Thank You God (And Rachel)

I love my family.

Wanna know why? Because even though I don't see some of them as often as I like, it's like they know what I need to hear when I need to hear it.

I've been uninspired lately in lots of aspects of my life, and I NEEDED to read this post. (http://www.heirswithchrist.com/2012/05/7-ways-to-learn-hunger-for-gods-word.html)

I can't help but believe that Rachel was God's way of speaking to me yesterday. I have to say, I love those moments when I know for a fact it isn't my human friend speaking to me, but God just using her mouth and heart to talk to me.

Getting inspired again....one day, one blog post and one friend at a time.

Happy Mother's Day from Robert O.

Do you remember this?

Ok. So, I went to open the mail on Sunday. (Yes, a day late. But who gets their mail on the actual date it is delivered?) And I found another letter. Same style envelope. Syracuse return label. Only this time....

Instead of WHITE HOUSE in big standard font, it said the following!


HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

This card is to offer your mother the best gift of all. Shower her with this gift certificate for a free massage from Robert O.

Happy Mother's Day, ___________________________________ (Mother of Katie!)

Love, __________________________ (Katie)


Valid after May 24, 2048 A.D.



So, in complete honesty, who is sending these letters? Has anyone else got freaky-deaky mail like that before?

The common denominators are: same card stock, Robert O. and same font.

I can't wait for our next letter in the mystery series to arrive.

Quarter Life Crisis Management

Over the past few weeks, I haven't felt like writing. And if I'm being honest, I haven't felt like doing much of anything. I have had a lot going on in this little brain of mine....lots of life changes and decision and issues and to be honest, I'm not sure I'm ready to deal with them. So writing has been difficult. How do you write the fun and frothy stories that I like to write when my heart is so....confused. There was one point this weekend when I literally had to tell myself to stop. I was in the shower, and my head couldn't even hold on to one thought before jumping to the next thing I have to work on, and I had to say out loud to myself..."Shut Up." And I've cried enough tears over the past month to fully fill a swimming pool.

I'm tired.

Do I want to talk about all of that stuff here? No. Not really. I know I have a lot of sweet friends who love me and will pray for me......so please feel free to do so. I'm at a cross-roads....a quarter life crisis if you will. d I have some great opportunities in front of me that I have to weed through....but I'm not sure which tool is best to weed though them.

And like Dolly Parton so eloquently wrote,

It's been a long dark night
And I've been a waitin' for the morning
It's been a long hard fight
But I see a brand new day a dawning
I've been looking for the sunshine
'Cause I ain't seen it in so long
But everything's gonna work out just fine
Everything's gonna be all right
That's been all wrong

'Cause I can see the light of a clear blue morning
I can see the light of a brand new day
I can see the light of a clear blue morning
And everything's gonna be all right
It's gonna be okay 

That's the song I sang on my last Wednesday night in Auburn...one of those moments in life when I felt truly joyful. That song has been one that I have continually gone through when I've felt the way I've felt the last few weeks. Just confused....and unsure of what direction my next step needs to be towards.

I know how to clear my head....I just haven't had an opportunity to do so. But I will. And consider this my "Hey! I'm going to start writing again!" Post. Cause maybe if I start writing about the silly things again, the harder stuff will be a bit easier.

Untitled....For Now

I've been gone for so long I'm not even sure how to begin again.

But I'll be back. :-) Just bear with me.

I'd Rather Be Single Than A Cheating Wife

I spent a lot of the last year of college and the first two years of my career being incredibly jealous of some of my friends. It seemed like every day, I would sign on Facebook and see that so-and-so got engaged and that what's-her-name was planning her wedding. And despite having an awesome internship that turned into an awesome job that allowed me to buy a house and meet some fantastic friends, I spent a lot of my time jealous of those girls and bitter about buying bridesmaid dresses and wedding appropriate clothing. My weekends were spent eating benign cocktail appetizers and judging the crap out of the bridesmaids dresses/flowers/music....you name it.

I remember there was this one wedding in particular when a dear friend and I made notes on the wedding program about how horrible the bridesmaids dresses were. We were running out of room for our snarky comments, so I grabbed a small notebook out of my purse. It was there that the wedding notebook was born. I spent a good chunk of 2005-2009 with the wedding notebook, making the tackiest and rudest comments about weddings. And as much as I hate to admit it, if I went to your wedding, I probably put some snark in there about your flowers or your cake or something. Granted, I did make some notes about things I liked. It wasn't all a house of negativity.

But a lot of my snark came from being absolutely jealous of these girls who had it easy. They got married and automatically had two incomes helping them pay bills. They had someone to come home to at night instead of walking into an empty house. And they got to dress up like a beautiful princess and have this amazing night of fairy tale-ism while I stood there in a tacky dress that matched 9 of my new best friends who also shared the title of bridesmaid.

But let's flash forward a few years.

I'm still paying bills with one income. I've been consistently swapping wedding showers and bachelorette parties for baby showers. The wedding notebook has gone into retirement and they no longer know me by name when I walk into David's Bridal.

And I thank God for the path He led me down, even if it means I'm an unmarried, almost 28 year old.

You know why? Because of all the weddings that I went to, there are some brides who are also now unmarried 28 year olds.

So many of the weddings that I've attended have turned into bitter divorces. There are lots of reasons why, but one major factor, in my humble opinion, comes from this undeniable pressure to get married in the months directly proceeding college graduation. It's the same reason I felt so jealous of my friends...you want that security blanket. You don't want to go out into the real world alone, so you marry the person you just happen to be dating when that Fall Semester of your senior year comes around. Doesn't matter if he's the one or not....but he's safe. So you pick him so you don't have to face the pressure of being alone.

I can't help but think about the precious girls I've known who have married someone without truly knowing them. And I think about the guys who have found out that their wives have cheated on them repeatedly (yup, cheating's not just for guys anymore people.)

There was one wedding I went to where no expense was withheld. It was a swanky Birmingham affair. Gorgeous bridesmaids dresses. A huge brunch with a jazz band and orchestra. Dancing and flowers and bubbles, oh my. But the girl found discontentment, and she cheated on her husband. And this girl was a leader of a pretty substantial youth group. And poof. She's turned in the divorce papers and before they were finalized, she was after her new man.

And then there is the guy who was a complete psychopath after he said "I do." My poor friend didn't know WHO he was. She's now divorced and finally finding who she is on her own.....

Look, marriage isn't something to be taken lighty. God talks about it over and over and over again in the Bible. Ephesians 5:22-23. Colosians 3:18-19. Hebrews 13:4-7. Mark 10:6-9

Marriage isn't a security blanket. It isn't something that you do because you are scared about being alone after graduation. Marriage enhances your life. It's like my Baby Cousin A once said.....we are all amazing on our own but when we find the perfect person, it makes us even better. It's the cheesecake and strawberries analogy.

So to the girl who cheated on the youth minster....and the guy who drank his way into divorce court and for all the weddings where I bought a gift that only got split when the younglings couldn't cut it after a year or two....I'm so sorry for what you are putting your ex-spouse through.

But I'm also so thankful that I have had time to grow and mature into the adult I am today and didn't get married as a child bride. Because when I do get married someday, I will be doing it after coming into my own and being my own security blanket.

(And let me add to this....I'm not knocking getting married young when you find the right person and if you are absolutely positively sure. I know plenty of people who got married for all the right reasons. My point is, though, that not everyone knows the difference between love and fear.)

Since You've Been Gone

I'm not sure how it is almost the end of March. So much has happened in the past few weeks, and I'm sorry for my absense. I know you aren't supposed to say stuff like that on a blog because that's the quickest way to get rid of readers, but I am sorry. What can I say?

*I started the month on a search for a new car, which might have been more stressful than buying a house. If I get around to it, I'll post the post I started about the phantom Explorer my dad found for me to look and and include a post about my trip to the beach to get my new car (which I absolutely love, btw.)

*Work. Has. Been. So. Busy. I don't know how else to emphasize it. It just has been. I'm thankful for a job, but I haven't had a vacation day since Christmas. And we don't get holidays off like Martin Luther King Day and President's Day. I got summoned for jury duty, and honestly, I'm looking forward to a week of sitting in a courthouse waiting room reading. I know that sounds silly, but my mind needs a break.

*It will get one soon enough though, because in a few short weeks, I'm headed to NEW YORK CITY! I'm so incredibly excited about this trip. It's going to be wonderful, and I'm so excited about having a lot to post about because of it.

*I'm going to get better at posting soon. I just have to get over this small bout of writer's block, and I'll be on it. :-)

Um....

You know you haven't blogged in a while when your mom says, "Hey, you need to write something."

But I'm busy. And I'm tired.

I've started some stuff, so maybe I'll put it up sometime this week when I have a chance.

Until then, I'm sorry.

The Return of Gorgeous Foreigner

Last Tuesday night, I got to the gym super excited for Zumba and working out. LB has joined the gym with me, and I was going to go to Zumba and then meet her afterwards for some extra cardio and then to get her all signed up with the gym representative.

I went to Zumba where the awesome instructor had a Whitney Houston themed Zumba party planned. (Which in theory, may have sounded like an awesome idea to her, but in reality made me feel a smidge creepy the whole time. Not sure why.) After we had awkwardly immortalized Whitney with salsa and squats, I met LB and up we went upstairs to get our cardio on.

We completed 35 minutes on the elliptical and then moved over to the bike. The bike area looks over the weight section below, so you can see everyone down on the first level working on the weight machines or using the free weights. So LB and I are sitting on the machines, just chatting away while we work when I look down......and there is his..

Gorgeous Foreigner is back.

I immediately start freaking out. I knew that G.F. had gone back to his homeland sometime around my surgery, and I figured I would never see him again.

As LB was working out her contract and signing up officially for the gym, I went to the locker room and....well....I fixed my hair and put in my cute headband and gym jacket and hoped I would get to say hi to G.F....knowing good and well the chances were slim. As LB worked with the gym sales guy, I sat in a location where G.F. would HAVE to say hi to me if he started to walk out.

And guess what? HE DID! G.F. remembered me and he came to chat! We talked about how long he would be back for (two years) and how I'd been (surgery rehash) and if he missed BodyJam (cause it's gone on Mondays now....our usual class date) and it was wonderful!

So, my stalk victim is BACK! I've seen him a couple times since, and my heart genuinely races when I see his gorgeousness at the gym. The other day I did 80 crunches on the ab machine just because he was at the lift bars and I wanted him to notice me. And even though we only exchanged pleasantries and hellos that day, those 80 crunches were worth every syllable exchanged and the pain I felt the next day.

I'm still hoping to snap a picture of him someday....perhaps one that includes his gorgeous yes and his bright pearly white smile. Until then, I'm just going to continue stalking him and strategically placing myself on machines so he's forced to talk to me.

Welcome home, G.F. It's so nice to have an extra incentive to head to the gym again.

Thank You, Ben Rector

Here's a better version of the video I posted of Ben Rector singing "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."

Watch this and prepare to have your life changed.



Now, I just need this released on iTunes. Wow.

I Wanna Dance With Ben Rector

My cousin H says some of the funniest things in the world. She doesn't mean to but she's just so darn cute that when she makes her random comments, you can't help but howl. She's told me before that she's a leprechaun. She's told me that Amish people are afraid of her. And she's eaten peanut butter on her burger, which makes me very suspicious about her in general.

One of my favorite comments came from her describing her choice of music. She didn't mean to sound elitist. But she told me quite plainly and simply one day that she "didn't listen to mainstream music." She likes bands that are just on the cusp of being discovered, and she likes them best before they reach the Top 40 radio station. Foster The People was H's band before they were known for all their "pumped up kicks." She's just cool that way. She's definitely a loveable hipster, which is sort of endearing about her.

I've had tickets to see Needtobreathe since November, and so has H. But while she liked needtobreathe, her reason for attending the concert wasn't the popular Southern rock band. No, H was there for the opening act. She was there for Ben Rector.

I'd never heard of him before, but honestly, after Monday night's amazing concert, I won't soon be forgetting him.

I was really digging what he was doing on stage for the first couple of numbers. He had a really cool piano, indie, Eric Hutchinson thing going. And then he started explaining that he'd wanted to do a cover of a song on this current tour, and that he had picked this song before Whitney died and now it took on special meaning. And then he picked up his guitar and the bass player picked up the mandolin, and they did this. 

Holy mess. It was wonderful.

As soon as payday comes around, I will be purchasing all three of his albums. I love a good concert. And this one was exceptional. We were supposed to see needtobreathe with Taylor Swift this summer, and missing that was truly a disappointment. But being able to learn about this new artist "almost" made it worth missing it because I never would have been at the Alabama Theater on Monday night if I hadn't missed that summer show.

And now, a life without Ben Rector's music in it is one I don't want to know.

 (And here was my pic from the needtobreathe section of the show. If you don't know their music, just go listen NOW. Your life will be much better because of it.)