Giving Thanksgiving at Christmas

Tomorrow I will be grateful for: a half day at work & being reunited with friends from camp life.

Saturday morning I will [try to] be grateful for: legs and a friend that help me complete another 5k.

Saturday afternoon I will be grateful for: all of my family gathering and celebrating Christmas.

the evidence of things not seen.

I am racking my brains trying to remember where it was that I read this... I might have even posted this before - but it is so convicting and applicable [to me] that I think it's worth a re-post.

"It would be awesome if you went to your mailbox or checked your e-mail or found a message in a bottle the day after you were saved and found a detailed, 39-page timeline that described the rest of your life. You would be so excited to find out the answer to every question you had about your life — where you’d go to school, where you’d live, what your job would be, whom you’d marry and how many kids you'd have. Everything you needed to know would be nicely and neatly presented in one document. It would be a great message to get.

This is what we often want. We crave a nice package in which God explains everything to us. But the truth is that God doesn’t work that way. If He did, we wouldn’t need faith.

God calls us to step into the unknown so that we can find Him standing right there. He wants us to come to Him in faith. He wants our belief in Him to move us into the unknown. He wants us to act so that we can learn to trust Him more and more."

Humbled.

Reindeer Fail

I keep reminding myself it was for a good cause... for the Children's Hospital of Macon.

But that does NOT erase my time that will forever be on the back of the tile I created today.

Some people like to call it the 2009 Reindeer Run & Santa Stroll. After today, I like to call it my "Reindeer Fail". When Jill, Mark and I drove through Mercer's campus last night and caught a brief glimpse of part of the course I knew I was in trouble. T-R-O-U-B-L-E. I saw hills. And I dislike hills (unless I am in a car or another MOTORIZED vehicle). Oh and last night as we were walking around, it was a cool 50 degrees and we were freezing our butts off with layers on! The forecast for this morning was predicting 43 degrees with a chance of rain.

Awe-ome.

But we did sign up for the race so we would complete it, although I have to admit there was some talk of backing out of the race... I mean we had still made a donation, who cares if we didn't run? But we did. So last night during dinner in downtown Macon, we realized we had some work to do to uphold the idea that we created back in September... the Triple T Tradition. (you like that, Jill?).

So tie-dye... we didn't have ANYTHING tie-dye that would keep us remotely warm and after a trip to Academy that ended probably 20 minutes later... we forgot about the tie-dye tradition... maybe next time.

After heading to Kroger to pick up some things for this a.m., we came back to my house with plans to watch Run Fat Boy Run again. FAIL. I crawled into bed feeling like I had taken a dose of Nyquil (maybe from the "carb-loading" we had done at Luigi's?) and Jill, well she will have to tell you how she felt. But it wasn't good! Luckily, RFBR was not one of the traditions so we were just 0-1 and not 0-2 for. Whew.

Then came our song... or "Tong" as we like to say. Well, at about 8:10 when we arrived for the race, this of course after crawling out of bed 25 minutes after our alarm clock did NOT go off, hurrying to get to the race on time, stepping out into the FREEZING wind, we decided our song, or excuse me, t-onggg, would be CRAZY by Gnarls Barkley. While Mark said it was a terrible running song, we did not care. The title perfectly summed up the emotions Jill and I felt about running at the moment.

So after waiting around for the race to start, seeing some awesome and awesome costumes (see below) and contemplating pouring the vat of hot coffee all over my freezing legs, the man called our attention and began the race... and we're off.

Uphill.

The 1/4 mile was UPHILL. What the heck.

And the hills did not end. While they were not major hills, they were consistent on the course. And I hate to admit - I walked some of the race. I am embarrassed. Normally my goal is just to at least jog REALLLLLLY SLOWWWLLLY, but I couldn't even do that. So I power walked like a soccer mom. And at that point, I think my walk was faster than my "run" could have been anyways. hahaa... that's pitiful.

Towards the end, I realized where I was and about how much further I had to go and luckily it was DOWNhill. Praise the Lord. I got close enough to the clock and it said 33:40. And I was going to force myself to get to the mat before that minute rolled over. I ended up with 33:57 (GAG).

So with my loser red-faced head hanging high, we grabbed some drinks, ran to the one stall bathroom and then headed to Panera for a bagel and Starbucks for a coffee. After walking into Starbucks, two women saw my and Jill's 5k shirts, and one said, "We just did it too - our first 5k!" She was so excited, which made me start to think about how excited I would be if I challenged myself with say a 10k and completed it? Crazy talk right now, but I'll do it.

We finished up breakfast and called the pottery place where we complete the tiles. Little did we know today was going to be ALOT different then our last calming visit.

We walked in to see about 6 or 7 people in the store. Not bad for a Saturday morning.

But then we found out that there was going to be a birthday party. Of five year olds. 18 to be exact. And with each 18 - 5 year old, there accompanied 2 parents. That makes for alot of people, paint and pandemonium (I was going to say noise but I like the 3 P's better.)

So here we are, two girls who like their tiles to be just right, so we get a gameplan and then go snag every color we are going to need for the next two hours because we know if we don't get it now, it will be gone FOR-EEEE-VVVVERRRR.

And we got to work. About an hour into it, another family came in and sat at the table next to us. Apparently this was their first time because the dad that talked like he was from Souuuuuth Jorrrrrrjjjahhh (complete with his camoflouge collared shirt) was giving instructions (LOUDLY) to the little angels (sarcasm) on how to paint.

Although there were some bumps and distractions on the road of our tile painting, we finished and after many failed attempts at taking pictures of our self with the tiles, we asked the lady at the counter to help us out.

So there you have it. My Reindeer Run 2009 experience. Have you ever run a 5k? How did you do? Any tips for novices like me?

*edit: I just looked at race results and I was wrong! I actually completed in 33:41. Every second counts.

Life is short...

but sweet for certain.

I heard this little phrase when I was in college and it has stuck with me since then. You see, I am pretty good at making whatever situation I am in as good as it can be.

But there are moments and days when I can't.

These past few months have felt like that. While there have been good days and good memories - at the end of it all, there is always something looming over. I begin to feel dishonest when people ask how things are. But what else is there to say?

It's hard knowing if things will ever turn around.

Sometimes, I wonder.

weekend-schmeekend...

This past week all seems like a blur right now.

I spent Sunday-Tuesday sleeping, sneezing, headache-ing, and way too much time on the computer. Luckily during my stay at home from work, basketball season officially started (YES!), so I was able to watch a few games, that is when my head didn't feel like it was going to explode or when my teeth didn't feel like thet were going to fall out all due to a little thing I like to call sinus pressure. G-ROSS.

The rest of the week at work was spent playing catch up, completing a mail out and working on moves I had coming in. Needless to say, it was good to be back in the office and a busy three days! And then I remembered I get two more days off this coming week for Thanksgiving, SCORE! (side note: how is Thanksgiving already here?!)

My old high school alma-mater was having their annual Tip-Off tournament this weekend so I went to a few of the games over the weekend. It's crazy and bizarre to think that the last time I leading cheers on the sidelines was almost 6 years ago! I kept thinking about all the tournaments we went to and all the close friendships shared with people I had basically grown up with. Luckily I was able to see and will be seeing some of those people over the holidays.

Like my monogrammed jacket? =)

Yesterday, I attended the wedding of a sweet friend from college, Katie B! I met Katie B my senior year of college and although we didn't spend much time together, we connected. We worked together on a team at the campus ministry I was involved in and I always appreciated her level-headed-ness, wisdom, encouragement and friendship. She is truly a unique person and I cherish the friendship we share! Her wedding was so beautiful and reminded me alot of my sister's weddings. You see, as a daughter of a pastor (Katie B is one too), they all were walked down the aisle by Dad, and then after giving them away, he turned around and performed their ceremonies. Their is something so candid, intimate, honest and emotional about these services. I couldn't help but cry thinking about the one day that I will have the privilege to be walked down the aisle, be given away and then married by my father. The rest of the ceremony was so classic and Christ honoring, just like the bride that got married. Congrats, dear friend!

very blurry... but that's my friend, Katie B!

If the wedding wasn't enough on my emotions, I got a text from Dad saying that some of the family was going to see The Blindside shortly after I was to get home. Great, I just got done crying and I'm going to see a movie that's previews alone make me cry! The movie was (as I was expecting) won.der.ful. So inspiring, convicting, heart warming, sad but ultimately good. Parts of it reminded me of the mission trips that I took in college. We would go to under-priviliged neighborhoods or spend time with children whose parents weren't around. All these thoughts and memories made me wonder why I limit myself to doing those things only on mission trips. There are SO many places where I live that I'm sure need volunteers to do things. I am glad to have that burden on my heart again. Hopefully, I will do something about it and not just be a sentence on my blog.

playing capture the flag on one of the mission trips. good memories.

Today, I, like every other girl under the age of 17, went to see New Moon. I have decided that I am going to start reading the books. If you don't hear from me for a while, it's because I've decided to become a vampire. Team Edward... all the way! (I can't believe I am saying these things, but trust me... they are so good!)

so THAT, in a-round-about-sort-of-way, was my weekend. minus church... more on church later.

vampires and church should not be in the same post=)

"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy,

the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."

- C.S. Lewis

trick or treat.

first for the treats...

Halloween.

A holiday that I do not really remember participating in until high school, maybe even college. I remember dressing up as a black eyed pea when I was a little. No, not one of these Black Eyed Peas...

No, my mom, for those of you who know her, likes to be funny, "pun-ny" if you will. So we would get a black eye drawn on with a P tacked to our shirt. Hilarious. Orrrrrr embarrassing. I now appreciate her humor more, I just don't appreciate her making me look like this fruitcake.

So since I have started celebrating Halloween (and by celebrating I mean dressing up) I have tried to make up for lost time.

Halloween is a very big at the retirement community I work at. We have a big breakfast for the residents which is followed up by skits from different departments at work. Our group decided to act out the song Monster Mash and dress up as classic halloween characters. Ghoul here. Witch there. I decided I would be a mummy. And this is how it turned out.

I think I did a good job considering one of my friends was scared to look at

my facebook page for the two days I had it posted.

Since Halloween fell on a Saturday that meant I got to dress up two times! Well, I got really lazy on Saturday and didn't feel like pulling my idea of a costume together so I thought I wouldn't dress up. Luckily, I still have about 6 cheerleading uniforms in my closet so I revisited them for the first time since I graduated high school 5 and a half years ago! And it was actually kind of fun, except for the fact that my uniform didn't fit like it used to. But let's not focus on the negative, CHEERLEADERS ARE POSITIVE!

So we took Eth and Ave throughout the neighborhood knocking on doors and ringing door bells in exchange for candies. I honestly think everyone loved them the most... I mean honestly, how often do you see a 3 year old with a wig that is the size of her body? Or a little 3 and a half foot Darth Vader running around? One woman even asked if she could take a picture to remember these sweet little humans. And I do not blame her. I love them.

Darth and Ariel.

now for tricks...

Yesterday we had lunch with a group from our church. We went to a Thai restaurant and I ordered sushi. When my sushi came out, Jessie was telling how she one time thought the wasabi was actually avocado and had spread it all over her food. We were laughing about that and Teddy, my dear brother-in-law, said that I wouldn't eat the wasabi that was presented on my plate. For some reason, when I am dared to do certain things, I feel like I have to do them. Does anyone remember summer 2006 and my sabbatical from showering? Well based off of the result of that dare -MRSA/Staph Infection, not to mention, probably less friends- I should have known better than to take Teddy up on his dare. Butttt I didn't know better. So I did.

And.

I.

Almost.

Died.

tiny little wasabi. not so bad...

ok. yes it was. i am cryingggg.

So for future references, be wise in dares that you choose. Or you will have heartburn for the next 36 hours!

xoxo, friends!