I Just Felt Like Run-ning!

I can always bring something back to a Forrest Gump reference, hence the title of this post. Anywho, Saturday started my new life as a runner. Not so sure how I feel about this, but I have to do this! In my former, younger, UM tennis player incarnation, I ran all of the time and I loved it. I got out of the habit as I graduated and began getting a little overwhelmed by life. Now, one might think that running would help with being overwhelmed by life because it's a good stress reliever. Not so much in my case. I just became sedentary. So here I am starting to train for the BE&K 5K which is February 13, 2010. My brother is my coach and he said he would run it with me. So I've committed. We'll see how it works out. Check back for updates...

Top 4 Things I've Learned This Summer!

I've had a pretty good summer. It was a summer of clarity for me in many ways. The most important being my relationship with God. It has grown so much and it will continue to grow leaps and bounds from this point on. I am no longer lukewarm! So here is what I learned this summer, some of it was new but most of it was a refresher course in what I already knew but sometimes have a tendency to forget...I am one blessed girl! While many people do a Top 10 or a Top 5, I have a Top 4 and that's just enough for me!

4. Babysitting is fun and kids really do say the darnedest things! But, I'll probably be hanging that hat up next summer. I've been promising Dougie-Do (to those who don't know, that's what I call my Daddy) I'd go on a trip with him, so we'll be headed to D.C., Jamestown, Williamsburg, and other obscure places that only he could find on a map, for a couple of weeks and then I plan on playing with the left over time. I've never really gotten to play during the summer due to being in summer school or working, so I think next summer I shall!

3. I have the best girls in the world and I am so blessed to have them in my life! We have so much fun when we are together and laugh nonstop. Sometimes we can be a lot to handle, but oh my the fun times we've had. I know that I can call on them whenever I need them and they will be there for me and vice versa. We had the most amazing beach trip this year. It was the most fun, relaxing time and none of us wanted to leave. Can't wait until next year's trip. And that's nonfiction!

All of us!

B, A1, MB and Tiff


Oldies and Goodies - Me, LL, Lori and Andrea


College Buds - Joy, Me, Kayte and Leslie


Me and Tiffany

2. I have the best family a girl could ask for! I'm so thankful for my Mama and Daddy and for Brad...my best big bro! God really knew what he was doing when he put all of us together :)


The Fam!

1. God is Great! He has spoken to me so much this summer and called me on a lot of my "stuff" and boy did I need it! In the words of a Chris Tomlin song that I love, love, love "my chains are gone, I've been set free." I thank Heather Mays so much for leading the Summer Siesta study on Me, Myself and Lies by Jennifer Rothschild. It came along at a time when I was really struggling with the jumbled up mess of thoughts in my head. Gals if you have a Thought Closest full of "stinkin' thinkin'" this study is for you. It has helped me gain so much insight into why I am the way I am and why I think the way I think. While it is sometimes super hard to confront your "stuff" it is, however, necessary. I finally realize that "who I am and what I struggle with are not the same thing."(Me, Myself and Lies by Jennifer Rothschild) It has taken many years, lots of tears, and a lot of prayer to get to this point.


Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

I know I promised not to get too philosophical on here, but every now and then a girl has to talk about her blessings.

Celebrity Crushes

As celebrity crushes go I've had a few in my day. Take note of the following:

A little on the weird side, but oh so dreamy!


No explanation needed!


My sports crush since I took up the game of tennis!

Now let's examine how tastes change as you get older and your interests grow more diverse. Don't judge me for the what I'm about to do. I have kept it in for too long and I must now reveal my current celebrity crushes! Most of you that know me well already know this, but I have to put it out there! Note they are all news men. Think I like to keep up with worldly events much? Ok...judge if you must!


Andy :)


Brian Williams, anchor of NBC Nightly News


Peter Alexander, reporter for NBC Nightly News


Richard Engel, reporter for NBC Nightly News

My New House!!

Sometime back in April I started thinking about buying a new house. I had not put my old house on the market nor did I really have much intention to. I told my mom about my little thought and that set in motion a series of events that quickly ended with me buying a new house. Needless to say it's always, ALWAYS dangerous when the Libster and I hatch new ideas or "go up the road" just to get out of the house. We have been known to come back with lots of clothes, new cars, and of course new houses! We decided to enlist the help of a Realtor and we went with Mary Lou Vonderau. We met with her and she told me that the house that was meant to be mine would "smile" at me. One day after work, we looked at 6 houses in an hour. I wasn't expecting much because I wasn't fully convinced that I was ready for a new house yet. Well the first house we went into was this cute house on the opposite side of my neighborhood. It was a 3/2 with a garage, tile floors, dining room, large fenced in backyard, everything I was looking for when I bought my first house, but couldn't afford. This house sure did "smirk" at me if it wasn't smiling yet. We looked at the other five and they just didn't compare to the first house of the day that had gone from "smirking" at me to a big cheesy "grin." After Mary Lou left I told my parents that I wanted the first house we looked at because it was now "smiling" at me. So, ever the financial guru, my mom worked the numbers and put an offer on the house that night in the hopes that it didn't get away from us. She didn't tell me what the offer was, so I was psyching myself up for some back and forth on the offer. That weekend we got the call that they didn't even counter with a new offer and accepted my offer!! I was so excited! After a month of home inspections, repairs and painting the entire inside of the house, I'm happy to say that I've moved...again! I absolutely love this house!! It's such a grown-up house, one that I could live in forever. Have a look at it! Isn't it great?!


Front


Back


Living Room -- I just love that rug!


Dining Room -- As you can see I'm still searching for the perfect dining room table!


Guest Bathroom


Master Bedroom


Eat-in Kitchen


Rest of Kitchen

Scoot Over...I'm Jumping On The Bandwagon!

A lot of my friends have blogs and I always thought that theirs were funny and interesting but didn't think it was for me. I don't think I have anything particularly interesting to say or know anyone in particular that would want to read about the randomness of my life, but I'm going to try it and see. So here I am with my own blog. Sometimes my mind gets all jumbled up with different things so this might be a great way to get it um...un-jumbled? Yes, we'll call it un-jumbled. Don't expect anything life altering, just a little of this and a little of that.