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.

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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....