my motto

for the day  month



Today is going to be a long day. I have to go to a training class this morning for the side job I will be doing next month. Since I am unable to work day shift (7-3) today, because I have yet to figure out how to be in two places at once, I am working a 3-11 shift tonight. That wouldn't be so terrible if I did not have to be back at work tomorrow morning at 6:30. But who needs sleep? right?

Now that I have my complaining out of the way... I am thankful to have a job, and one I love at that! I am also thankful for the opportunity to make a little extra cash this coming month for the holiday season. So at least there are definite perks to the minimal sleep that is to come:0) Silver lining people! Most of the time you can find one:0)

Hope everyone has a Beautiful Saturday!!!

Roll Tide!!!

on the road again

But this time it's for business not pleasure.

However I have no doubt we will still find ways to have fun! I'm the queen of finding myself in awkward situations, which always leads to good entertainment...so if nothing else we have that to count on ;0)

This past year has been the year of travel, and I gotta' say..I'm Loving it!

Whether it be across the Atlantic In Uganda

Up I-65 a couple hours to hang with some favorites in Nashville

the beach (Gulf Shores)

the beach (Panama City)

Can you guess what's next???...the beach (pensacola)

or on a mini road trip to Louiville, Ky

or to Hang with the Yankees in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont

I have kept the roads Hot this year...and I am so thankful that I have had the opportunity. I have been able to try and experience so many new things.

Next stop... Maryland!

and who better to travel with than than my bestie...

Cortney!



The first of December We are flying North to make a little extra moolah for the Holidays, working with a company that partners with different hospitals to help them 'go live' on computer programs. It is going to be hard work, as we have to do straight 12 hour shifts most days that we are there.(I won't even allow myself to count how many days in a row I will be working because it far exceeds anything desired) The great thing about this is that there will be opportunites in the future to travel to other states on assignments and it's all on their dime! That's my kinda deal!

Stay tuned for updates on our next adventure:0)

hopefully we will have a little down time to site-see!

...and then there was Starbucks

yeah, I'd say that sums it up.

I started off today waking up in a panic because my alarm clock didn't go off...or maybe I forgot to set it...Who does that?!?

basically setting the tone for a frantic day.

I rode home from work in silence,because sometimes it's just necessary. Then found myself vearing off the exit ramp before going home, to get me a 'pick me up' .

because after all...Starbucks does make everything better!

little bit a' caffeine and a hot shower later and I'm good to go! off to spend a little QT with some of my favorite gals!

Girl's Night...DC MOTION style!

last night I hosted a 'Girl's night' for the MOTION student girls from Desperation Church. We had 11 girls attend and had a blast! I realized on the drive back home with them that I had forgotten how much drama comes with being in the 7-9th grade. It was so funny listening to them chatter about who they were "dating", who they had dated, who they broke up with and how many times they broke up with them on a given day.

Oh to go back to the days where that is all I had to worry about ;0) ... And we were in such a hurry to grow up. What were we thinking ?!?

Once we arrived back at my house, we got the car unloaded.

yes, this is for ONE night

Once everyone got in and settled, we had dinner. On the menu....Chili and plenty of junk food!

While eating we spent the time chatting and getting to know everyone better. Once everyone was finished we geared up for the highly anticipated Scavenger hunt!

insructions:
get a video/pic of the following...

Let the race begin!

every team member in a tree...

...under a picnic table....

...and playing 'duck duck goose' on a public side walk



Get a guy to try on a dress

Work it...Work it!

at least 2 members hanging upside down on monkey bars

spell a word using the members of your team...

Time is ticking!!!!



one team member licking a dog in the mouth

ask a grocery store attendant where you can find the diarrhea meds...+5 pts if you ask a young male

give a stranger a noogie

a team member eating a worm

there were several other task to complete, but either the picture was too dark or it was on video...you get the idea. The girls really had a great time doing this. Actually, I did too! I may or may not have omitted posting a video of me chugging a coke and belching. Lady like? absolutley not. For the best interest of our team winning? Heck yes!!

after the hunt we met back at the house and warmed up with dessert

peanut butter cheese ball

cake batter rice krispy treats



courtesy of pinterest!

I'm convinced that website is going to increase America's obesity rate BTW...

the girls ran off the sugar with a game of Basketball, then came inside for a chick flick

I got up and went to bed toward the end of the movie...they chitter chattered on into the 3 a.m. hour.

I can't hang with that anymore ;0P

We got up this morning and I made the girls cinnamon rolls for Breakfast, before packing the car back up and returning them to their parents.

All in all I would call it a success...the girls had a blast, there were no injuries, and most importantly no run-ins with the law.... that's success in my book!

Big thanks to this girl for helping me pull it off

you're Awesome, Amber!

and big thanks to all of the incredible girls that attended! Love ya'll! rest up and see you at church in the A.M.!!!

Roll Tide and enjoy your Saturday!!!!



11*11*11

Happy Veteran's Day!!!

to all of the men and women who are currently serving or have served in the past, and their prescious families!



on to the next chapter

Last night we had a going away get together for my dear friend

Samuel Thomas Benton

I met Sam back in the 9th grade. I went to a small school, Tabernacle Christian, and was fortunately blessed with the best class mates ever! Our class was very close, and many of us remain in touch with each other to this day. They are some of my very best friends and I thank God that he placed such incredible people in my life.

Last night several of those friends and I got together to see him before he makes the move to Tampa. He has been very involved as a staff member for the basement, here in Birmingham, the last few years, and has now been offered the opportunity to go serve with a new ministry in Tampa, Fl.

I failed to take any pictures of last night...slacker I know :0/, so I thought it would be fun to take a blast from the past and reminisce over some of the past years we have had together. I had a little trouble locating some, but here are a few of what I found....

starting with our senior year...

picture quality is astounding I know...

P.I.M.P.

on the ferry...going to the Statue of Liberty

Katie and I are rockin' the 'butt cuts' ;0)

fast forward to about 2009...and this basically sums it up!



Sam,

As I was driving home last night I was thinking about all of us and who we were in highschool vs who we are now. We have all grown and changed tremendously. We have grown into the person God would have us to become and I think it's safe to say that we have all done things we never dreamed were in His plan for us. He obviously isn't done with us yet. God will continue to grow us, change us, and equip us to carry out the things He will have us do in the future as long as we continue to let Him. You, however stick out as one of the ones that has allowed God to take you so much farther in your christian walk since we were sitting in the back of the class in Mrs Overby's room, writing notes on the calculator or in code so that noone else could read them( I can't believe I justy admitted we did that!). You have walked through the door God has opened for you and because of that you are changing the world for Christ! I am so proud of you. Thank you for your friendship over the past years and the years to come. Thank you for being a phone call away when I just needed someone to listen to what I had to say, and for just calling to see how I'm doing and if everything was going ok every once in a blue moon. Those phone calls always seem to come at the right time. Thank you for being the kind of friend that even though we do not talk nearly as much as we used to....we can just pick back up where we left off and fill in the gaps. I am sad to see you go, But so excited to see what the Lord has in store for your future!!!! Keep rockin' the this world for Christ and stay on fire for Him. Make thousands of brand new memories, have a blast, but don't forget to keep in touch. Love you to pieces bud, and I wish you the very best!!!!



Deck the Halls

seems like I could have come up with a little more of an original title, huh? Well, nothing was coming to me.

This past weekend I was fortunate to be off on Saturday, since I was up late the night before for Secret Church. I did not let that day off go to waste. After sleeping in a little bit, I cleaned the house and got busy decorating for Christmas!

I know most people wait until the day after Thanksgiving, but I enjoy Christmas decor way too much to only have it up for a month. So a few years ago I started putting my tree up after halloween, and I LOVE it!!

This year Grace Anne helped me and we had it done in a little over an hour! Now it is up and twinkling for my viewing pleasure:0)

love my nativity set...one day I will have all of the pieces



Much of my morning was spent in front of the warm fire, gazing at the tree and reading my Bible...the only thing that would have made it better is a hot cup of hot chocolate, nevertheless it was relaxing!

I LOVE Christmas!

It's possible that I am listening to Nsync holiday radio as I write this blog...but you'll never know the truth;0)

Happy Monday!!!!

Marriage, Family, Sex, and the Gospel

The topic for last night's secret church

In case secret church is a new concept to you, you can read about it here. Basically, It is a time to meet together for about 6 hours and dive into certain topics and learn what God and the Bible say/command about it. David Platt, from Church of Brookhills here in Birmingham, is the preacher and does a phenomenal job presenting the word and captivating the Audience for the full 6 hours. It seriously doesn't even feel that long. This is the second time that they have made secret church available via simulcast. Tickets literally sell out in minutes to actually attend the service, but thanks to simulcast the Word was able to be preached to around 50,000 people all over the world. How cool is that?!?

If you were unable to attend because of a conflict in schedule, or simply because you are just learning about it...No worries! Each Secret Church is availble on podcast , It is most definitely worth the time to listen. If you don't have six hours at one time to sit down, break it up and do it at your own pace! Yes, it's that simple. The links are provided, you can do it at your own pace, it will NOT disappoint...so there isn't really an excuse not to do it;0)

So last night...
I am not even going to attempt to sum up all that Platt had to say in 6 hours on the above topic. Not possible, hence why you should listen to the podcast. I will say that he did an incredible job presenting what God teaches us, through the Word, on the subjects of Marriage, Family, and Sex. It is easy sometimes to begin hearing what the world and social media have to say about these topics and what each one should look like in order to be accepted or to follow 'the norm', and begin to adapt to some of it. That is what is put in front of us thru TV, billboards, musical lyrics, etc. on a daily basis. Just because this is the lifestyle that is shoved into our brain more often than not, it is our job as Christians to remember and follow the Truth and walk the road less travelled.

Platt took us back to the basic teaching of the Bible, and reminds us all, of what these things should actually look like in the life of a Christian. It is Man's responsibiltiy to lead, and in that, mirror Christ. It is the woman's responsibilty to support, while mirroring the church. He goes through each role and unfolds what those roles should look like, in relation to what the Bible teaches. In my opinion, If more people started focusing on what God says about marriage, family, and sex and quit listening to what the world tells us it should look like...I have no doubt that there would be more love, happiness, satisfaction, contentment, and a whole lot less of divorce, addiction to pornography, homosexuality, and abortions. Instead of spending time either fighting, justifying, or giving in to these matters, we could spend it caring for the Orphans, widows, and those that need to be shown the Love of Christ through us. What a concept, huh? Platt touches on each of these subjects plus some, and does a fantastic job in simply drawing out what the word teaches us on each matter. I really enjoyed it,and know that I personally want to cling to these truths daily and live the life that God intended me to live. To its full compacity. Are there times that I fail? absolutely! But that is the one of great things about God, he covers me in His Grace. And if that doesn't bring a smile to your face, I don't know what will. Seriously, LISTEN TO THE PODCAST! you won't be sorry.

Mark your calendar! the next Secret Church is scheduled for April 6! Topic: The cross and Suffering

"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face amd turn from their wicked ways, then I will har from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
2 Chronicles 7:14

" For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places"
Ephesians 6:12

"So Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ"
Romans 10:17

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever."
Psalm 111:10

If it HAS to be winter...

Then although I hate cold weather, I am going to make the most of it....
Not that downtime seems to happen much lately but when it does, these are a few of the things I love!

I do not share in the addiction that most people have for coffee; however, I do LOVE me some hot chocolate!

White chocolate, mint chocolate, regular chocolate...I love it all.

Cozy blanket.

and a little extra quality time with this gal!

After a crazy day at work, I have the luxury of enjoying all of the above tonight. It makes enduring the freezing cold weather a little more bearable:0)

Hope everyone's week is going great so far. I am looking forward to my weekend...

Secret Church, Alabama/ LSU game, decorating for Christmas, and Friends are on the agenda. Can't wait!