changin'

I realized something the other day.

As I am becoming older (you should know that I'm only 1 year, 8 months and 27 days from being 25) and having more life experiences to look back on, my view on something is changing. Or should I say, changin', emphasis on the long A sound... that's right, say it with me, chaaaaaangin'.

Ok so here it is:

I am beginning to LOVE country music.

I know, I know.

What started out as just Faith Hill has grown to Tim McGraw, Lady Antebellum, Brad Paisley, Allison Krause, Nickelcreek, Zach Brown Band, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, and some Sugarland (when they are not singing about cheating on your spouse). Ahh... I can't believe the list is even that long!

And another confession, I created a Pandora station for my country music obsession and listened to it every morning while getting ready last week.

But don't worry, "Yeah" by Usher will always still be one of my favorite songs.

Take that and rewind it back!

tonight, I'm eating...

Ramen.

Not the cup-o-noodles kind; RAMEN noodles. The kind that you have to break up while it's still in the bag before you put in the microwave and then boil it in the microwave so that it burns your mouth at first bite.

Yes. Ramen.

So, why I am I telling you what I am eating at 10:13 at night?

Well, I'm eating them in honor of someone. It's funny, I actually don't remember the last time I had Ramen noodles. I never once bought them in college though many people talk about it likes it's a staple. So back to who I'm eating in honor of.

I can picture it in my mind right now: he gets his boiling bowl of Ramen noodles out of the microwave, walks slllllooowllly from the kitchen to the living room, puts them on the carpet and proceeds to lay down on his stomach while eating Ramen and watching ESPN. This was something that happened many times.

But tonight I can't watch him do his "Ramen Ritual". You see, a few months back, Caleb told us that he was joining the Marines. It is something I wasn't too surprised about, but the reality of it was not something I like/liked to think about.

So the departure date drew closer and I pushed the reality away even more. And then his recruiter decided to change his leave date for boot camp, oh, about 20 times. Every time they changed it, it gave us more time. Then they changed it to January 11 and this time he really had to leave.

I've been thinking about him since I said goodbye to him on Sunday. He'll come to mind or I'll get ready to send him a text to tell him something and then I'll remember that he is at boot camp. And then I pray. It's hard not knowing how he's handling it all and it makes me mad to think about someone yelling at him (that's the big sister in me). But, then I think about how this is something that the Lord led him to do, so really, all is right.

So Caleb, while you are running your butt off, taking freezing cold showers, getting yelled at and doing more push-ups than you can count, I am thinking and praying for you. And so are many more people.

I am proud of you and I love you.

Now, "get da' peanuut butta oudda ya eahhs. Heauuuuuuuuh!"

sweet dreams...

happy 2010!

A new year has already arrived! Time seems to be going by so quickly, especially this last year and a half. It seems so easy, almost unavoidable, the way that time gets away from me. As I was thinking about this today it reminded me of some verses in James that I've been thinking on:

James 4 says:

⁷Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

¹³Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." ¹⁴Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Like James said, I don't know what is going to happen tomorrow. I do know that if my focus is where it needs to be, on the Lord, then He will be there. What better place is there to be in 2010? I look forward to seeing what He has planned for 201o.

As for New Year's Resolutions: I am resolving to be more determined and dedicated. This is a blanket resolution that applies to many areas of my life.

Determination. Dedication. This is going to be a great year!

who would have thought it would be today...

It all started back in May.

May 23 to be exact.

I was heading out the door for a wedding in Stone Mountain while the rest of the family was staying home and grilling out for Ruthie's graduation. We had a baby shower for Jessie that morning, so babies were on our mind. So as I walked out the door, AB offered to help me carry my overnight bag.

We got to the car and she said something to the affect of, "I wanted you to know that we are going to tell the family today that we are having a baby!"

Oh. Ama. Gahh.

AB & J were going to be parents! And I had to miss the family announcement! After debating on whether or not to go to the wedding (yes, being there for the announcement was THAT important), I decided to head to Atlanta. I thought about this little baby all night.

7 LONNNNG months (and 6 days) go by and here we are.

Last night after having coffee with the girls, I couldn't sleep and normally, coffee doesn't keep me awake. Strange. I finally went to bed around 1 a.m. only to wake up several times in the middle of the night. I was so frustrated thinking about having to get up by 6:30 and here I was wide awake. Well, 6:48 rolled around and my snooze alarm was going off. I debated sleeping for ten more minutes, but decided to go ahead and get up so I could pick up a coffee at Starbucks on the way in to work. Give me a little pep in my step, you know?

For some reason, I finished getting ready really fast this morning and headed out the door. I pulled into Starbucks about 20 minutes later, decided it was a Triple Venti kind of morning, drove around to the window to pay and got ready to pick up my morning BOOST.

And then my phone rang. I saw that it was my Mom.

Now this is a pretty normal occurrence for her to call me in the mornings. Sometimes she checks to make sure I am up and haven't slept an hour past my alarm (which I frequently do) or to remind me of something going on at the house later that day. I answered the car speaker phone as I gave my money to the barista and I heard Mom say, "AB is at the hospital and she is already dilated 4 and a half centimeters!"

Hold. The. Phones.

"AB is not scheduled to deliver little Cotton until January 13th, two weeks from today," I thought to myself. But Mom reassured me that we were going to get to meet Cotton two weeks early!

So I rushed to work, sat in the parking lot for 2.5 seconds, then decided I would go on to the hospital. Luckily, my boss was very understanding!

I sped all the way down Vineville and then onto 75 and finally to 16. Thoughts were flooding my head about this little babe that was soon to enter our world. I was the first one to get to the hospital and walked in to find Joel near the waiting room. He told me that she was progressing pretty quickly and that they were doing the epidural as we spoke.

He eventually went back to be with AB and I sat in the waiting room texting, calling and emailing any one who would listen.

Later family and friends began to arrive. After spending about 3 hours in the waiting room with all of them, we got the word that she had reached 9 centimeters but were going to go ahead with a c-section. As we stood in a circle as family, we joined hands and lifted up in prayer our sweet AB and the little one that they were about to deliver. A sweet memory that I'll always remember.

A few minutes went by and Ruthie, Madie and I decided to take some pictures on our computer to document Cotton's birthday. As we were taking the first, someone else in the waiting room told us that they had just brought a baby to the delivery room and that the Dad was with the baby. I jumped out of my seat and RAN to that nursery in my skirt and 3.5 inch heels. (praise the Lord I didn't bust it!)

And there HE was. Little Cotton. The baby that I had felt move around in AB's tummy for all those months. Little Cotton was a BOY. Joel came out shortly after and made the announcement that our little babe that we had called Cotton for the past 6 months was named Kale Bryant Sizemore.

BLESS. I love this little boy, Kale.

So today was yet another special day for our family even though some couldn't make it or are on another continent right now.

Our family went from 16 to 17.

December 30, 2009. Two weeks earlier than we expected.

We as a family are so blessed.

a picture of His love

Tonight I had coffee with two sweet friends that I grew up with.

I feel right now that the three of us are all in very different parts of life due to different zip codes, the relationships we are (or aren't) in, careers, plans for the future, etc.

But the thing I love about these two girls is that we can still have sweet, meaningful fellowship regardless of where each other are. We can rejoice with one another when one talks about wedding plans that are being made, we can relate to each other when we find out we are taking the same medicine and we can encourage each other in faith and in love. I know, I know... it's the small things.

For these friendships, I am grateful; they give me a glimpse (a very small glimpse) of what Christ love is like for us.

Incredible.

Virginia Highlands 5K

I ran. I walked. I finished (slowly).