Birthday wishes, hugs and kisses

Birthday wishes go out to my friends Susan (yesterday) and Alisa (today). Susan turned 30; I'll refrain from reporting Alisa's age.

They're both amazing, wonderful Godly women. Happy birthday, ladies! Here's to a fabulous year.

Happy birthday, Alisa!

Just wanted a wish a super happy birthday to one of my oldest and dearest friends. Hope you had a great one!

And congrats to the new Miss America, Katie Stam (yeah, I called it this afternoon, just ask DeWood). Miss Arkansas made the top 12 and looked gorgeous! All those skinny bodies makes me want to walk more miles on the treadmill.

Fillings... whoa, whoa, whoa

After my brief hiatus in bed with a sinus infection (which I won't detail... you're welcome), I went back to the office today. For about an hour.

I had the first of my many trips to the dentist this year to the tune of two and a half hours and 284 bucks. (Yes, I have dental insurance... that was my 20%). Granted, my jaw still hurts from all the tugging and prodding and holding open, but my teeth do look better. My new white fillings are fab, and I can't wait to get my new porcelain crown. One section done... three to go! I'm really happy with my new dentist, but his assistant his about as gentle as a Nazi prison guard.

And since I'm wearing a temporary crown for the next couple of weeks, I'm supposed to avoid food that's sticky and crunchy. Yeah, that'll happen.

This afternoon I made my maiden voyage to Mama Fu's for a lunch meeting. The food was tasty (think Pei Wei), but my shrimp noodles were so spicy that I drank 12 diet cokes. Seriously. I was waiting for the waitress to ask me if she could just run the line from the soda fountain right into my mouth. I had to stop and go to the bathroom between Bentonville and Rogers. And trust me, non-NWA'ers, that's not very far.

That's all. My life is ridiculously dull, but some of you complain when I don't tell you what's going on. Nada.

But, it is a very special day because it's my pal Susan's birthday. Happy birthday! Come back from Texas.

An officer and a cheeseball

My pal Susan tagged me in her blog to post a pic, so here you go. I was supposed to open up a photo file and upload the fourth pic in there, and this was it. So here's a pic of me and Andy Baldwin at Pearl Harbor. He was pretty.

Sunday/Monday recap

Ok, this is about the cutest thing EVER! My grandmother and I stopped to visit Parker and Emma (and Larry and Ashley) last night after dinner. They are growing like weeds! They're now smiling and laughing and really responding. Ashley took this pic a couple of weeks ago (I bought them the outfits!). Don't you just want to squeeze them?



My grandmother asked if they were identical. I said, "No, one of them has a pee pee."

After surviving the strong winds last night that knocked out the power and downed power lines and tree limbs all over the Fort, I met my friend Susan at the country club to work at a golf tournament. Thankfully no one had a video camera on us as we, quite comically, struggled to put up a tent in the rain. Then it stopped raining just after we were done. By that time I had frizzy hair and two inches of mud on the bottom of my pants. The rest of the day was pleasant, and we got to visit in between guys stopping by for our bananas, cereal bars, and bottled water.

I dropped $113 on running gear at Academy Sports this afternoon. You may recall that Lonnie, Jen and I are going to "run" in a 5K this Saturday (the quotes are for Lon and me, who will probably walk 90% of it). Needless to say, if I'm going to run five feet I need to look good. So I bought new shorts, two shirts, running socks, and an industrial strength sports bra.

After a pedicure at my favorite nail place (yes, I'm a brat), I came back to Siloam and met my friends John and Tricia for dinner. Now I'm just unloading my car and thinking I need to get on the treadmill. But I probably won't.

Yesterday, after Sunday School, I headed to the big city of Midland (pop. 221) to celebrate Dad's day with my dad, stepmom, brother, nephews, and niece. I also got to see the famous Uncle Cecil Missouri, who's evidently forgiven me for deserting her five months ago. We ate burgers and watched Chance try out his new golf club while Hope played with her imaginary baby sister. When we left, Hope told Brad, "Bye, Daddy. Happy Fodders Day." It was cute.

This coming weekend is Brady's birthday party, so I called to find out what he wanted. He wants cash to buy a big screen TV. Lucky thing his mom's a doctor.

I hope everyone had a happy Fodders Day and sustained little or no wind damage. Is it too early to go to bed?!?

Too much to handle

Mother Theresa allegedly said "I know God won't give me anything I can't handle; I just wish He didn't trust me so much." That's been my mantra as of late. Be careful what you wish for.

Yeah, I've been feeling overwhelmed and stressed lately. I spent my "vacation" day today answering e-mails and returning phone calls and working at an event. So I was feeling sorry for myself driving home tonight.

Then I got to thinking about all of the people in my life who have so much more to be stressed about. People like Ashley, who's sleeping about 90 minutes at a time with the new twins. Or Jen, who's frantically trying to keep her house spotless to sell, take care of four boys ('cause let's face it, Lon's still a boy) and move nine hours away from home. Or Shannon, who works a full-time job AND a part-time job while being a stay-at-home mom and taking care of an ill husband. Or my friend Susan, who's leaving her job to allow her husband to pursue his dream.

Ladies, obviously God trusts you more than He trusts me. I hope all of you know how much I admire you and how much I'm praying for you as you face your challenges. He won't give us more than we can handle, but sometimes He stretches us further than we think we can stand. That's when He's carrying us forward.

The road to here

Yesterday I met my friend Matt for lunch in Springdale. I've known him for years; he was a student worker in our office at Tech when he was a freshman, and he was always one of my favorites. After college he married Angela, who was working for my former boss Dr. R, and now they have three beautiful children. But I digress.

After Matt and Angela got married, he moved to Siloam to work on a ministry degree, which led to a job, which led to everyone at JBU thinking he was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

So when I interviewed for my current job and told my new boss, who happens to be Matt's former boss, that I knew Matt, the job was mine.

Granted, I had the skills and experience they were looking for and also had the endorsement of two other well-respected folks on campus (thank you, Susan and Ashley), but this was definitely a who-you-know situation. And I blame Matt for it, as I told him yesterday.

I've thought a lot lately about the road that led me here. I've always been an "everything happens for a reason" kinda gal, so I do try to take the bad times for what they are, an opportunity to learn and grow. But it's truly astounding to me how God used all of the time in my life, even the time when I was furtherest from His will, to prepare me for this job. I met Matt at Tech, I met Ashley and Susan at UAFS, and Dr R left Conway, so here I am. In an amazing place with a great job and an opportunity to continue my spiritual journey by integrating my faith in my work.

It's no secret that the Apostle Paul is my spiritual hero, and he was the poster child of God using someone's questionable past for His glory.

He does truly use ALL things--even the things that we shouldn't do--for His good. That doesn't mean that He condones the sin or living out of His will, but He can take all of the screw-ups, willful disobedience, and times of sinfulness and make something good out of it. He is sovereign, and He is in control.

Monday recap

First of all, please forgive me if this post seems a bit strange. I'm kind of out of sorts. I forgot my power cord to my Mac in Mountain Home yesterday, so I brought my work laptop home, but the wireless doesn't seem to work on it, so I'm back plugged into the router. Man, after more than a year of wireless freedom, this is really weird.

I've been at home in bed all day. Evidently a huge flower has showered me with pollen and I can't stop sneezing. My head is killing me and I have a sore throat. Benadryl always helps, but that, of course, makes me sleepy. I hope the deluge of rain cleaned the air a bit and I can breathe again tomorrow when I reenter the world.

The big news of the day is that Ashley had the twins this morning. Parker and Emma were born just before 10 a.m. and weighed about 6 lbs. each. Ashley and the twins are doing well, and I'm thrilled that I get to see them tomorrow.

Speaking of... DeWood, can I buy you lunch?

Thanks to all of you for the great movie posts. Several of the ones you love I haven't seen, so I'm adding them to my Netflix que. I figure if you guys like them enough to watch them over and over, they're worth a screening.

Today's significant for two reasons (three now that it's Emma and Parker's birthday): (1) my grandfather would have been 87 today; and (2) one year ago today I moved to Conway. Man, can you believe that's only been 12 months ago?

Two for one

As reported earlier, my pal Ashley and her husband Larry are having twins, a boy and a girl, next month. This morning was the shower for Parker and Emma. As you can imagine, there was a lot of pink and blue.




Ashley and Larry





Me, Ashley and Susan... doesn't Ashley look fantastic? I, on the other hand, look like I'm pregnant with at least one baby.




We had quite a spread, all courtesy of Susan and her mom.

So sorry

Note to self: stop venting via blog. It just freaks people out, makes them question themselves, and generally wreaks havoc.

Rule #1: If I write about it, it's probably not hypothetical (Jen).
Rule #2: By blogging about whatever seems to be bugging me at that very moment, I somehow manage to transfer much of the frustration and anger to the keys of my laptop and therefore alleviate my stress, but it is very sweet of you to be concerned (Alisa).
Rule #3: If I know you read my blog, I'm not talking about you (Susan and Ashley). So your guilty feeling is merely equated to how I feel every Sunday at church... the Pastor's probably not talking to me, but it certainly doesn't hurt me to hear it.

On a lighter and happier note, my very talented cousin-in-law, Shannon, has her new website up and running. Check it out and book a session... she's amazing!

Oh, and last night I had a crazy dream... Jen was pregnant... with a girl. Yeah, it was weird.

God's Hand

Today has been one of the hardest days of my career. I know a lot of folks think I have no issue with confrontation (like my pal Susan, who today told me I had "quite a pair"), but it really does bother me to have to deal with difficult people, even when they deserve it.

Every night when I say my prayers before I go to sleep, I spend time thanking God. Thank You for my family. Thank You for my friends. Thank You for having a great house to live in, plenty of food to eat, a good job... I often forget to say thank you to Him for the lessons He's teaching me, because it's so easy to forget that He's in all of it... the good, the bad, the in-between, and in the stinky parts that make us want to crawl under the covers and feel sorry for ourselves.

When we lose someone dear, it's sometimes difficult to see God in it, but He's there. When a child dies, someone who's really a good person loses a job, or a house, or is diagnosed with a terrible disease, I struggle to figure out why. But He's in all of it. Oh, I don't think He causes it, but He uses it... to draw us closer, to reaffirm our dependence on Him, to show His glory.

Last night, when I was reading Beth Moore, I came across this prophetic passage:

"Then comes the question: Will we walk away from Jesus when from human understanding He looks weak and defeated?
What do we do when we can't explain what Jesus is doing?
Will we remain nearby when He hasn't stopped a tragedy?
When based on earthly evidence, human reasoning is left to one of two harrowing conclusions: He is either mean or weak. Think, beloved, about what I'm saying. Will we cling when our human reasoning implies evil has defeated Him? Or that evil seems to be found in Him? Will we stand by faith when human logic says to run?
That's what will make us different."

Ouch. Sometimes when it's hardest to see His hand is when He's working the most. Oh, it's not always easy to trust. But that's how we grow. And how He shines.

I'm back!

Heatfelt apologies for my absence. I've been driving around the world... well, at least northwest part of the state, since last Thursday. I spent Friday in our Little Rock office, then stopped at UCA to see some old friends. I was in Russellville on Friday and Saturday, emceeing the Miss Lake Dardanelle pageant. Here's me, Erin, and Paige, just after the pageant.



One of the great things about my job is that I do get to travel quite a bit, which gives me the opportunity to catch up with old friends. In addition to seeing Lon, Jen, Brady, Avery and Peyton on V-Day, I had lunch with Alisa and Grey on Saturday, and I got to spend two nights with Paige and her mom, Lynne.

Yesterday I left Russellville early to head to the Fort to pick up my grandmother for church. I usually attend the 8:30 a.m. service since I am not at all interested in being on TV. Yesterday I picked a spot far enough away from the camera, but of course I was caught anyway. Several folks e-mailed and/or called to tell me the news, and since I DVR church every Sunday, I got the chance to see me and my four chins for myself this afternoon. Ugh. Back on the diet.

I spent today in the Fort Smith office and got to have a tasty lunch at Blue Plate with Susan and Ashley. Overall, it was a productive trip, but I'm glad to be home, back in my own bed. For two nights at least. Then it's back on the road.

Some good news

While I realize that Thanksgiving was a couple of weeks ago, I'm feeling especially grateful as of late. And it's not just because I only have to work 60 more hours before 12 straight days of vacation, but because I'm feeling really blessed by all the amazing people in my life.

On Wednesday, I'm headed to NWA for a second interview. And while there's a distinct possibility I may not get the job, I've just been astounded by all of the people who were willing to support me. From Susan and Ashley, who started this whole process, to my ol' pal Matty, who said really nice things about me to my potential boss (and I didn't even prompt him to do so), to my former Sunday School teacher, who e-mailed a friend who also knows the potential boss, I am honored that so many awesome people have championed my career.

Other reasons to be happy... the Pats won big (bet the Steelers' Smith is wishing he'd kept his mouth shut) and the 'Boys pulled out a great win in Detroit (which I didn't see because I turned it off at the 2:00 warning).

Here's hoping it's a fantastic week!

Be careful what you wish for...

Boy, when I made my list for Santa this week, I had no idea how prophetic it might be. But I've learned three things in the past three days: (1) never underestimate the folks who read your blog and their ability to make your wishes come true; (2) God's timing is seldom the same as mine; and (3) be careful what you wish for because, as Chris Daughtry would say, you just might get it all and then some you don't want.

Most of you know the professional purgatory I've been floundering in for the past couple of months. Days on end of feeling unchallenged and underutilized. But with so many people hating their jobs, I feel guilty for feeling apathetic about mine. I don't love it, but I don't hate it. It's not great, but it could be worse. I just feel blah. Like vanilla ice cream... it's pleasant, but once you've tasted a chocolate sundae, you seldom crave plain ol' vanilla ice cream anymore.

Tomorrow, thanks to my pals Ashley and Susan, I'm having coffee to discuss a new job. In northwest Arkansas. And right now I'm freaking out because the timing seems particularly atrocious... my boss will freak out, I just moved nine months ago and have three more on my lease, my friends placed a two-year moratorium on moving me again, I'm supposed to start my PhD in the fall, and... so many other reasons why it shouldn't work out. But just one reason why it should... it just feels right. I've been praying for career guidance, and this job description seems to be written for me.

Honestly, I just want to go where God leads, even if it means packing up boxes again (ugh). So please pray that I'll have clear guidance... either "go (north)west young woman" or "do not pass go, do not collect $200." I know the Lord does indeed know the plans He has for me, but sometimes I wish He'd be a little more forthcoming with the plans, don't you?