Something Good This Way Comes

I had a good weekend. A lovely weekend.

A sparkling weekend.

One of those really low-key, but really fun couple of days. It would be more appropriate if I was sharing this with you on Sunday or Monday, but you know how it is. Sometimes... with the stuff going on... and the... yeah. Amiright??

Friday after work I hit up Jason's Deli with a big group of friends and families. It's true: I start my weekends doing some craaaaaazy stuff. Case in point: tomato basil soup. WHAT UP, WEEKEND!

After that I stopped by my grandparents' house to chill with them, my aunt and uncle, and some cousins, including newly engaged Hilary and her fiance Jeff! <insert girly squeal here> We spent the evening chatting, laughing, and hearing about wedding plans!

Saturday morning I slept in until almost 10, and then hit the park by my apartment for some walk/run time, accompanied by the sunshine and Wait Wait Don't Tell Me.

Then before I knew it I was showered and in the car on my way to meet a college friend for lunch! Taylor is now a bigshot television anchor at the largest news station in my city, so it's always fun to turn on the TV and see my friend! It was great to catch up with him and hear ridiculously hilarious stories of getting recognized around town as well as some of the funny things that happen behind the scenes at a news station.

That afternoon I picked up Grandma and the two of us headed to the AZALEA TRAILS! I was so excited that we had such perfect weather and am so glad we got the chance to check out all the flowers.

(Keep reading: beauty ensues.)

Sigh. Don't you just want to come visit me now?? I've got a floor with your name on it....

I spent the rest of the afternoon in my grandparents' backyard, soaking in the summer-y sun and listening to some pretty hilarious/adorable g-parent banter.

Grandpa: Would this fire pit look better with the lid on?
Grandma: Who are you trying to impress?
Grandpa (smiling): I'm trying to impress myself!

Grandma: I can't breathe with all that smoke! You know I have problems with my lungs!
Grandpa: That's not the only problem you have.

Heart.

That night Grandpa fried fish and shrimp out on the porch and all nine of us got to sit and laugh together over dinner together before watching "Father of the Bride" with the bride-to-be! <insert girly squeal here> So much awesome going on. Sigh.

Sunday morning I met the crew at church and then joined everyone at the grandparents' house again for lunch! (I know, I am SO SPOILED.) Oh, and special aside to all cousins reading who were not present on Sunday: Lunch was followed by Grandpa's chocolate malts served in frosted wine glasses. Zing!

From there it was on to movie club, where we watched one of my all-time favorite movies, "The Thin Man!" The other club members have received their instructions to be on the lookout for a real life Nick Charles.

I MEAN REALLY.

The weekend ended as all weekends should: with a party! Joanna's birthday was celebrated with balloons, streamers, cute kids, tacos, and best of all, a photo of our entire group! (NOT an easy task!) All in all it was a great little party with too many fun people.

It's always nice to talk and laugh the final remaining hours of a weekend away.

Now this kind of day has no night. Yeah, this kind of day has no night. And I ain't got much on my mind. I ain't got much on my mind. Cause I know something good this way comes.

One Year Ago

Holy March Madness, Batman... a lot can happen in a year!

One year ago I was getting ready to board a plane for Texas (and writing vegetable poetry). I was flying to speak at a conference. I had been dating David for almost five months and had come to the conclusion that this was the man for me. I had spent some subsequent time lamenting to my sister that this boy had better get his "ducks in a row" sooner than later.

As far as I knew, he had yet to speak to my father and ask for permission.

As far as I knew, a ring had yet to be purchased.

I fell right into his plan. My family (sister especially) deceived me. I was blissfully unaware. On March 28, 2010 he walked out in the middle of the woods in Texas and asked me to be his wife.

The story gets better.

We planned and prepped and plotted and apparently did it all with much alliteration. October 17, 2010 we became husband and wife for always.

Two days later we boarded a plane, found our seats and connected with the flight attendant. She pointed out another honeymooning couple. The bride in a bright green sweater and perfectly polished nails turned, caught my gaze and asked pointedly, "Aren't you just so depressed that it's over?"

I was taken off-guard. Since roughly 11:00am on March 28th I had been expectantly waiting for life with my husband. I loved the wedding ceremony and had a blast at our reception, but I had been waiting for THIS. I was thrilled to be flying with someone. I was overjoyed to make a run to Home Depot with someone.

I turned to the young woman, smiled and said, "But it's not over. It's just beginning!"

My husband is private and introverted, although boisterous and energetic with his patients, family, and close friends. I just wanted to take a moment and say that this story gets better with time. In David I have found a partner, champion, and co-laborer for life. I am beyond blessed.

The night before I met David I wrote this in my journal:

This feels like something new. I started communicating with D 22 days ago. The moment I read his first message, I was hooked. I told Mom this week that he reminded me of Dad. So smart, funny, focused, driven... and for some reason he feels like he lucked out with me. Lord, I give you our date tomorrow. I give you our time together and ask that you would make it apparent if we are to venture forward together. Grant wisdom, guide conversation, guard hearts, and help me to just be myself. Thank you, Lord, for whatever you are doing.

I love this man more and more every minute... and I love that this is just the beginning.

Don't You Love

Don’t you love it when you get done with work and errands and all to-do list items, and you don’t have to do anything else but lie on the couch and watch parts of “Hercules” and the first half of "Can't Hardly Wait" from underneath a down comforter? Now I’m not saying that’s what happened this evening*, but it’s pretty great when it does.

Don’t you love it when you eat a granola bar at your desk at work, and then you leave and come back and see granola crumbs ALL OVER your office chair making it look like a gremlin was just there eating with his feet? (No, I haven’t actually seen “Gremlins,” why do you ask?)

Don’t you love it when you find a shirt you forgot you have in the back of your closet, and you can bust it out like you just got some new clothes, walking around like John Travolta in “Saturday Night Fever” with your new/old clothes attitude? (No, haven’t seen “Saturday Night Fever”- is that not what he was happy about?)

Don’t you love it when you’re at the grocery store and you spot something like THIS on the shelves of the dairy section? I love this country.

God bless America.

Don’t you love it when you come home to find that big red envelope in your mailbox? Netflix has arrived! And it contains “Pushing Daisies,” which is fun, but why on earth are there only THREE episodes to a disc?! Three? Really?

*Yes I am.

Xanga

It's true. Prior to blogger Val and I both spent a lot of time posting on Xanga. I liked Xanga. You know what I liked MOST about Xanga? Every post you could leave a little photo of books, music, and shows that youwerechecking out.Before you tell me to just add Facebook applications - I would like to take this moment and let you know that I am a Facebook purist. I don't WANT to add applications, games, quizzes, music, or bookshelves to my page. Perhaps I'm being stubborn.

Whatevs.

So... I'm going to do it anyways. I'm giving you a top list for the moment in hopes that you will also be generous and share any gems that you've discovered.

What I'm reading: Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges.

I mentioned this book last week and I'm going to mention it again. This book is challenging me so much. My Tuesday night group is walking through these chapters and so far it has taken us a month to finish talking about just three of them. A quote that has stayed with me since the first chapter: In one sense, Paul's letter could be summarized in this statement: "You are saints. Now act like saints!" Sometimes that idea is expressed more succinctly as, "Be what you are." That is, be in your behavior what you are in your state of being.

What I'm listening to: The Ladder by Andrew Belle

I love this album. Andrew has a lovely voice and a gentle way with lyrics. He tells story in songs that are both moving and soothing. If you want to see a beautiful use of the title song, then check out the Lingberries' wedding trailer. Gor. Geous.

Lyrics from another of my favorite

songs, "Oh My Stars"

oh my my
oh my stars
everything you see is ours
or it could be if you would try i wish you would
i wish you might
oh oh
if everything you've said to me has been true
then all my stars are leading me to you ooh ooh ooh ooh

What I'm (we're) watching: The Next Great American Restaurant

We really enjoy this show. The reason... my guess is that we love food. D and I are always trying to think up concepts for new restaurants or ways to improve dishes... and I really like Bobby Flay. So far this show has been low on drama and high on the American Dream. 10 contestants all vying to create America's next fast casual restaurant. The last idea standing gets the money to open three restaurants. I'm sure this show is imperfect, but we have enjoyed the first two episodes on our DVR.

What I'm (we're) really watching: Ohio State Basketball

I married into a scarlet and grey dynasty. I had no idea how deep the rabbit hole went... but I will say that I have enjoyed having a winning team in my bracket this year. This team is fun to watch and we have our fingers crossed to see them on the court when we head to...

Where I'm (we're) going: TEXAS

One giant road trip that includes the

Final Four(!), family, friends, and food. I cannot wait.

O-H... err... The eyes of Texas...

Everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekend, weekend

Each week when I make the agenda for our office "web team," I put a different meme at the bottom of the page, just to keep the group educated. After all, it is the web team, so I feel like everyone should be up to date on things they should.... well, let's be honest: things they should already know. We've already been over rickrolling, double rainbow, the lying down game, and women laughing alone with salad.

//Sidenote: I forgot that not everyone even knows what a "meme" is. My favorite explanation is that it's "an internet inside joke." Or you could think of it as any funny/weird video/joke/picture/anything that has gone viral across the internet. \\

Since tomorrow is Friday, and as long as I'm teaching a lesson on memes, I'll let you in on a meme that is currently taking the internet by terribly-autotuned storm: Rebecca Black's Friday.

This is a REAL SONG that was written/created/produced by a REAL RECORD COMPANY. It's not a parody video or something that this girl just did with her friends.

Is it EXTREMELY RIDICULOUSLY terrible? No. Does it include the lyrics Gotta have my bowl / Gotta have cere-al and Tomorrow is Saturday / And Sunday comes after...wards ? YES. Yes it does.

Now the internet is rife with covers, remixes, parodies and everything else you could possibly imagine. This song is EVERYWHERE- even my brother purchased it on iTunes so he could prank call me at the office with this song playing loudly from his end- without a word from him.

My brother is just one of many people who bought this song- and helped it to the top 100 iTunes songs. The video currently has over 14 million views and counting (fast).

The kicker? This has all happened in six days.

It’s Friday, Friday
Gotta get down on Friday
Everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekend, weekend
Friday, Friday

Class dismissed.

I rite like fore an exaple.

In all fairness, this is what I looked like when I wrote the following. (Or at least this was my profile as interpreted on construction paper.)

Allow me to interpret the poetic essay, "My Family."

My dad comes home and says, "Honey is dinner ready yet? It had better be because I'm starving." My sister is a little brat on Saturdays and Sundays because she always hogs the T.V.! Now my mother... on school morning you can hear her across the street saying, "Get up or you're going to be late!" Whenever we go to a store, guess what happens to my brother? He always falls and busts his lip open. My fish are named Tiger and Goldy. My sister's fish is named Katie. Now me? I write, like for example this story I just wrote. That's all, so bye.

- - -

If memory serves me, these descriptions might have all been slightly exaggerated. My sister was probably only a brat about the T.V. one of those two days. :)

Also - I am very thankful for spellcheck.

- - -

And also... I'm thinking of signing my name with a heart from now on.

- - -

And finally... your support has been amazing and wonderful - even the feedback with pointers. I can't say thank you enough!

If I'm being completely honest

I miss so many people right now. I miss my college roommates, who I haven't seen in OVER A YEAR now. I miss Amanda in Peru, who always feels SO FAR AWAY. I miss so many college friends and blog friends and family members and sisters. (Okay, just the one sister.)

The most recent season of "The Bachelor" ended last night, and I watched every. single. episode. And now I can't wait for "The Bachelorette" to start in May. Not cool to admit, but there you go.

I don't like my hair right now. At all. The color is so dull, and it kind of makes me feel sad. I know I sound RIDICULOUS right now, but it's true. I feel like I'm not "me," and I can't wait to go back to blonde.

I love this time change, even though it means it's dark when I wake up, because it means that SUMMER IS COMING! I know that not everyone enjoys the sun and heat as much as I do, but I can't wait. Summer is my season.

Males, I don't feel even a little bit sorry that I am taller than you. Even when I wear my tall brown clogs that I love. And that's the vibe I get sometimes- that I should apologize or not appreciate the fact that I get to be 5'8". But guess what? God gifted me with joy in my height, and not a spirit of guilt.

I've been dreading March Madness because it becomes ALL ANYONE TALKS ABOUT. For so long! I know I get caught up in the Oscars, and if you don't like it you probably get really sick of that event. I can sympathize- that probably gets really extremely lame. But that is just one night! March Madness goes on fooooooreeeeeeever. Or somewhere in that time frame. I don't know, I'm estimating.

Ginger and I have a "confession" tag that I decided to use for this post. I just clicked it and saw that I have never used it before- only Ginger.

I sat in my car in my apartment parking lot this evening for a good ten minutes after I arrived home just listening to my satellite radio. In the dark, like a creeper. BUT it's because they were playing Jeopardy on Rosie Radio, with categories like 'Movies,' 'Glee,' and 'Current Events.' I LOVE TRIVIA, and these questions were right up my alley. So I stayed in my car to listen. Like a creeper.

It's after 9:30 and I haven't had any dinner. On my way to fix that!

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Don't forget to check out Ginger's BRAND NEW WEBSITE here! Send it out to all the church contacts, youth pastors, and teenage girls you know. Pretty please. :)

Growing Up.

I've written this entry four or five times. I keep hitting delete. Delete, delete, delete. I've copied and pasted quotes from Lewis, Manning, L'Engle, Foster, and Spurgeon. My attempts have come to nothing.

I'm trying one more time.

When I grow up I want to write and speak and teach. When I grow up I want to teach young people to discover who they were made to be. When I grow up I want to challenge a generation to respect their bodies, embrace their dreams, and treasure the Word of God.

I'm ready to grow up.

I am humbly asking you, blog readers from Arizona to Senegal (and everywhere in between), if you will support my newest venture.

www.gingerciminello.com

Three ways you can help:

1. Share this site with anyone you know who might be interested in hiring a speaker for retreats, banquets, seminars, assemblies, and conferences. I have experience addressing children, jr. high, sr. high, college groups, and women. My comfort zone is teaching young women about finding contentment from their Creator.

2. Share this site with young women. The "Blog" and "Ask Ginger" sections are specifically designed to create a community of discussion for girls from 6th-12th grade.

3. "Like" the page on Facebook or follow me on Twitter - @gingercim).

I would love for you, blog readers, to be a part of this journey. It would be an honor for me if YOU would check out the site for yourself! Read the blog - I will be updating regularly and would love to have you jump in on the dialogue. While you're there, check out the audio and video files and hit me up with feedback or suggestions.

I will continue to be writing here with Val - but am also incredibly excited for this new venture.

Thank you for reading and thank you for following.

Special thanks to Valerie, Jon, Megan, Renea, Lauren and Carey for their help with the site and social media accounts. This would not be happening today without you.

A super special shout out to Carrie Fay Photography for all of the images you find on the site. She is an amazing photographer and a wonderful friend.

Lastly - thank you to my parents and my husband, David, who have all pushed me to do more and be more... all for our Heavenly Father.

Here goes everything.

“Remember what Bilbo used to say: It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” - J.R. Tolkien

T.Hanks

I have always thought this was amazing:

Don't you love it? I know, right?

But then. Oh. My word.

Y'all. Look.

Wouldn't these be THE BEST thank you notes to send out? (Answer: yes.)



If I had these I would thank people for every little thing they ever did for me. "Thank you for loaning me the DVD of "Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken." "Thank you for holding the door open for me." "Thank you for not tripping me today (or ever.)"

If you got me these thank you notes, I would definitely write you a thank you note on them.

Wowsas

I had no clue.

Val and I were g-chatting yesterday and I mentioned how "I think people read our blog, even if we don't have any comments." We checked our stats. It's true.

Apparently you have found a place in your heart for this odd array of personal stories, likes, dislikes, and our random journeys. Thank you for walking with us. That being said - I've had quite a few people ask some questions about some previous posts and now I shall endeavor to answer them (and probably make up some other random stuff.)

1. The neighbors DID come over for dinner last week! Two different couples, two and a half hours of eating and conversation that led to quite a few laughs and some warm smiles all around. Since that time I have met kiddos AND been invited to a culdesac block party in two weeks. Is this real life?! Y'all. This is Arizona. No one does this! I am SO excited. "Meeting my neighbors" has been on my yearly goals since moving to this state. I am finally making good on a goal.

2. Valerie DID come to visit and she made a great video about it. But here's the question I've been asked regarding that visit: "How was your time with your sister?" It was great! Val and I have a lot of similar quirks and interests (BBQ, books, movies, tv, Texas, Morbys) but we also are pretty different. I think that we vacation quite differently. That being said, I had a great time just catching up for a few days. We went out, we stayed in, we walked my little neighborhood and basked in the sun, we laughed, we made my husband shake his head... we even tried to locate some home movies. Having Val here was a GREAT birthday gift!

3. "What are you working on?" Since October I've been working on a manuscript for a book, writing children's curriculum for a local church, setting up speaking engagements, and... building a website. It's a whole lot of dreams all at once and they are all wrangling for first place in my time and thoughts. But it looks like (if all continues to go well this week) I will be taking my website LIVE next week. (Deep heaving breaths.) My target audience is young women 6th-12th graders and the site will have both written and video blog components. If you are willing I will need you on your best social media selves when the time comes - twitter, facebook, chalk. You name it and I will humbly ask for it.

4. I used to blog on and on about what I was reading and my mild obsession with my local library. Reading (especially fiction) took a back seat for a while, but I'm back in the saddle again. Latest books - and the order in which I might recommend them:

-The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones

-Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges

-Reflections On the Psalms by C.S. Lewis

-When Crickets Cry by Charles Martin (fiction)

-My Life as an Experiment by A.J. Jacobs

-The New Eve by Robert Lewis

5. Friday Night Lights makes me weep... every time. (We are halfway through season 4.)

6. I really feel like I had a lot more material going into this post than I do right now.

7. Sometimes... getting a blog comment is like getting a sticker on your 2nd grade handwriting paper or having someone bring you a Route 44 Diet Coke without you asking.

8. That's all.

Spilled Songs

I can't stop listening to the Sufjan Stevens version of "Come Thou Fount" from the "Friday Night Lights" soundtrack. I love those sweet lyrics backed by such delicate and plucky music. And there are worse words than "Bind my wandering heart to Thee" to have stuck in your head.

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It bothers me that I have to type "yay" instead of the original "yea" because otherwise most people would read it as "yeah." Then I think to myself that I should probably be refraining from typing the word yay/yea at all. THEN I think that I should SHUT UP and stop being so persnickety and annoying about the word yay. Yea.

Crap.

---

The iPod always warns you not to disconnect it from the computer while it's transferring data. I like to imagine that if you were to unplug the chord, all of your songs would spill out onto the floor. Just slide right on out of the iPod and before you know it there are sprinkles of Coldplay and Taylor Swift and Beethoven all over the place. Shouldn't have disconnected it- you were warned.

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Me: The Les Mis 25th Anniversary concert is four hours long! That's going to take up some crazy space on my DVR.
Friend: I thought you already saw that?
Me: [blank stare]
Me: Yeah, I'm so the type of person to only watch things once.

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Today I decided to write on my mom's Facebook wall and remind her of a family trip to Mexico. (Incidentally, my brother hadn't been able to come along on that particular vacation.)






Poor Clay....

Anne with an E.

"There's such a lot of different Anne's in me. I sometimes think that is why I'm such a troublesome person. If I was just the one Anne it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn't be half so interesting." L.M. Montgomery, (Anne of Green Gables)

We had one copy of "Anne of Green Gables" TV movie. It was a VHS recording of a PBS special. The tracking was awful... but I didn't care.

I remember watching the ENTIRE movie for the first time when I caught the chicken pox in first grade. I loved those puff sleeves just as much as Anne did. I desperately wanted to recite poetry and wear a rose in my hair.

I auditioned for the role of Anne for my high school play in 10th grade and was cast as Diana Barry. Six weeks before the show Anne had to step down from the role... and suddenly I was dying my hair red and practicing new lines.

I love Anne - her tantrums, her fears, her romantics, her growth into a strong young woman. Montgomery created a character who is brimming with fire, passion, and a deep desire to belong.

We all have multiple versions of ourselves during our lifetime. Some die away as we mature (thankfully) and others are changed and shaped by outside circumstances... and still others (the dancing, twirling, singing at the top of our lungs in an empty house) only see the light of day when we are all alone.

I've made my way to a totally new chapter of life - I've talked about it before: new EVERYTHING (or so it seems.) It's sometimes pretty challenging to decide which Anne is going to take the stage. I'd like to go all in right away, but I feel like I need to find my footing first... just like I did in 1st grade, 9th grade, as a freshman in college, or when I started my first job... or moved to Arizona... or met my husband for our first date.

After a lot of trial and error, I'm slowly beginning to understand how to accept all the different "Gingers" in me.

I think I can embrace who I am when I remember whose I am and the care He put into making me... the only me.

You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I'd even lived one day.

Psalm 139:14-16, MSG

Here's to all the Annes.

It's a Wonderful Town

Most of you probably guessed this after my ridiculously blatant "hint" the other day, but just on the off chance you DIDN'T pick up on my oh-so-subtle clue,

I AM GOING TO NEW YORK CITY!!!!

On Monday morning I was attempting to focus on work and internet-y things, when my phone rang. It was my dad, who proceeded to ask about what I thought about the Academy Awards, how my party went, etc. etc. I was fighting a pseudo Oscar-hangover (for lack of a better term), so my synapses weren't all firing quite as up to speed as usual. But then.

Dad: So what does your schedule in April look like? Mom and I would like to take you and your brother to New York. Would you be interested in that?

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So yes, my dear bloggie blogites- next month I will be IN New York! The land of people who sell newspapers, people who email, and, of course, Mr. Jimmy Fallon.

I've already been compiling a list of places to see, shows to see, and everything else to see!

I am SO excited, and can't WAIT for my first trip to Manhattan!

Let me know if you have any recommendations in the comments!

New York, New York!
A wonderful town!
The Bronx is up and the Battery's down!
The people ride in a hole in the ground!
New York, New York!
It's a wonderful town!

Action Verbs

Just a few from the Old Testament:

THE GOD WHO...

HEARS Hagar - Genesis 16:11

SEES Hagar - Genesis 16:13

HEARS Ishmael - Genesis 21:17

OPENS the eyes of Hagar - Genesis 21:19

SEES Leah - Genesis 29:31

HEARS Leah - Genesis 29:33

LISTENS to Leah - Genesis 30:17

REMEMBERS Rachel - Genesis 30:22

WAS WITH Joseph - Genesis 39:2

SENDS Joseph - Genesis 45:5

INTENDED GOOD - Genesis 50:20

WAS KIND - Exodus 1:20

HEARD & REMEMBERED, LOOKED & WAS CONCERNED - Exodus 2:24-25

HEARD & REMEMBERED -Exodus 6:6

DID what Moses asked - Exodus 8:13

BROUGHT - Exodus 12:51

WILL FIGHT for you -Exodus 13:14

SAVED Israel - Exodus 14:30

HEALS you - Exodus 15:26

GIVES - Exodus 16:8

HEARD - Exodus 16:9

COMMANDED - Exodus 17:1

CARRIED you - Exodus 19:4

BROUGHT them out - Exodus 20:2

BLESSED the Sabbath day - Exodus 20:11

WILL GIVE you - Exodus 25:21

WILL MEET with you - Exodus 25:21

WILL DWELL among you - Exodus 29:45

HAS GIVEN skill - Exodus 31:6

CAME DOWN - Exodus 34:5

CHOSE - Exodus 35:30

GAVE ability - Exodus 36:2

COMMANDED - Exodus 39:21

CALLED Moses - Leviticus 1:1

GAVE - Leviticus 7:38

SPOKE to Moses - Leviticus 16:1

GIVES the Land - Leviticus 20:24

MAKES us holy - Leviticus 22:32

and on and on...

He's moving even when you feel stagnate.

He's listening even when you've run out of things to say.

I'm resting today in the fact that He sees me and the mountain that's before me... and that His promise is to journey with me all the way.

Amazing April

This April is quickly shaping up to be one of my FAVORITE months in recent memory, packed with the best of fun things (and one BIG thing)! Here are a few of the happenings I am looking forward to next month:

• Easter, one of my favorite holidays!


• A visit from Ginger and David, who will be in Texas for over a WEEK!


• Bowling Day at work, where our ENTIRE staff takes a morning off to go to a local alley to just bowl, eat lots of good food, and have FUN! I love where I work!


• Azalea Trails! April is a BEAUTIFUL time to live in my city, as evidenced
  by the flowers in full bloom everywhere you look, particularly the azaleas. People from all over the area come to the "Azalea Trails" to walk down historic brick streets in neighborhoods near downtown and see all of the most eye-catching flowers. The picture to the right is one that I took a few years ago on the trails.


• "Legally Blonde," one of my favorite musicals, is coming! I get to see it courtesy of gift-givers extraordinaire Ginger and David. I feel SO much better than before!


• Like I said, one BIG thing that I am SO excited about! Any guesses? No? Well, I'll tell you all about it next time. For now though, I'll leave just you with this small hint....