and that's just way too late to ask Isabella to stay.

By Saturday we were missing Kirsten so much we couldn't wait to see her. We met Greg's parents in Tuscaloosa. WOW, is all I can say about the devastation there. We were seriously in awe of the damage this city has. Seeing it on tv is nothing compared to seeing it in person. I didn't go to Tuscaloosa expecting to see much if any damage. I wasn't expecting to drive through it. There was no way to avoid it. It's crazy how even the most solid structures can crumble in just a few seconds of a powerful storm. It was unbelievable. Please remember this city in your prayers. It really breaks my heart to see such devastation. I was going to take pictures and post them, but I decided not to. We've seen the pictures and the videos. Us looking at pictures doesn't help anything. Our actions after seeing the pictures is what helps. Even if all we do is pray, that's more than some will do.