If you want to make God laugh...

...tell Him and everyone that reads your blog your plans.

Of course, when I have a whole post dedicated to my big plans for the weekend, none of them turn out the way I had quite envisioned them!

I left work early on Friday after receiving phone calls from my dad, Susan Liner, and then George Liner to try to bet the snow. Try being the key word--didn't happen quite like that. I picked up Jon Williams and braved 27 to try to reach camp before Lee Pike got too bad for the retreat. By the time I made it to the Harrison Lane exit, Jerry calls to let us know the retreat was canceled. Alright...let's turn around. After skidding a couple of times and being hit by a couple snow balls from UTC students, I made it back to Jon's dorm to drop him off. And then it took me nearly TWO HOURS to make it to the foot of Signal Mountain (a trip that should take maybe ten minutes). Most of the time was spent sitting in traffic, looking out at the snow coming down...But the ramps onto and off of 27 were quite a feat. Oh geez, me ability to work well under pressure was tested for sure!I made it to Erin Storment's dorm all in one piece and decided to camp out there for the night. We made some pizza and talked for hours over hot chocolate and under warm blankets. :) Mmmm....We slept in and took our time getting ready the next morning/afternoon and it was wonderful.

I came back to Liners just in time for some delicious pot roast, potatoes, and cheesey bread and finished it all off with a big cup of some hot apple cider. I decided it was early enough in the evening that I decided to drive down to Birmingham rather than risk the roads icing over the next morning and the other girls I was planning on going with her snowed in, so I figured, Why not?

I made it to Birmingham as Katy Fisher, her parents and several of her good friends from high school and Samford were ordering from Brio--a delicious "Tuscan" restaurant. The Fishers insisted that I ordered something so I ate my second dinner of the night (oink, oink--right?) but it was delicious just the same. To top off my "day of eating", we went to Yogurt Mountain for some frozen yogurt with toppings-galore as yet another treat from the Fishers. All of the girls headed back to Katy's house to play Quelf-- a HILARIOUS game that I, (just as Julia said I would...) just might buy now. I don't think I could begin to explain the game...it's like Charades combined with Truth or Dare, with a little bit of any of game you have played. Never a dull moment.

Julia, Katy, and I met up with a pack of people that were there to see Katy get baptized at her church. I wanted to get pictures of the actual baptism, but all of her friends and family were called up to the front and I couldn't get at a good angle without being a distraction to take the picture of her getting dunked. I got a little choked up because I know how much this meant to Katy, especially to be able to witness to her parents the way that she had hoped for. What a blessing to have so many friends there to support her and I know several others were praying from afar.

Katy, her sweet friend Brianna, and myself went to Newk's (McAllister's-type place-yum!) for lunch before going back to Katy's house to veg and spend time together.

We also:
Finally hung up her birthday/Christmas present that I got for her that I bought from Blue Skies (and wanted to keep for myself but decided not to be selfish)

Took a silly picture or two:

And watched First Wives Club (no pictures necessary for that one!) :)

Before I headed back to Chattanooga, she gave me my birthday presented that she painted for ME!!! oh. my. goodness. I absolutely adore this gift and can't wait to have an apartment of my own to hang it in. It means so so much to me because it's of one of my most favorite places in the world, painted by one of my most favorite people in the world.

Isn't she an incredible artist?!?
Can you find the secret message in the painting? :)

Oh yeah, and she brought me back a super cute headband from London! (You can't see it too well in the picture, but it's purple-ish, with 2 elastic straps and a little flower...if you were curious)

All in all, a wonderful, tiring, stressful, relaxing, and everything in between kind of weekend. Just a little reminder that God's plans are greater than my own and He's got everything under control...and He chuckles a little bit when I tell Him I have everything figured out.

Big Weekend

I have a very, very busy weekend ahead of me. And my plans have changed several times just within this past week-and if you know me...you know I like to have a plan!

First, I was supposed to go to Bowling Green, Kentucky to try on bridesmaid dresses with Kasey and meet the other bridesmaids. I was really looking forward to this, but then Drexel Dunagan was saying that her fiance Matt Bond was leaving to fly to Peru for two months this Saturday, so I offered to run the retreat in her place. Kasey was very understanding and I assured her that we would work out a time for me to come up there.

I didn't find out until the beginning of this week that the retreat only went until early afternoon on Saturday! So I figured I might be able to drive up Kentucky as soon as I pulled out of camp on Saturday...but then I looked at the weather channel and driving in the snow didn't seem all too likely. (And my dad shut down any chance of that happening when I talked to him on the phone last night--just watching out for me, Daddy!) God is funny though, because when the chance for me to drive up to Kentucky didn't seem reasonable, I was offered to babysit for the Holts! I was the Holt's family camp counselor in 2008 and they have 3 adorable girls-Emily, Ashley, and Lauren. They go to First Pres, so I see them often, but I'm excited babysit because it's been a while since I've babysat and these are some precious girls to have a Saturday night with! :)

Lauren was only 2 months old in this picture and has grown a ton since then! She's coming up on her 2nd birthday in late March!!

Sunday morning will be an early one--but well worth it! My wonderful best friend (I have 3, Katy, Kathryn, and Kasey so I'm allowed to say best friend more than once in this post for 2 different girls!) Katy Fisher is getting baptized!!! Cara and I are waking up early on Sunday morning to make the 2 hour drive to Birmingham (just rain, no snow down there, I checked) to see her get dunked. This was a very big decision for her and it means a lot to have friends and especially her parents down there. Baptisms have a more special meaning to me since I decided to get baptized at camp--what a special event for a believer to stand in front of other believers and be baptized!

We're going to stay long enough for lunch with other camp friends that will be down there for the occassion and then head back up to the 'noog in time for church on Sunday night! Needless to say, I'm going to be worn on come Sunday night and will wish I had a weekend after my weekend!! Hopefully I will have lots of pictures from this weekend to post :)

laughing through my clumsiness

Ya know when you have one of those days when you drop everything you grab? trip over your own feet? just can't get the words out of your mouth? Well, Sunday was one of those days for me. It was really started Saturday night.

Erin Kennedy and I were enjoying a late night bowl of cereal in the kitchen at camp--raisin bran crunch without the raisins, if you were wondering--when we had some unwanted company; a spider. Normally, I don't have a problem just stepping on our little 8-legged *note: Julia Suddath had to comment and tell me that spiders have 8 legs, rather than 6. Props to Julia...I was just to busy being scared to count legs. At least that's my excuse...unwelcomed guest, but it was in the kitchen...and this guy was big. Long story short, it took about 20 minutes to outwit this cunning little/big bug. Our plan involved a bowl, a broom, and a dust pan. We contemplated just putting the bowl over the creepy crawler and leaving a note saying "Spider under here, please kill it." But instead, we straightened up, screamed a lot and eventually captured the booger and took him outside. Success!

Sunday before lunch, I was helping to cut up some lettuce in the kitchen for the salad bar for lunch. Simple enough, right? Wrong. I had the pan that was holding the lettuce next to me, on the edge of the counter. I was trying to share the cutting board with someone else so room was a little tight. Apparently, a little too tight because I knocked over the whole pan of already cut lettuce straight into the trashcan. Fail. Okay, so I'm aware that I'm not even in this picture...but it was one of the only pictures of the camp kitchen that I could find.

Just wait, there's more. Erin and I were off to clean the cabins while Drexel and Meredith served lunch and scrubbed the kitchen floors so we wouldn't be at camp for 5 more hours. It was raining a whole stinkin' lot on Sunday--and let me tell you, doing anything outside at camp in the rain and cold makes for an interesting afternoon.
Erin and I finally get the mule going and are pelted by raindrops as we drove towards Cabin 12 because the clear canvas is impossible to see through when it's down and even worse when it's wet. Okay, a little wet and really cold...not that big of a deal. We clean our the first cabin and warm up a bit while we're inside. After cleaning the second cabin, I started to worry that the water collecting in the canvas top would eventually slosh over...so being the genius that I am thought I would just lift up one side of the canvas to let some of the water come out on the side of the mule. Wrong. I ended up with most of the water that had collected ALL over me. I was drenched. And cold. And we still had 7 cabins left to clean. After that, I just gave up on even trying to stay drive when I would walk to and from the cabin form the mule. I was dripping everywhere I walked. Not pleasant. Fail.

I'm glad that I had friends there to laugh with/at me during all of my clumsiness and mishaps because, in all honesty, if I do something that ridiculous, then I would really much rather have someone there with me to laugh about it when it happens and to remind me of my stupidity later. What are friends for, if not for a good laugh? :)

My funny little habit

Everyone has their funny little habits. I have known for quite some time that I have a handful, but I realized how dependent I am on this one particular habit last night as I was getting ready for bed.

I spent the weekend at camp to work a retreat (more on that later...really, it was a weekend of my clumsiness put on display!) and had left my extra pillow and blankets in the car because I didn't want to tote too much with me up the Liner's driveway in the rain.

After church last night, I was getting ready for bed and unpacking when I realized that I left my eye mask with my pillow in the car. This shouldn't be a big deal since I have my room in the basement all to myself and it really gets pretty dark, but it was. So I had to improvise by using a scrap from a t-shirt that I use as a headband on occasion as a make-shift blindfold.

More than anything, it's not about having pitch black when I sleep (which I love), but I can manage if there's a little bit of light. It just feels weird to not have something over my eyes.

I started this habit gradually when I traveled with winter guard and would have to sleep on a bus while traveling for trips. Then I became more dependent my freshman year of college because my roommate kept late hours so I found more of a need for my eye mask (and ear plugs for her snoring...) and before I knew it, I just didn't feel right going to sleep without it. I admit it, I'm a sleep mask addict and there's no turning back.

So what are some of your weird quirks or habits? C'mon, everyone has 'em! I'm sure I could come up with a few more :) I just want to know that I'm not alone!

Pampering on a budget

Living on my own has been a learning process. To say at the very least. My parents have been so wonderful and cut me lose one string at a time. I am trying my best to be a wise steward of my money (cutting back on eating out is my next step...one step at a time though, right?) Tonight was a "pampering" kind of night, just because I wanted to treat myself after finishing the GRE.
I picked up "Dear John" by Nicholas Sparks at Wal Mart when I was buying groceries (less than $30 on groceries that will last 2 weeks--yay!) because it has been a couple of months since I've read a book for fun. After my long shower, I lit a candle and gave myself a little pedicure with some cheap nail polish and my handy little PedEgg (yes, that seen on TV thing, but it really does work!) while watching The Office. And now, I'm curled up in bed about to start my new book before some quality time with my new Bible. Mmmm.... :)

Three days weekends are...

...one of the many blessings of God. :)

Friday: I helped out with a booth for camp at Lynn Jones' son's homeschool basketball game. It turned out to be a really fun night with friends with a free dinner that the church paid for...oh, and some ice cream too!

Saturday: I got a new Bible!! I got one last year for Valentine's Day from my mom--wonderful. It was an NIV study Bible with references, maps, and so much more. But I left it in my trunk one night while I was a nomad in the fall and during the monsoon season, my Bible was ruined and kind of has a funk now. So I bought a new one at LifeWay on Saturday and LOVE it!! :) I decided to break it in at Stone Cup over a blueberry muffin and a cup of coffee before meeting Haley Hill for lunch at GreenLife-YUM!!! As I have said several times before, I absolutely love Haley Hill and our friendship. What a blessing in my life. The rest of the day I was a vegetable; ie I did nothing and it was great.

Sunday: Sunday school and church as usual...I absolutely love my Sunday school class and the music was incredible this Sunday! Cara Dodd and I enjoyed some delicious Amigo's after church and we sat and talked for about 3 hours! Cara and I are firm believers of going out to eat after church and enjoying lazy Sundays. I brought Cara back to her dorm and met up with some friends to see Leap Year. Usually I'm not the romantic comedy kind of person. Well, I am, but I would much rather just wait until they come out on DVD or in the dollar theater. But oh my goodness, this movie was wonderful! So cute! Then, we went with other friends and ate some yummy ice cream from Ice Cream Show--a Chattanooga favorite of mine!

Monday: I didn't know I even had Monday off until Friday right before I left work! Bonus weekend day! Well...not completely though because I still had to wake up at the normal time to take the GRE. I think it went well, but mostly I'm just glad that it's over with and we'll see if my GRE scores are up to the standards of the schools I'm applying to. After the test, I needed a mental break and went to the Terminal with Drexel before we attempted to go "cardboarding" down the hills in Heritage Park with Maddie....keyword in that sentence is attempted. Big fail. Maybe next time, right? The three of us headed over to David's Bridal to have a look at Drexel's beautiful wedding dress and try on some bridesmaid dresses for Maddie. I hung out at Taylor's apartment before hanging out with Erin and heading to bed! Busy Monday to say the least, but it was a fun bonus day in the weekend!!

And now it's Tuesday. Back to work. And now to start with a new season of stuff at work and starting to fill out applications for grad schools. Oh boy.

Seriously, I need to do a better job of taking pictures. Sorry for yet another pictureless blog.

Predictable.

My life is predictable. Well, from the hours of 10:00 PM - 5:00 PM Monday through Friday that is. I say this because, well, if you were to give me a time between then, I could tell you what I would be wearing, eating, or doing.

Wearing:

10:00 PM - 7:00 AM: Pajamas, socks, usually slippers and a housecoat/robe/whatever you call it until I hop in bed (could I make myself sound anymore frumpy??) Oh, and the PJs and socks stay on when I'm in bed. Don't worry, the blog is staying at a PG rating.

8:00 AM and for the rest of the day: I'm probably going to be wearing a skinny jeans or corduroys (the occasional black pants or khakis make their way into my wardrobe, even a skirt or a dress sometimes, but that is becoming more and more rare in this cold weather!), flats or boots, a cardigan, solid colored shirt or turtleneck some kind of dangly earrings and a scarf. Everything is usually a solid with the occasional "print" thrown in there. Without fail, most of these clothing items are in my day to day dress.

Yep. Proof. That's only 2 days this week. Monday was a blue turtleneck with a wrap around tan sweater, jeans, and boots and yesterday was a navy turtleneck sweater, brown corduroys and flats. Predictable.

Eating:

Breakfast: Multi-grain Cheerios or Peaches and Cream oatmeal with a glass of OJ.

Snack: Fiber One bar, once and a while I'll change it up with Wheat Thins

Lunch: Turkey sandwich or PBJ. Diet coke. Sun chips or cheese its. An apple, banana, or cup of mandarin oranges.

Dinner: A little bit less predictable. But I can tell you where I'm getting dinner from most week nights:

Sunday; church. Monday; grab something before Bible study or snack until I get home. Tuesday; dinner at home or out with a friend. Wednesday; dinner from church. Thursday; Dinner at the Harwoods with camp friends.

Doing:

I won't go into as much detail on this one because that usually changes day to day and some of the monotony might bore you, but I know from 9-5 I'm at work, working hard (and posting a blog from time to time...like, well, now.)

I definitely would love to spice up my meal time a little bit...maybe my wardrobe on some days, but honestly, I like a little bit of predictability in my life. A little bit, being the key words. But I'm far from being bored with my life and that's what matters, right? Right.

Holding onto Hope

I am in the Young Careers Sunday school class at First Pres and that alone is blog-worthy...but for another time. Today, I am instead gushing about the women's small group that comes out of the Young Career class. We met last fall every other Thursday, but just couldn't get the ball rolling because everyone is so busy...so we tried to switch to Monday nights and it was apparent last night that that works much better for more of us (especially me since I usually go to the Harwood's on Thursday night for dinner with camp friends!)

Lisa Franklin (Jonathan Franklin's mom, for those of you who know J-Frank and Ted Franklin's aunt, as well as Nurse Lynn's sister--so many connections!!) leads the group and she is so honest and vulnerable with us and I just love this group of women. Here are her list of requirements for the group:

DO NOT RUSH in order to get there. Wrecks happen, traffic, children get sick and so do we. Come anytime from 6:00 on.

NO GUILT if you can't make it, don't feel well, or are just having a bad day and don't feel like seeing anyone else; don't feel guilty about not coming. I lived too many years doing things out of guilt and it's NOT worth it. You will not hurt my feelings if you can't make it. Just be honest.

DON'T WORRY if you haven't read the chapter; we are going to read it out loud together and talk about it. I know all of you are working very hard all day and you don't need another thing "to do". I want this to be a joy and a time of refreshment.

IF YOU NEED TO LEAVE EARLY, do. As for staying later, I'm ok until about 8:30, but night time is really hard on me, and I tend to get over stimulated and then don't sleep at all.

I love that she did this before we even started. It just serves as a reminder that small groups are supposed to be refreshing, not yet another stressor in our lives.
We finally got started on this book last night and it is a story about a woman who loses her baby girl, Hope, to a disease that has no cure. In Nancy Guthrie's book Holding on to Hope, she parallels her story of loss to the story of Job in the Bible, who loses everything but somehow continues to praise God through the whole ordeal. I am very excited about this book and this time together with these women. I'm sure I'll talk about it later, but I was so filled by the Spirit after leaving last night--what a rare joy to feel that full in Him!

Productivity and rest

Weekends are something I often look forward to, but this weekend was not anything too eventful. Friday night was a quiet evening at the Liner's with a home cooked meal and an early bedtime.

Saturday was productive part of my weekend. Since the Liner's have their house for sale, Mrs. Liner was expecting for it to be shown on Saturday afternoon--meaning, I had to find something to do outside of the house...So, I went shopping (two cute new scarves from Target...and yes, I have an obsession with scarves. Admitting is the first step, right?) before I hit the books, well, one book; my oh-so-wonderful GRE study book. Panera on 153 was super crowded and I was grumpy, so I didn't feel like dealing with the crowds while I studied and ate my lunch so I made the trip downtown. I enjoyed a warm lunch while I brushed up on my math skills, packed up and moved to Starbuck's for a change of scenery. Total, I dedicated about 4 or so hours into studying on Saturday, so I felt pretty accomplished.

I packed up and headed to Buffalo Wild Wings to meet Erin for dinner. I really enjoy spending time with this girl and loved sitting over our long dinner and ice cream--we were fully aware that it was below freezing on Saturday, but it sounded like a good idea at the time...and it was totally worth it!

Sunday morning was spent worshiping at First Pres followed by a day full of Taylor Huddleston! We laid in her bed for a while to keep warm and catch up before braving the cold for some lunch and shopping. I bought a webcam this time (read previous post about Skype!! Woohoo!) and we spent the rest of the night setting up our Skype accounts and catching up with friends...I've already skyped with Kirby in Atlanta, Kasey in Kentucky, and Chandler in CHINA!!! Oh yeah, and Taylor when we skyped her boyfriend John and my co, Clay Huffaker since they are in Birmingham and then we skyped later so I could check and see if she had cleaned her room! ha

All in all, a productive weekend just not too much to shout from the rooftops about, but I think I need a reminder to enjoy rest and productivity sometimes.

I'm so high tech.

I finally have skype (knmardis) and I love it!!! I have already skyped with 2 friends in Alabama and Kirby earlier tonight! What a wonderful creation to make the distance in long distance friendships seem a little bit shorter. :)

Snow days just aren't what they used to be...

Snow days for kids: no school. sledding. hot chocolate. snow ball fights. snowmen.

Snow days for adults: worrying about driving conditions. grocery runs. sitting at work while it snows. hoping the power stays on. hot chocolate (I'm glad that stays the same!)

Funny how a few years make a big difference. All I know is that I'd better have hot chocolate and a blanket on my snow days however young or old I am. I'm just grateful for yet another part of nature that God gave us to see His power and beauty in.

My last new job update! (for a while at least)

Well, here it is. A much delayed update on my new job....I feel like I've had a lot of explanations of my new job of the moment in these past few months, but this is my last new job for a while (praise the Lord because I don't like drastic changes all that much, and mostly just because I LOVE my job though!)

A little background of how this all unfolded before I start to describe what I do. Jerry Harwood is a HUGE promoter of the Myers-Briggs personality indicator. In short, which this explanation will not even close to giving justice to how accurate and wonderful this indicator is, Myers Briggs is broken up into 4 "sections" with a scale going between two points for each "section". Introvert/Extravert, Sensor/Intuition, Feeler/Thinking, and Judging/Perceiving. With all of that said, the test indicates which point your personality "favors" and explains the combination of each of these sections; example: an ISFP responds to situations differently than a ENFP would. This test is meant to tell you your "right handedness or lefthandedness" so to speak, but does not tell you what you should do with your "hand" (in other words, it points out strengths and weaknesses, but not all ESFJ's react that same just because they have the same personality type.) If you haven't taken the test and had it explained in detail, this probably all sounds like jibberish...but I promise it plays a role in my job!

My personality according to Myers Briggs is an Extravert, Sensor, Feeling, and Judger--ESFJ.

Jerry is good friends with my new boss, Tony Souder. Tony came to Jerry several years ago because he didn't understand why he and his assistant were "missing the mark" so to speak when they communicated. Jerry explained the Myers Briggs to Tony which basically rocked his world. Tony loves Myers Briggs now. Loves it. (Again, I have a point with where I'm going...)

So Tony explains to Jerry about two months ago that his assistant is leaving to raise support for RUF and Jerry says, "Well, Tony-you need an ESFJ to work for you...and I have the perfect ESFJ in mind." (meaning me!) Okay, maybe he didn't say those exact words, but close enough, right?

Tony calls me that week, we set up an interview for the following Wednesday and he calls to offer me the job the next day!! That Friday (the Friday before Thanksgiving, if you're curious), I had to call my other bosses to put in my two weeks, but asked them if I could make two weeks, well, more like one week...and not even a whole week at that. They were so understanding and excited that I had gotten a job that really fit my passions (not that I don't love ribbons and babies...)

With that background, here's what I do. Officially, I am the "Project Manager" for Chattanooga Youth Networks. We are a non-profit ministry that connects and equips youth leaders around the next generation. The Network is there to support, encourage, and connect youth leaders in the Chattanooga area to enable them to serve their students at their best. Tony is the Executive Director and has been since 1994. Hayne Steen just officially started working with us on Monday as the Creative Director (he runs the website and helps us with all things "creative"). Then there's me :) I am the administrative assistant in the sense that I take care of the paperwork and organization around the office, but Tony is giving me more of a responsibility in the sense that Tony and Hayne are the idea guys and I'm the follow through. We have several big events coming up and I'm in charge of managing all of the details that come along with those events.

No two days have been the same and there's almost always something to do. We have big plans in mind with the new year and the new staff. I love my job, I love the two Godly men I work with, and what I love the most is that it's all driven by our love for Christ. This job was made for me--I get to work with people (extravert), I get to organize!! (sensory and judger; which is a bad title for what it means, the J basically means I like closer and finality in this, ie-I like to see tasks completed.) and it's wonderful.

So there it is. My last new job update for a long time. :) Praise God.

PS--Check out our website! I'm sure I'll be keeping you posted on what has been going on in my life at the job, but seriously, Hayne did an AWESOME job with our new site. Check out the old one to see how drastic the change is.

Holidays with Charlotte

Really, Sully was enjoying being petted by Charlotte...although this picture doesn't show it.

Katie helps out with Lee's color guard (he's a band director) so Charlotte is usually in tow for guard practices....thus inspiring her Christmas list to include "flag". Her wonderful Aunt Kristin helped to make her wish come true :) Charlotte ran around waving the flag repeating "flag-flag-flag" over and over again.

Trying on Uncle Daniel's shoes

Showing off her new kicks!Hard to imagine this is the same girl last Christmas!! How quickly they grow up...

Top 9 of '09

Keeping up with my tradition (and by tradition, I mean, I did it last year...), I am reviewing highlights from this past year. These pictures are snapshots of HUGE moments that impacted my life not only this year, but will have a ripple effect as we head in to 2010.

9. Last few days of Senior Year with friends
I don't think I realized then how precious these last few weeks of senior year would become to me. Looking back through pictures, I really started to realize how much fun these girls made my college experience and how fun the end of my senior year was because of them.

8. Cutting 10 inches off my hair to donate
A BIG step for me, but rewarding. I still have my moments that I'll look at pictures and wish my hair was long again, but I know that this big cut was not in vain, but instead for others.

8. Memories from Camp Vesper Point-How can you put these into one category?
CVP has been one of the most impactful parts of the last four years, which made it more meaningful to me this year, as it was my last year to serve on staff.
a)Friday Night Live--so funny and so worth the mess every week
b) The 2 am group. It's a long story, but well worth the drama that was caused. Lesson learned and memory well worth it.

6. Kirby announcing her pregnancy and Charlotte turning a year old!
What else can be said?!? One niece that I've been able to see grow up and another that's growing in Kirby's tummy! :) I love being an aunt.

4. Joining First Presbyterian Church of Chattanooga
I have never been a member of a church before so this was a very exciting step for me!
I'm so excited to see where this church family is going and how I can be apart of it.

3. Working on the dock with Ryan Davis and Clay Huffaker
These guys are like my brothers. I loved loved loved having them as co's. Working on the dock was the best way I could have asked to spend my last summer at Vesper Point. I was stretched and loved every minute of it....well, 98% of the minutes. There's no need to lie. :)

2. Graduating from the University of Georgia
I really need to do a highlight list of my time at UGA because only have this as one point out of nine for 2009 just doesn't seem to do my time there justice. Go Dawgs! I'm so proud to call myself a graduate of that school and could not have done it without the support of my family.

1. Moving to Chattanooga and getting a full time job!
MAN! What a HUGE step in my life. I love this city and the people that live in it.
People didn't really understand when I told them that Chattanooga was really my only option after graduating, but I knew that this was exactly where God wanted me and He's made that clear to me over and over again. I love seeing what else God has in store for me in this wonderful city. I could write a novel about how great this transition has been, how much I've learned, and how much this city means to me to be able to call it home.

I teared up a couple of times because I hated having to fit this life changing year into such slim categories. Yes, I'm aware I could list more than 9 points for my highlight of the year, but if I don't put a limit on it, I would ramble on forever!


2009 was a year that will be unmatched on so many levels for so many reasons. It was a year of several "lasts" and an almost equal amount of "firsts". I know that 2010 will be another big year in my life.

My years would not mean as much to me without each of you that are there to make these memories with me. I am so blessed to know each of you that read this blog that are apart of my life.