What I’m Dealing with Today…

UGH.

 

Yes...that's my car. Yes...that's a tow truck.

UGH.

 

Old School :: 1

Back on this post, Katie said, “i think it would be cool if you posted a picture from when you were a kid and maybe told a story to go along with it…”

Well…the selection of “old school” pictures on my laptop are lacking.

But…I did find one.

Dad and His Girls

I can tell you that this original picture is actually a Polaroid. How vintage. I scanned it a couple of years ago for a Father’s Day present. The picture was taken at our church, in the fellowship hall. Assuming it was around Valentine’s Day 1987, my sister would have been 6 years old and I would have been 8 years old. Fun, huh?

I’ll have to find some more “Old School” pictures to share. I know there are plennnnty out there!

Happy Weekend!

Etsy Shops :: 3

Another installment of some of my favorite Etsy shops. Finding a shop you love? “Heart” it on Etsy.

• Bird’s Eye View: This shop’s owner, Kim, is another friend of a friend. Her tags are so cute and would be awesome for personalizing any gift. She’s beginning to add Christmas tags…go take a look. You’re sure to find something you love.
• Lusicious: The shirts and onesies in this shop are so incredibly adorable. They are so unique and I am exercising extreme self control by not buying one of each style for my new little niece, Cadence. I have never seen anything like them. Love them. All of them.
• Snappy Shop: I just found this shop last week and the aprons she creates are so stinkin’ cute. They look like something you’d find in a store like Anthropologie. So so fun.

Bird's Eye View

Luscious

Snappy Shop

Etsy Shops :: 2

Here are a few more of my favorite Etsy shops. Don’t forget…this year, consider buying handmade!

• Autumn & Everything After: My friend, Kasey, makes these unique banners for birthdays and holidays. She loves custom orders, too, and makes neat name banners. They are the perfect addition to any holiday or party decor.
• Gongy & Squish: I remember “hearting” this shop early in our early Etsy days. Later on, I found out the creations were those of Kelley, a friend of my friend Cathleen. Knowing this made me “heart” her stuff even more. I love seeing what she’s going to come up with next and I’m looking forward to meeting her next month!
• Little Bit Funky: I don’t even know how I stumbled upon this shop, but it’s so fun. It looks like she’s making way for some new items because everything in her shop is 50% off through this weekend. So, there you go…click on over there now and grab a gift or two for a super deal! (No…no one is paying me to say this!)

(Oh, and thanks Katie& Cheryl for great ideas for future posts. I’ll work on those. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Check out this post.)

Autumn & Everything After

Gongy & Squish

Little Bit Funky

Something to Blog About…Etsy Shops :: 1

I’ve come up with something to blog about.

I decided that I would share some of my favorite Etsy shops over the next few days. Christmas is coming, and buying handmade is the thing to do this year. “Made-by-machines-in-China” is so last year. So…as you start making your shopping list this year, check it twice and find a fun, handmade gift over on Etsy.

First of all, I know there are many people who still haven’t visited Etsy (www.etsy.com) or who wonder what it is. Etsy is an online marketplace where you can buy and sell items that are handmade, as well as vintage goods and crafting supplies. The Etsy community spans the globe with buyers and sellers coming from more than 150 countries. Etsy sellers number in the hundreds of thousands.

I thought I’d share some of my favorite shops with you–in no particular order.

• hope ink: This shop features Scripture art and design. I think they are so neat, and if I had a home of my own with walls to decorate, I would love to purchase one! She also does custom gifts for babies, kids or weddings. Love it.
• isabellaboo: My college roommate, Lisa, runs this great shop. She makes adorable custom shirts and onesies. Her new Christmas collection is so cute, too! These make great gifts and they would be perfect for family photos.
• triple C designs: These great journals and altered books are hand-crafted by my friend, Cathleen. I own one of her journals and have purchased a few as gifts. The recipients have been so excited to get a personalized journal made just for them. It’s such a unique, one-of-a-kind gift.

hope ink

isabellaboo

triple C designs

The Floor Is Yours

Sitting here tonight…
thinking about what I can blog about…
coming up with not-so-much.

So…the floor is yours.

Anything you want to ask?
Questions for or about me?
Inquiries about anything I’ve said on this blog?
Topics to discuss?
Snide remarks?

I’ll take it all. Bring it on.

Give me something to “talk” about.

365 Days…and Counting.

So…I wanted to write this post a couple of weeks ago, but it just hasn’t been feasible. Warning: it’s a tad long.

It’s been a little more than 365 days ago now that I officially made the move from West Palm Beach back “Home” (Central Florida). Because I feel that I’ve learned so much and experienced so much in the past year, I wanted to take a little bit of time to reflect on where I’ve been and where God’s brought me (literally and figuratively).

October 17, 2008 marked the beginning of this part of my journey. And the following are random lessons learned and experiences had that may not have been possible at this time in my life if I hadn’t listened to God’s quiet voice saying, “It’s time to go ‘home’ now.”

In the last year, I have…

• Had the opportunity to live life on a daily basis with my sister, brother-in-law and nephew for about nine months. And, now have the opportunity to live with two of my best friends.
• Been able to visit my parents without tons of planning and preparation. One hour drives are much easier to make at the last minute than three hour drives.
• Learned to trust God for the “simplest” of provisions…namely, a roof over my head and food to eat.
• Learned to make difficult decisions that defy my human understanding, but that honor God.
• Come to firmly believe that I have all that I need through my relationship with God in Jesus. No amount of friends, mentors, money or alleged circumstantial stability can provide what I need.
• Become a little entrepreneur, launching Two Florida Girls with my sister and doing odd freelance jobs for various non-profit and ministry organizations. I never thought the word “entrepreneur” and my name could ever be in the same sentence!
• Finished my Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership from Palm Beach Atlantic University and joined the first-ever Orlando Campus cohort, meeting 7 incredible leaders who I now call friends.
• Learned (over and over and over again…and then some more…and do you see a theme here? Think God might be trying to help me grasp something?!) about the process of transition and change at a time that it was most applicable to my life. Thanks, Moses. Thanks, Israelites. Thanks, Dr. Holder.
• Taken steps so far outside of my comfort zone, just because God asked me to.
• Seen God provide me with more than I can begin to lay claim to. Without gainful employment for a year, I’m not sure how I still have a cell phone, health insurance, car insurance and gas money. Praise God for His provision!
• Begun to accept and recognize God’s moving in my circumstances…even when I don’t understand. Even when I thought I “needed” a certain job or position.
• Been available for my family at a time where it has been most needed…because I accepted God’s moving of my circumstances.
• Been able to attend Bible Study Fellowship with Kati, Paul and now, Cadence. What a blessing!
• Found new opportunities to serve. My favorite is my weekly position in Guest Services at Give Kids The World.
• Experienced the early moments of Cadence’s life, and been able to watch her grow so much already.
• Been able to spoil Paul and Cadence even more than I could have from three hours away!
• Completed my first 5K and am signed up for number 2 in December!
• Realized that I do have multiple “jobs”…I’m just not being paid monetarily for all of them.
• Truly begun to live and understand one of my favorite quotes…”Jesus never measured His life by how or where He was of the greatest use. God places His saints where they will bring the most glory to Him, and we are totally incapable of judging where that may be.” -Oswald Chambers

Sorry…I told you it was long. And, that’s not even all of it…just the highlights!

But, praise God that He continues to work in my life and the lives of those closest to me. I can honestly say, the last year hasn’t been easy and there’s still more adjusting and settling to be done, but I know that God is faithful. He is good. His plan is perfect. And, He knows what He’s doing.

Thanks for reading.

More Pictures from the Tower of Terror 5K

Me and Rachel.

At about 1.25 miles.

We did it! Pam named us "Team Jitters" because we were so nervous before the race.

My official results.

Tower of Terror 5K — We Did It!

Well, my first 5K has come and gone! In some ways, I still can’t believe we did it! My official time was 32:16. Although my goal was to finish in 30 minuets, I am satisfied with  my results. After all, it was my first 5K and I certainly don’t consider myself a “runner.”

Here’s how our Saturday went down…

11:30am: I met Matt, Kasey, Rachel, Mark and Pam at the Wide World of Sports to pick up our packets. Things went smoothly, with one little bump in the road. Sweet Rachel left her photo ID in West Palm Beach. Thank to iPhones and quick-thinking minds, her Facebook profile page satisfied the photo ID necessity! Crisis averted.

We're official!

2:00pm: We checked out Yellow Dog Eats in Gotha for a pre-race lunch. What a great place! And such delicious food. If you live in the Orlando area and have never been, you should check it out. I’ve decided it’s the “local hot spot” to take all visiting out-of-towners from now on.

Pre-Race Lunch!

After lunch: We did some quick grocery shopping for dinner and then went back to the Ainsley’s to rest. Naps were supposed to be in order, but that didn’t really happen. No one could sleep. We just hung out, watched football and then started to get everything ready for the race.

Figuring out the "D Tags."

6:30pm: Kasey made a great pre-race dinner. Our friend from church, Anastasia, joined us for dinner and then we got everything all set to go. We left for the race around 8:00pm.

Pre-Race Dinner.

The 5K: The race started with a countdown and fireworks at 10:15pm. The beginning was kind of hard because of all the people. Somehow there were walkers mixed in at the beginning and also some kids. Maneuvering around everyone was difficult.

A little more than the first mile was outside of the park. I made it to the first mile marker at about 10 minutes, 30 seconds. When I saw that time, I had big hopes of finishing in 30 minutes. I picked up the pace a little, but I don’t think that lasted too long. I saw our faithful fan club (and official photographers) Mark and Pam cheering us on right inside the park gates. We ran through the center of the park, around the Muppet show and then back through the Lights Motor Action stunt show stage. We were disappointed because there wasn’t much music throughout the park and none of us brought our iPods.

The third mile seemed to last forever. Having not run the course before it was hard to gauge where you were at in relation to the finish. The last half mile had several little hills (killer!) and I was losing steam. Rachel came up behind me, coaching me through the hills. I was so ready to be done. When I saw the third mile marker and my time was at 31 minutes, I decided to walk. I was a little mad at myself for walking, but I just needed about 30 seconds to catch my breath. Right about then, we turned a corner and there was the finish line. I really kicked it into high gear then! And…I crossed the finish line at 32:16! Rachel, Kasey, Jenny and I finished together. Matt and Anastasia finished a couple minutes before us. We got our fun medals and then took some pictures.

Ready to go!

We did it!

After the race, we rode Toy Story twice. We also did Muppet Vision 3D, Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller Coaster. There was hardly any wait for Toy Story, and we didn’t wait any longer than 15 minutes for any other ride.

I am proud of myself (and everyone else) for doing the race and finishing. Matt’s ready to make the next goal a 10K, but I’d like to try another 5K first. More pictures to come…

Had To Share This

My friend Shanel sent me this and I just had to share it. It’s hilarious. And my Dad is right…anyone who teaches time management classes needs to open with this little cartoon. It’s perfect.