just for fun

I am: A wife, a sister, an employee, a manager, a daughter of Earthy parents and a child of a Heavenly Father, a Coffee lover, and friend.
I think: that Florida is such a funny place- you never know what you are going to get with the people here because they are from all over the US.
I know: too little about things that matter
I want: to be a mom
I wish: I would know the right decisions to make
I hate: avocado, garbanzos, and uncooked onions
I miss: my Hams, my friends who live far away, and my family
I fear: birds
I feel: cold and hungry
I hear: nothing but the air conditioner
I smell: the citrus air freshener
I crave: chips and salty things like everyday!
I search: new blogs and spy on people who don't know that I read theirs
I regret: a lot of things, but press on to make good decisions
I love: Jesus (and Slim, the Dude, family and friends)
I ache: for Africa
I care: too much about things that don't matter
I always: count things
I am not: happy with how messy my car is right now
I believe: that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior who died on the cross to bring glory to His Father and rose again to offer his gift of salvation
I sing: all the time, but not in the shower
I cry: a lot, but am trying to only cry over things that matter
I fight: or try to with Slim, but he always makes me laugh and I can't be mad at him
I write: messages on Facebook, quite often
I win: a lot at ping pong
I lose: my phone in my purse everyday... it is a big purse
I never: like being home without Slim being there
I confuse: Slim- sometimes I think he thinks that I am crazy
I listen: to my mom's voice over and over in my head.."bridges ice first" "always send thank you cards" "is your seat belt buckled?"
I can usually be found: at work or in my car
I am scared: of birds... didn't I answer this one already?
I need: a cleaning lady, or a cleaning partner, someone to do it with me
I am happy about: the fact that Heather and Jacob are coming to visit tomorrow
I hope: to become a mom soon
I am tagging: Carly, Heather, Brandi, and Ashley Danielle

precious little 'freedom flower'

Carly and Kev will be having a little girl!!!

We found out yesterday at a 4D ultrasound. It was such a great experience, making me even more excited for when Slim and I are in their shoes.

Here are some pics from yesterday...


Liberty Rose aka Libby will be here with us in person at the beginning of September! HOORAY!

1 week away

from a visit from these lovelies!
Heather, Nathan, and Sydney!
Jacob and a raccoon who won't be making the trip.
and another cute one of Sydney, just because!!!

exhausted

... I am, and it is only Tuesday, afternoon.

Slim and I visited Orlando, this past weekend and had a wonderful time celebrating my dad's birthday! He is such a great man, and we really love being able to be together as a family.

We went to Maggiano's, and we at soooo much delicious food! This was my second time eating there, but the first was in Nashville. We don't have one in SW Florida, but I am hoping it comes pretty soon!

We had 'family style' dinner: 2 appetizers, 2 salads, 2 pastas, 2 entrees, and 2 desserts. I know that makes it seem not that much, because 6 people were eating off of those, but the servings were enormous, and they brought you as much of it as you want.

We started with Zucchini Fritte, Spinach and Artichoke dip, Caesar salad, and Chopped Salad. (The Zucchini was my favorite)

Then they brought us lasagna, Rigatoni D, Chicken Parmesan, and Chicken Saltimbocca. (Rigatoni D was maybe the best tasting pasta dish I had ever eaten, besides of course my mom's)

For dessert we had their special which was a chocolate cake with an orange liquor creme filling, along with their homemade profiteroles (basically cream puffs minus the cream, plus ice cream).

Let me just say, if you have Maggiano's where you live, give it a try, you won't be disappointed!

Red Letters- chapter 1 (starting this week)

Our Thursday morning girls study is starting Red Letters this week. If you would like to read it along with us, we would love to have you.

You can read the first chapter online (but then you will have to buy your own)

http://tomdavis.typepad.com/tom_daviss_blog/

I will follow up each week with some of our thoughts on the topic. I read chapter one. It is awesome. Here is just a tidbit of goodness out of it-- "What is we offered the hungry something to eat, gave one of our many coats to someone who was cold, and truly loved all our neighbors as ourselves? How radically different would our lives be? How different would our world be if Christians were really living as little Christs?"

Radiance

This past weekend, while we were in OH, we finally got to hear Jessica speak at the Supernova Ministries Conference.

It was pretty much a surreal moment for me. It was so strange to hear someone who I grew up with and know very well communicate like that. If I were to have closed my eyes, I might have thought I was listening to Beth Moore, or someone else who had been doing this for many years. I was so impressed.

Jess spoke about being a 'Radiant Light'.

The first session was called "Radiant Legacy." During this hour, she spoke about recognizing and overcoming generational curses. It was an amazing time of seeing women freed from many years of living under the detriment of what people say that you should struggle with because of what people have spoken over your life. I think that Jess definitely summed it up when she said, "It doesn't matter what family line you come from, because you came from HIM!"

On Saturday morning, she spoke on "Radiant Joy". She used the verses 2 Peter 1:3-4. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness... Basically the concept was that He has given us everything, so if we don't have joy, it is because we have done something with it. We give our joy away over stupid things- We need to claim it when we are starting to get discouraged about things.

Saturday afternoon was the culmination of our time at the conference, and Jess covered the topic of "Radiant Light". I loved the way that she dealt with this idea. She said that every part of her wanted this to just be a fluffy session where we can just focus on the facts that we are lights for Christ. God had something different in mind. She had to discuss the fact that our radiant light won't shine if we are casting shadows or having shadows cast over us. Basically, the words we say to people and the poor feelings that we have toward them make it so that they cannot fully shine in the way that God intended them. Then she moved on to the point that when light is shining, things are brought out of darkness!

It was an incredible conference, and I am so proud of Jess for her heart and commitment to make it happen.

The rest of the weekend was also a blast. We got to spend a lot of time with the guys from the band, and really enjoyed ourselves, and this time it didn't even snow!!!

stay tuned...

... to hear about a great weekend with these lovely people!

Sometimes I am a jerk... I know- hard to believe! :)

Last night I was having a bad attitude... Slim had invited some people over for dinner. They needed some positive influences in their lives, and I knew that it was the right thing to do, but I was just not in the mood. It caused some tension between Slim and me, because I was just being selfish with my time.

Of course they came over and everything was fine. Slim was able to speak some great truth into their lives, and they were blessed by their time with us. I am not really sure why I can be such a pain in the neck sometimes, but God is not finished with me yet.

I pray that I can be more of who God wants me to be, and less of my fleshly old self. That Laura is really an ugly one.

outdid herself again

My sweet friend Ashley Danielle has done it again...

She is amazing, folks.


This past week, she photographed two of my best friends, who happen to be sisters. They are very dear to Slim and me, and were in our wedding! Tara was getting her senior pictures taken, and Tessa tagged along for the shoot. She got some with her, too. Aren't they gorgeous?!?!?! (both the girls and the pictures)






If anyone needs any photography done, let me know and I will get you in touch with her!

THE BEST FIND!

Bought this yesterday and I may be the happiest camper ever.

YOU HAVE TO TRY IT. The taste of cool whip but it looks so much prettier when you use it on desserts! I bought the light variety which of course tasted delicious. Just thought that you might like to know.