An Annoying Habit

I find it completely humorous that according to my post count, this is my 400th post. Wow! Who knew I'd make this post so boring? I mean seriously, I could have at least talked about my weekend, or you know, shocked y'all with another post about singleness. Or better yet, talked about the Oscars, Biggest Loser, Bible study or toenails. Toenails because I gave myself a pitiful pedicure last night. But that's neither here nor there.

No, I'm choosing to discuss a habit I've developed that I despise.

And while this isn't the worst possible habit a human could posses, or the only habit I choose to indulge in, it's quite annoying.

Here's the deal, the Lord blessed me with some long eyelashes. I say blessed because I know some people purchase what I've naturally been given. Don't be ashamed or feel guilty if you've been a purchaser of said eyelashes, a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do, and we need our luscious eyelashes, do we not? We have to bat our eyes at somebody.

Anywho, ever since my mom started letting me wear make-up, and more specifically, mascara, and clear mascara at that, I've been obsessed with my eyelashes. Granted, I've graduated to black mascara these days, but the obsessions started young.

As weird as this may sound, I love the way mascara feels on my eyelashes. I know, please unsubscribe if you feel you can no longer support me as a friend, I do understand. Because what most people think feels gross, I'm obsessed.

Not to mention the fact that putting on mascara is like an art to me. It takes me a sweet forever to apply it. No clumping allowed and I'm a little OCD the minute that wand touches my lashes. Don't believe me? Ask any of my BFF's. I'm sure they'll love to weigh in.

I think you know where this is headed.

Every night as I sit and blog, read, watch t.v. or whathaveyou, I pick at my eye lashes. Namely, my mascara. I do it all night long leaving little specks of mascara dust all over my face, and by the time I wash my face, all eye make-up is pretty much removed.

Now I know you're wondering why that's so annoying, or even such an issue? Let me explain, besides the fact that I leave a trail of mascara everywhere I walk, while picking at my mascara, I also pluck out eyelashes unintentionally.

Y'all, I'm convinced I'm going to be eye lash less soon if this awful habit doesn't stop. You'd be surprised at how many I pull out each night.

And let's face it, when most girls say they feel lipstick completes their look, I feel that mascara completes my look. Do you see my dilemma? What happens when I have no eyelashes left?

I remember someone telling me a long time ago that for people who bite their nails, there is this nail polish you can buy to paint on the that tastes disgusting. Unfortunately, I don't bite my nails, but I wish I had that problem. No one has invented a mascara that shocks you upon touching your eyelashes. Maybe I should patent that.

So, what's a girl to do? How do I stop this annoying habit? Seriously. What are some things you have done to break a habit? What are some of your habits?

If I can break the habit of having a Diet Coke every day for lunch, I can surely break a habit of picking mascara off my eyelashes.

Please, help this soon-to-be-no-eyelash-girl out!

A Quick Prayer Request

Hi friends! I have a quick prayer request to ask of you.

In the grand scheme of things I feel silly asking for prayer for this, but tomorrow is the day they are going to celebrate sweet Carson's life in Dallas.

Jen and I are going to make the trek up there tomorrow morning, and head back in the evening to not only celebrate with them, but to support their family, and mainly our sweet Joanna. It's about a 5 hour drive from Houston. I am driving and am extremely grateful to have Jen with me to keep me company and awake, but I know it will be an exhausting day all around.

Funerals tend to wipe me out, so would you pray for safety, strength and energy for us tomorrow? And that we would be able to minister and love on them during the short time we're there? I get anxious about days like this, so I would greatly appreciate your prayers on our behalf.

But more so than praying for us, please continue to pray for the Richardson family. I just cannot even begin to imagine the sadness in their hearts as tomorrow approaches. I'm praying that His perfect peace would rule their hearts, for a peace that passes all understanding.

Thank you so very much. I know that they covet your prayers!

On the Wings of Love

Well, the drama is over. Jake has chosen his baby and we can all claim our Monday nights back for ourselves. That is until May comes and we all watch as Ali picks her baby. (If you don’t understand why I am choosing to use the term “baby” please do yourself a favor and stay confused. No use in explaining the awkwardness that was that line last night.)

I want to start out by saying that every season; I continue to be sucked into the drama that is The Bachelor. Or The Bachelorette. Whatever ABC decides to air that season, I anxiously await all the drama to unfold all the while asking myself why I continue to watch it.

Yes, I’ve only missed one season, so please know that I’m just as involved like most of you.

I’m not sure why I continue to be sucked into the saga; because most seasons, I’m disappointed by the outcome or how they choose to live their life after the show is over.

But last night I was not only convicted of my thinking, I was also floored.

I’m not going to lie; I didn’t want all the internet rumors to be true about Jake’s final pick. Let’s just say I’m not Vienna’s biggest fan. And yes, I’ve had my fair share of rude remarks toward her. Just putting that out there.

But I am truly floored at the way she is being treated and talked about.

The truth is, what we see is what we get. I don’t know why we think that protesting his decision will make anything different. It never has and it never will. There may have been a few red flags in the process for sure, but yet again, as I watched her home date with his parents, I caught myself asking for forgiveness as well, just like his family did. We don’t know the girl from Adam, so to judge her and say nasty things about her is flat wrong.

I realize I may step on one or twenty toes here, but when I logged on facebook and twitter last night real quick after all was said and done, I was shocked at all the nasty things I read. It was kind of upsetting.

Who are we, as believers, to voice our opinion on whether or not homedude made the wrong decision? And not just voice our opinion, but absolutely slam the girl he chose. He’s a 32 year old man whom I’m confident can make his own decisions with or without our help.

I’m not pointing any fingers. In fact, I’m placing myself right smack dab in the middle of this category. I had a few choice comments myself.

I also saw a few people upset that they declared they’d be moving in together immediately. I’m not sure why this was so shocking or upsetting, because we can’t expect non-believers to act like believers. There’s no need to put that expectation on them.

Newsflash, this show has never been and will never be about Christ-centered dating. I have to remind myself of that a lot because most days, I live in my own Christian bubble.

It’s clear that Jake is a decent man that loves and respects Vienna. It’s clear that he wants to provide for her. It’s clear that he wants to take care of her. It’s clear that he enjoys her company.

To be completely honest, without judging either one of their motives, I find that refreshing.

So much unnecessary attention is going to come from the controversy that is Jake & Vienna, when the reality is that if you look around there are marriages falling apart all over the place because…

The husband is cheating on the wife. Or vice versa.

The husband doesn’t feel respected, or the woman doesn’t feel loved.

The husband can’t provide financially for his wife’s needs, so she moves on.

There is abuse in the home.

The wife feels more connected emotionally to another man, so she leaves her man for that.

And countless other reasons.

I’m not going to pretend to know one thing about marriage. Stink, I’m not going to pretend to know one thing about dating.

I say we all move on. Their relationship is not going to end the entire world, nor will it end the long running dramatic television series.

There are more things to get upset about than one simple man who chose one simple woman.

I don’t know what will happen in their relationship. I know that if Christ is not the center it’s harder to manage. We’re all human. We all fail. But for a moment can we just rejoice in the fact that a man loves his woman and wants to treat her well? Don’t we need a little of that?

This doesn’t mean I won’t be watching another season. I can almost guarantee that I will be on my couch, Dove Chocolate in hand, counseling the TV on whether or not any of those men are worth going for.

But hear this, I will not get emotionally involved or rip them apart. It’s TV, for goodness sake.

I’ll use it more-so as a tool for how not to date.

And if you think that’s messed up, and that I have some messed up thinking for even watching it again, then I apologize. I’m human.

On that note, I’m off my soapbox.

If you care to find me, I’ll be soaring on the wings of love.

All the Single Ladies

This past weekend was most definitely a single ladies weekend and I loved every second of it.

As stated before, the Lord has immensely blessed me in the friendship area, and while I've prayed specifically for girlfriends here in Houston to walk this journey with, He's instead given me a handful of other friendships, for which I am particularly thankful for.

However, I need you to know that there are two girls who mean the world to me and are most definitely walking this road with me, they just happen to live in different cities..

So, imagine my surprise and excitement when Raven texted me to see if I was free this weekend to have dinner since she was in town. Indeed I was! And to make matters even more exciting, Hannah was free to. What, what?! We've tried to plan weekend get together, but our schedules are all so crazy and wonky, it's difficult to actually find a good weekend. To say that I was looking forward to our get together would be a complete understatement. It's been a good while since I've had a good, deep conversation about life (that makes me sound like some girl who thinks all the time! Ha!) and I knew that these girls would not disappoint.

Since about our Junior year of college, we've bonded together. Stuck together. We completely get each other and where we're at in life. It's one of the sweetest things.

We're all in ministry. We're all out of college. We're all called to churches that may not provide us with the best singles ministry every. And we're all singe. Yet we're all content. Yes, we get each other.

Friday after work I got home, packed a little bag and waited for Hannah to drive in from Huntsville. Bless her heart, she got into a bit of traffic so it took her longer than expected. I had a feeling that would happen. When I lived there I either left super early during the day, or late at night. The traffic is pitiful.

She finally arrived and we hopped in my car and headed to Raven's. She lives in Ft. Worth, but she was in town for the weekend visiting her family. Her mom lives in a town close to Galveston, so I was thinking traffic would be bad for us as well, but thankfully it was not.

By the time we got to Raven's we were starving! We all agreed that Mexican was in order, then we headed to Kemah to eat at Cadillac Bar. I love the fajitas there! We of course laughed our heads off, talked out faces off, and got tickled at each waiter who flirted with us. Y'all, they were so funny! It was so obvious!

After almost shutting the restaurant down, we walked over to Starbucks. Is there a better way to end the evening? If it wouldn't have been so windy and chilly, I so would have been first in line to ride the roller coaster. We ride it every summer, and although it knocks you around, it is a blast! I love me a good roller coaster. We will forever miss you, Astroworld.

At Starbucks I'm certain we annoyed every human being in there. I'm just here to say that we're not the quietest bunch, nor is my laugh a quiet one. We weren't trying to be disrespectful, and I don't think we were being disrespectful, I just think we were having fun. I bet everyone was jealous.

We did shut Starbucks down, then headed back to the house. Did I mention that it was a sleepover? Oh, the joy in my heart. It's been too long since I've had myself a good sleepover. We did what any girl would do at a sleepover, changed into our pj's, then sat on the bed and chatted til we had no spit left. Poor Hannah fell asleep, but we forgave her.

That next morning after sleeping in Raven made us cinnamon rolls and fruit, and after that Hannah and I packed up the car and headed back north. The morning was cut way to short, but I enjoyed every last second of it! I love those girls to pieces. They did my heart some serious good. It was just so refreshing! I think all of us would say that. We all needed that night and it was delightful. I'm so thankful the Lord allowed us to have a spur of the moment mini-retreat. I love spur of the moment evenings.

Hannah, Raven and me at Cadillac Bar. Yum. I'm sad this is the only picture we got of the three of us!

How precious are my girls?

Me and Hannah!

Playing with my iPhone. It truly is a phenomenon. Raven, how did we manage to not get a picture together?

Hannah can pull off pretty much any hair piece. We're not jealous or anything. Would you look at this cute, gorgeous girl?

Raven was very excited about her drink.

We stopped to get gas on the way home. It's not everyday you see a limo parked at the Kemah Food Mart.

Saturday evening I had already made plans to hang out with Sara. She was getting her iPhone that day, so I declared that a celebration was in order. I don't know anybody that has wanted an iPhone more than her! Sara and I have a special relationship. She's a senior and although she does not go to my church, we met through her sweet mom who I met (kind of) through blog world. Since then we've pretty much had a monthly date!

I picked her excited self up and we headed down to Memorial City Mall. We had already planned on eating our normal Chick-Fil-A meal, but we also planned to see a movie and she wanted to get a few accessories for her new phone. Memorial City offers all of the above so it was perfect!

Girlfriend is so cute. I think she taught me more about my iPhone than I taught her, which is crazy since I've had mine since June! It was great.


Once we got all her accessories taken care of, and had eaten, we went to see When In Rome. I think it is so cute and funny! We happen to sit two seats away from some sweet old ladies who had to be at least in their 70's. They had those earphones that allow you to hear the movie better. I've never seen those, but I think that's neat. The cutest thing was that pretty much every 5 minutes, they said, "Oh my!" Sara and I were beyond tickled. If I could have, I totally would have taken a picture of them.

We had a fun little evening and I am so happy for Sara to have her phone. For the main reason that she'll no longer have to steal mine when we're together! Ha!

Here is Sara eating her first Chick-Fil-A meal with her phone. I did teach her how to use ShakeItPhoto, which she now loves.

Love this picture and love this girl! It was her first try with that fun app and it was perfect.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I'm off to listen to Single Ladies. I feel that is only appropriate as I clean the kitchen.

Please Pray

My best friend, Joanna's, seven year old nephew, sweet Carson, went to be with Jesus after his long battle with cancer late last night.

It's been a 3 1/2 year journey, but my heart absolutely breaks for them. They've done everything to fight for their little boy, and although the Lord has chosen to heal him in this way, and God is still on His throne just as much yesterday as today, it still stings.

And although I don't understand cancer in any way, shape or form, especially in children, I know that God is still good, and good will come of this. We're praising the Lord that sweet Carson is no longer in pain and completely healed. His joy knows no bounds.

But, we grieve with hope alongside them.

Please join me in praying for the Richardson family. And please feel free to visit his caringbridge site here.

Hope you all have a restful Sunday.

From The Mouths of Sixth-Grade Girls

I’m just going to lay it all out there. As much as I love working with my High School girls and leading my senior girl’s small group, there is something about Middle School girls that is so very intriguing. I think it’s their level of brutal honesty that I’ll never get over. They speak what’s on their mind with no hesitation whatsoever. It’s kind of refreshing, if I’m being completely honest. They’ll ask any question they have, say any thought they’re thinking, and cry at any given moment.

Granted, I know most of this is due to their lack of maturity, but nonetheless, it’s very entertaining and refreshing at best.

Once the girls get into High School, automatically self-consciousness grips them and suddenly they become very quiet and reserved, afraid of being judged on every word they speak, ask, or think or even the way they dress, or even sadder, their personality.

But, that’s another topic for another day.

The reason I’m really blogging is because last night I witnessed some of the most hilarious conversations that I feel so compelled to share with y’all.

I was elated to visit the 6th grade girl’s small group and it was exhilarating to say the least.

Please humor me as I recount to you the funniest conversations of the evening.

On discussing about God being omniscient:

Girl #1: What does that mean?
Girl #2: It means that God knows everything! He like even knows if you’re going to trip on your way out to the car. (Yes, that’s exactly what I was thinking.)
Girls #1: Oh, so does that means He knows if I’m going to be famous?
Girl #2: Um, yeah, He totally does.
Girl #3: Yeah, God is like super smart.

What I wanted to add to that was that He also knew that Nordstrom Rack would open today in Houston, which is why He may or may not have blessed us with a sunny, beautiful day. Jesus loves US, this I know.

On animals going to heaven:

Girl #1: My cat just died, is he in heaven, or you know, down there? (Pointing to the floor.)
Girl #2: Oh! Me too! My dog just died! My mom told me she’s in heaven!
Girls #3: (To me and no one else) Yeah, my sister had two mice and they both just died. I think it would be really neat for her to see them in Heaven again. She would love that!

Y’all, if seeing our dead pet mice in heaven is as excited as we can get, that’s pretty sad. I think once I get to heaven I won’t even remember that I once owned to mice. Ew.

All joking aside, we did try to explain to them that animals are here for our enjoyment and we’re supposed to take care of them, but at the same time, they don’t have a soul. Some of the girls totally got it, but some of the girls looked as confused as Ellen on American Idol.

They were seriously cracking me up. I may visit every week just for some comic relief. How can you not love that?

Fortunately, I didn’t laugh once, but scribbled it all in my brain so I’d remember to blog, twitter and facebook about it. Which is now what I’ve successfully done.

Of course, this was all said after they once said to me upon my wearing my tall black boots to church one day that I looked like a giant.

I wasn’t sure how to take it. Yes, to them I may be a giant. They come up to my knee. But do you have to tell a girl that?

Way to bust this girls self-confidence right when I was finally accepting the fact that I was indeed a tall giant.

Maybe I should go back to 6th grade so I can cry about it and no one would make fun of me.

Or maybe I just need to continue reading So Long, Insecurity.

Say Cheese!

For Christmas, my mom's side of the family came to Houston not only to celebrate Christmas with us, but also to escape the ridiculously cold weather that was blessing Colorado at the time. Unfortunately, it wasn't much warmer here, but at least it wasn't snowing!

For an entire week we all relaxed at home, took off work, and enjoyed each other's company! Our ages ranged from 10 years old to 89 years old, so you don't have many options when it comes to entertaining. It was a fabulous week! Since they're all in Colorado and we're clearly in Houston, we don't get to see our family near enough, but it makes it all the sweeter when we do see them because it's so few and far between.

This time, since my great aunt even joined us, we decided to have a friend take some family pictures of us. We really needed some updated ones that Grandpa could put in his briefcase that he carries everywhere and that Grandma could put in her photo album that she carries around in her purse! My grandparents truly are the epitome of a Grandpa and Grandma. Ask anyone that knows them, they'll agree. We love them!

Unfortunately, our friend realized after he took the pictures and downloaded them that his camera was broken. He doesn't think the pictures turned out well at all, but we think they're great! He did better than we could have done setting one of our cameras on a timer, so for that, we are very thankful!

Without further ado, I present to you, my wild and crazy family.

My crazy brothers! Older and younger. I'm the only girl. And the middle child. Yes, I love that. Clearly, our house is split!

Cousins/Grand kids from oldest to youngest! Eddy's to Jesser's!

The entire clan!

We love Grandpa and Grandma!

Irene, our great aunt, snuck in on this one! She's like another Grandma to all of us.

I just love this! She was told to go stand on the sidewalk, but instead chose the bushes. Bless her heart. She turned 90 last week!

The original four. Special.

My Uncle John and cousin Jill!

When I wasn't in the picture, I was taking some pictures. Typical.

Sisters. How cute are they?

Sisters. The younger version.

Big brother Brien and Irene. They're like two peas in a pod.

Jesser family!

Eddy family!

I'll call this the Firetruck series! After our "formal" pictures, we went back to our playground at church and played around. By far the most fun part of the photo shoot!

Kevyn, my little brother!

Are we in jail?

If only Brien was smiling...

There's nothing like the cousins to the rescue...

How cute is my cousin Jill? When she was born (along with my other little cousins on my dad's side) I announced she'd be my flower girl. At the rate I'm moving, it's looking more and more like she'll be a Jr. Bridesmaid, or something to that effect. Ha!

We love the tires.

Facebook profile picture 101.

Framer for sure! Grandma and Grandpa should be so proud.



Mom and Dad!

Love this. Love him!

On Unique Seasons & Friendships

I've come to terms recently with the fact that life happens in seasons. It's one season after another, none more important than the other. Different than the other? Absolutely.

I had an epiphany this weekend that I'm currently, in what I like to call, a weird season of life. I know weird can have a negative connotation, so for that reason, maybe I'll just call it a unique season. Because the last thing I want you to think is that I'm not enjoying this season, because I most certainly am!

After I graduated I prayed that I would get settled with my job at church and then eventually find a group of girls my age to do life with. I imagined I would join a small group with other young adult single girls working, we'd hit it off, and therefore, enjoy life together.

Two years later, my prayer has most certainly been answered, but not in that specific way.

I've never been one to lack friendships. I may or may not have said that before, but the Lord has blessed me beyond imagination in the friendships He's provided me for practically my entire life. I think it helps that I grew up in one church my whole life, giving time for certain friendships to blossom, but either way, I don't take them for granted.

So of course I'd assume that after graduation He'd bless me with friendship after friendship, and maybe even a relationship. You know, with a boy.

My first year back and working was probably the loneliest year I've had to date. I had just graduated from college, which automatically is a huge change, and also the time in life when all of your friends scatter. We all graduate, move and become adults making is a very strange time of finding your way again.

Graduating from High School is similar, but there are still the breaks where you all come together again and meet up.

At college graduation you don't have that guarantee that you'll see each other every Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Break or whatever holiday comes to mind. You have to work much harder at attaining your friendships after college. Add to that the fact that it's a huge wedding season after college. Marrying off BFF's doesn't get easier.

That first year back, even though it was the loneliest, was also sweet because I was given the opportunity to press into the Lord and make my relationship with Him all the more stronger and sweeter. No, it wasn't always fun or easy to do that, especially since I'm such a sanguine person, but looking back I wouldn't trade that year for anything. I grew a lot that year.

When I finally gained a routine, I realized that a lot of the people I was hanging out with were either our youth workers, specifically the ladies, all of whom are married with kids or high school students, of course, the girls.

At that time I was still praying for friends, without even realizing the blessing, and the people He'd placed in my life at that time. Or without being grateful for the girls He had placed in my life journeying through this season with me, but just didn't live in Houston.

Yes, at times I had many a pitty party because I was tired of feeling friendless. I just wanted some girls here that knew what I was going through. And yes, while I believe that we most certainly need people around us that know and understand are in the same season of life we're in, I'm even more convinced that He knows better what we need more than what we think we need or want.

As of this weekend, I'm even more convinced of that.

For the past two months or so, I've continued to hang out with two very distinct groups of people.

Those groups are high school girls and young moms. Those that are youth workers, and those that I met through mostly blogging.

On Saturday I spent all day hanging with my high school girls and youth workers at our Vision Conference. Everything about the whole day was wonderful! We get each other, we click, we laugh, we talk, we take pictures. They know me, I know them. Never, for one minute, do I ever feel friendless or wish I was somewhere else with "people my age." Quite frankly, I love spending time with my girls. Especially my high school senior girls.

And quite frankly, I love spending time with our youth workers. Dana, Anna, Alison, Lauri, Janet, and so many more. (Angie, we missed you!) I would consider each of them a mentor to me, whether they know it or not. They've worked in youth ministry longer than me, and they encourage me to press on when I feel overwhelmed or like I want to throw the towel it. It's a huge blessing to me, those church peeps.

Then, immediately following the conference I headed to meet Missy and Amanda so we could head to Debra's where she invited us to an evening at her house. She cooked us chicken spaghetti, salad, some yummy bread and most importantly some cupcakes. We had the best time sitting around chatting and just enjoying a quiet, simple evening. While any other girl may have felt out of place as they chatted some mommy and wife business (which is so not all we talked about, BTW), I felt like the most blessed girl in the world to be sitting among them gaining wisdom and advice from three ladies who are a few steps ahead of me in the adventure called life! And while they may or may not know this, I'd consider each of them to be a sweet mentor to me as well.

I feel that way every time I get the opportunity to hang out with them, which has been more often lately due to our blogup dinner, the scripture memory celebration, Valentine's Baking day and some other fun occasions. We had such a good time that we stayed until almost 10:30! I hope we do it again. Thanks, Debra for being such a fun host and for serving us! I hope you three ladies know how much you blessed my heart that night. I'm thankful for y'all!

If those aren't unique friendships, I don't know what are.

I've learned and accepted the fact that for what we think is best, the Lord always has better, and never fails to give us the better, because He is a God of grace.

Where I thought a handful of single girls would be the best for me in this season, and of course, maybe even a relationship, He's sent better friendships my way.

He's sent older friendships my way, ladies my way who can encourage me to press on in life, pour into me and guide me in this season, where in return, He's then placed those a few seasons behind me that I can in return, pour into and mentor them along the way.

They may be unique friendships, but I'm certainly the most blessed to call each of them my friends. And truly thankful that the Lord knows what I need in this season.

Thank you, Lord, for sending me better than I could have prayed, asked for or thought I even wanted.

The ABC's on Friday

*My BFF Jen posted her own Alphabetical Friday and I thought it was genius, so I decided to copy her. Because that's what BFF's do.

A is for Apple. Because my new obsession of a snack is sliced apple and organic peanut butter. Every. Single. Night. It is the bomb dot com. If you think I'm lying about the obsession part, just ask my roomies.

B is for Blogging because well, it's obvious. I love blogging in every way shape or form.

C is for Coffee because I drank some this morning. Grande' Vanilla Latte with non-fat milk from Starbucks to be exact. What is it about that drink that hits the spot?

D is for Daunting because completing this post feels like a daunting task to me. But I'm determined. Even if ever letter is as boring as peanut butter and jelly.

E is for Elderly because I got to call my sweet great aunt last night and wish her a Happy 90th Birthday! 90 y'all! During our conversation I asked her if her neighbor liked the scarf she bought her here during Christmas, to which she replied, "You made kraut burgers tonight?" I held my laughter until we hung up with each other. Bless her heart, besides her hearing she doesn't act a day over 60.

F is for Figure Skating. I was so proud of Evan Lysacek last night when he won his gold metal. I also get so sad for the rest of the Olympians when they fall or mess up. I would be a blubbering mess.

G is for Girls Weekend because we haven't had one in a while. Ahem, Jo, Jenn & Sal. Let's get on it.

H is for Houston and humidity because naturally, those two things go together. I have a feeling that the humidity is slowly making it's way back into our normal forecast. Blah.

I is for Idols. Because these have constantly been on my mind. You think I have one or ten I need to burn? Oh, it's messy.

J is for Jillian Michaels. Jillian Michaels stands for Biggest Loser because right now I'm really missing my show. Two more weeks, folks. Two more weeks. (That's my one beef with the Olympics. They take away my best-loved shows.)

K is for Kristy. My sweet mom who just went to get me lunch from Chick-Fil-A. I love her.

L is for Living Proof Live because in July I'm headed to California to go to just that. Remember when I won those tickets on the LPM blog? Totally unexpected. We're making a girls week out of it and are hoping my aunt and cousin from Colorado can join us too! In fact, I got my tickets to it in the mail just this week. I'm so excited!

M is for Mascara because it's my favorite make-up item. That's all I'll say about that.

N is for NyQuil. Also know as my BFF this past week. NyQuil Sinus to be exact. Oh, it is a treasure.

O is for the Olympics. I love them. In fact, today I'm wearing my Olympic shirt that I proudly bought at Target for $12.99. It's neat.

P is for Plane ticket because I just bought one to Atlanta with my BFF, Jen. We're hoping our other BFF's Jo and Sal can join us! Hello, check out letter G! I think it's a grand idea for the perfect Girls Weekend.

Q is for Quadragesimarian. Say what? Quadragesimarian is one who observes Lent. It's too bad I don't fall into this category. I've thought about it multiple years, but every year I can't come to a conclusion on one thing to give up, so I give up thinking about it. Are you a quadragesimarian? How do you even say that word? What are you giving up?

R is for Rain because it looks like it might do just that outside. I'm thankful it doesn't rain inside. How weird would that be? And miserable.

S is for So Long, Insecurity because I think anyone breathing that is a female should read it. It is phenomenal. And I may or may not be insecure writing about the fact that I'm enjoying it so much. It's step-on-your-toes kind of good.

T is for The Beatles. Hey Jude is currently playing on my Pandora play list so this is all I've got for T. Oh, speaking of Jude, I'll get to see him soon. Sally is coming in town in ONE WEEK! Praise be!

U is for Unlikely. I thought it was unlikely that I would actually finish a post like this, but apparently, I'm almost done!

V is for Vision Conference. This weekend kicks off our Missions Week here at my church, and we're starting off with a conference just for our students. We're so excited to have George Murry, president of Columbia International University and Robbie Seay Band here with us for a small conference tomorrow. We're praying that the Lord would begin to work in our students hearts. We're not all called to go, but we are all called to go, give or pray and we're praying the students here clearly which part they are to play!

W is for Waiting. I'm in a season of waiting. As if you didn't already know that! Ha!

X is for Xerox because that's what I've been doing all morning. Xerox, cut, repeat.

Y is for YOU because you know what to do so let's Par-tay! Ha. That's the end of an old camp cheer. However, it really is for you, because I love YOU, my sweet, precious blog readers and friends. You make my world a much happier place.

Z is for Zipper. Isn't is embarrassing when your zipper is down? Unfortunately, this happened to me about two weeks ago, but thankfully, I was wearing a dress like shirt that covered up this unfortunate incident. Some people aren't always so lucky.

Happy Friday!

Tuesday Night Love

Seven years ago, Tuesdays quickly became one of my favorite days. It seems odd that Tuesday would hold such a high standard, because it's so close to Monday, however, seven years ago I was a Freshman in college and stayed home that first year to attend a local community college here.

It was that Fall that I attended my first Beth Moore Bible study. We re-taped Living Beyond Yourself that semester and from the first night I was hooked. Totally enamored and intrigued might be better terms to use. My mom had been attending the studies longer, and I knew she'd done a few Women's events at our church back in the day, so when she suggested I come with her, I figured why not?

I would consider myself a late bloomer due to the fact that although I grew up in church, I didn't claim my faith as my own until my Senior year of High School. So, being very new in my own pursuit of Christ, I knew I had nothing to loose by attending Bible study. And I wasn't wrong.

I'd never, in all my years in church, seen somebody teach with such passion and authority. Needless to say, it was contagious. So contagious, in fact, that I went home and devoured my homework. I did it at night because let's be honest, I had no interest in setting aside an hour each morning, but that worked really well for me. (Little known fact, I still do it at night. I have a different routine in the morning.) I knew I was really growing that year, because never in all my years of small group Bible study, had I ever finished one completely, and that year I finished Living Beyond Yourself. It still to this day continues to be my favorite study of all, I think it's just really special to me. It was a mature mark in my walk, if you know what I mean.

I so looked forward to Tuesday nights back then and since then, that still holds true.

The next semester we did When Godly People Do Ungodly Things. That was a tough one, but so incredibly good and eye opening.

I'm not gonna lie, there were many Tuesdays that I went to see Beth. For me, she so held my attention and captivated me. I wanted what she had, and frankly, people are drawn to her. Yes, I wanted to hear a Word, but I loved that she made me laugh and love Jesus all at the same time. I was smitten. I'm not sure that's not how God ordains things. As we are babies in our walk, He plants people in our path to point us to Himself. For me, Beth was that person. It was a few years later that I stopped depending on Beth and following her, but to truly follow Christ himself. Yes, I still hold Beth in high esteem, no doubt about it and she's still such a spiritual mentor to me, but I've matured with time, Praise the Lord.

I knew it would be hard for me to move the following Fall semester because I would no longer to be able to attend Bible study and I was so sad about that. Probably more so than anything else.

But isn't it just like God to send another Bible study in place of that one? Once I got plugged into a church in Huntsville, I immediately found myself volunteering at a Bible study called Truth. I was so hungry for a Word and didn't care who gave it. It was a sweet blessing that it just so happened that Afshin Ziafat took that place. And it was there that the Lord did some mighty work in that little heart of mine. Thankfully, Truth was on Tuesday nights. Still making it one of my favorite nights.

I wouldn't trade those 4 years of Truth for anything in the world. Yes, I always looked forward to breaks when I'd be able to go to Beth again, but I loved my little community there.

When I graduated I was just sick that I'd no longer be able to go to Truth, but then it dawned of me that I had Beth's Tuesday night Bible study to attend again. Oh, the excitement.

That first semester I came home we did Breaking Free. Since I was student teaching and was still technically a full time student, the homework overwhelmed me and I didn't even try it. I think if I did I wouldn't have followed through with it. However, Tuesday nights never disappointed, and it was the one night that seemed to relieve every piece of stress.

Then came LIT. Oh, can we just give Him some praise for that class? Still one of my all time favorites. So focused on studying God's Word, just for girls my age, and intimate at best. At the most they were only allowed to host 25o girls due to the fact that they were remodeling the main sanctuary. I will be forever grateful for that class. It was a mini-bible class, and I still use that information and to this day study that binder of notes at least weekly. To say that that class came at perfect timing is an understatement. I realize I'll probably never get that opportunity again, so I don't take it for granted one bit.

Of course after that we studied The Inheritance, then Revelation and now we're doing a Heart Like His.

And through all that, Tuesday nights have still continued to be my favorite nights.

The difference now and then are my intentions. Where as before I went to see Beth, now I go to hear a Word from my God. And when I go expecting to hear a Word from Him, He always comes through. Because He'll come through anyway, willing heart or not. Of course, I love me that sweet, little, petite Bible teacher and feel so privileged to sit under her teaching weekly, but I also love me some Jesus.

I also love the fact that my mom and I have gone together all these years. It's our little date. Our Tuesday routine has remained the same and I love that. We don't get there crazy early, nor do we sprint out of there, which I love. We work at the same pace and that's a blessing.

If we get there early enough, we save seats for our peeps, if not, Debra holds down the fort. I get to hug so many of my favorite people each Tuesday night, church, life and blog friends alike and that is thrilling. It's the best, actually.

I've been to a Living Proof Live event and I've been to Tuesday Night Bible study, and without a shadow of a doubt, I'd choose Bible study over an LPL event any time. LPL's are Bible study on steroids, and I love them to pieces, but I also love that I'm one of her home girls. There's just nothing like it. And I think we can that Jesus for that. He's the common bond between young and old, different denominations, statuses and everything else in between.

That, my friends, is why Tuesday nights will continue to be one of my very favorite nights of the week.

And it's nights like tonight that I'm reminded how extremely blessed I am. Thank you, Jesus, for Tuesday nights.

Here's a before scene shot of Bible study. The stage is ready, mom and I are in place, seats are saved and we're just waiting on the ladies. Soon, close to every seat will be filled.

Worship. It's as sweet as it looks.

Some of my favorite Bible study peeps. We're each other's seat savers. Everyone needs a peep like that.