Ten on Tuesday

Because I felt the need to blog, but didn't want think about it...I borrowed this idea/list from Kathryn Neidhardt (who will always be Kathryn Boyer to me...forever and always).

1. What’s the recipe for your favorite drink? (Smoothie, alchoholic, coffee, whatever.) Whatever Starbuck's uses to make, well, anything; vanilla latte in particular...or just a margarita plain and simple (again, one that someone else makes for me)

2. What kind of razor do you use? Schick Quatro

3. Who is your favorite Sesame Street character? Snuffleupagus for sure...how can you not love just saying his name?!

4. What makes the perfect salad? (Lettuce type, toppings, dressing, etc.) Oh goodness, how can I pick just one? My favorite at the moment start with field greens, homemade honey mustard vinaigrette, then topped with tomato, blue cheese and sugared pecans--in other words the Charleston from Southern Star.

5. What was your favorite subject in school? History, with English in a close second

6. What’s your favorite summer tradition? Sitting on a screen in porch at dusk-perfection.

7. Do you suffer from season allergies? Nope...this is a super random question...good thing I'm not to be blamed for coming up with them.

8. How often do you have to charge your cell phone? Every night at least, sometimes I won't even make it to 6 pm because I've used it so much that day!

9. Do you have a bucket list? I would like to think that I do, but I haven't actually kept track of one. All I know is that going to Italy is somewhere on that mental list.

10. Do you have any desire to go back to school? In a few years. I would love to get my Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy, but the thought of juggling school and the "real world" is a terrifying thought. Scary enough to make me keep putting off the idea.

24 going on 13

This past Wednesday night will definitely be one of the more memorable nights of this summer. Bonnie, Alexa, and I went to a New Kids On the Block/Backstreet Boys concert and holy cow was it fun!! I was super impressed by how much dancing they were doing and how great they sounded. And they still totally embraced the "boy band" matchy concert outfits. White silk suits may or may not have made an appearance. Philips Arena was packed with thousands of screaming 20s-30s aged women and for one night, we were all right back in middle school. And I still love Brian Littrell, just for the record.


Bonnie and I spent the night at Alexa and Andy's apartment in Atlanta afterwards and since I was already in Atlanta, I drove down to see my Burger! Kirby and Daniel's house is really starting to come together. It's been really fun to see the different steps and see Kirby as often as I've gotten to lately. We ran errands with this little Peanut: then dropped her off at home with Daniel for a nap and Kirby and I went to Brake Pad for lunch. It's an old car garage turned restaurant and it was so good! Kirby is turning hippy and got a black bean burger and I got the southwest chicken quesadilla and we both loved our dishes!!

By the time I got home, my parents' college friend/family financial planner Sandra had gotten there. Then we added to the company when Bonnie came over! Bonnie and my mom had "teacher talk"--I know they both appreciated having someone who really understood and appreciated their day to day stuff. I scheduled my hair appointment with Ms. Tammy at 7, so it was kind of late by the time I got home with my new do. Annie and I got to catch up over drinks last night and as always, I love getting quality time with her...even if there were 40+ year old women dancing on pianos at 10 on a Thursday night trying to distract us from conversation. It was interesting to say the least but worth a good laugh or two.

PS-This weekend, I totally reccommend digging up your old boy band CD's and listening to them while you drive around! So fun to rewind 10+ years and remember what it was like to have crazy, unrealistic celebrity crushes! And how can you not be in anything but a good mood when you hear "Quit Playing Games with my Heart"?!

Unplanned Weekends

This past weekend was one of those rare weekends that I didn't have set plans going into it other than my Co's Baby Shower. And that is a very, very rare treat.

Kelly and I attempted to go to Riverbend on Friday night to see Alan Jackson. I say attempted because we got in, walked around, stood in line forever at the disgusting, atrocious, ick porta potties, tried to find seats, and gave up because we were overwhelmed by the amount of people--particularly the amount of people that were sporting mullets, cigarettes in hand, and were just all around charming folks (please pick up on my sarcasm in that statement). Never again will I venture into the world of Riverbend. Ever.

I took full advantage of my minimally planned weekend and didn't even set my alarm on Saturday morning! Even if my internal clock woke me up before 9, it was nice to just lay in bed, read HP7, and know I didn't need to rush out of bed to go somewhere. I eventually got up to meet Kelsey and Paige for lunch. Kelsey and Paige were my high school leaders that were in the cabin with me at Southwind. It was so fun to catch up with them! Later that afternoon was my Co's Baby Shower! I know I've had several "co's" from camp, but Alex will always hold the permanent title of "Co". It is so exciting to know that little LEW is getting bigger and stronger every day and will be here before we know it! What a special day to shower Alex (and Forrest) with gifts to help them prepare to welcome Baby Girl Walker in a few short months! The CVP staff had the night off so I met up with several of them to relax and catch up.

Sunday was a typical Sunday--Sunday School, church, lunch with friends, hang out with Molly before she went back to camp, then I was back at church. During the summer, we are going through a study where we look at culture and the Bible and how they all tie in together. It's really laid back and I've really enjoyed the few weeks that we've been meeting. Afterwards, we go out to eat somewhere and this week Subway was the lucky winner. But my favorite part of the night was hanging out on the walking bridge while Riley, one of the seniors, played his guitar. Very relaxed, full of laughs, and perfect weather was just the cherry on top.

In the Belly of a Whale

The last few weeks, Tim has been teaching through the book of Jonah. Like most church going Southerners, I could have given you the gist of Jonah in a short sentence-Jonah runs from God and is swallowed by a fish, stays in there for 3 days, and Jonah goes where he was told to in the first place to speak about God. Done. Easy enough. But that's what never ceases to amaze me about God's word; it is simple enough to break down into a story or a sentence, but deep enough to delve into a few verses per week and provide more than enough to contemplate for days. The latter couldn't be more true for me about the book of Jonah.

God says go, Jonah said no. It's simple enough--I am Jonah. Time and time again, God has laid something on my heart and I've tried to ignore it. But Tim has reminded us throughout this series that God is relentless in the pursuit of His people. Because God loves me, he might throw trials or struggles in my life to bring me to my knees and draw me closer to himself, "in the belly of a fish" so to speak. But no matter what, even if I turn and run further into sins in my life, God has a love that does not loosen its grip or ever let go. Studying the short book of Jonah has been so convicting for me because it has been a bold yet simple reminder that even through my sin patterns and ignorance to how big and absolutely crazy about me God is, He isn't going to give up on me. Ever. And thank goodness for that because I daily have to ask for his grace, mercy, and forgiveness because he knows how dark and deceitful my heart really is, and he loves me regardless.

Read Jonah and just think about how stubborn we are and how persistent God's love is. Seriously, it's only 4 short chapters. Go read it.

Weekend/Work Day Flip

This weekend didn't seem much like a weekend, but Sunday and Monday certainly did! I stayed at work until pretty late on Friday night--and by stay at work, I mean see the X Men movie with one of my girls. I stayed in on Friday night and spent my evening starting my new book (The Ragamuffin Gospel) and updating my budget. I hit the hay because I knew Saturday was going to be a long day...what a boring Friday, but I loved it!

We had a New Orleans Missions trip with our middle schoolers on Saturday morning and I promised some of the girls I would go swimming with them afterwards, so swim I did! I took one of the girls to meet up with some of her friends at Panera before they went to Riverbend, so I caught up with them for a few hours. It wasn't the Saturday of cleaning and rest that I had planned for, but it was better this way anyways and way more fun! I did get to have a quick dessert with Sophia and Erin so I could catch up on Jump Start camp stories with them. But they were beyond exhausted, (I remember that feeling after a week of camp is over with!!) so our time together was fairly short. After hanging out with Kelly and Silas for a bit, I went to bed because again my Sunday was packed.

After Sunday school and church, I went to Crust to have lunch with some camp friends. Then it was time to pack up Roxy (my car) and head South to Marietta for the Mumford and Sons concert at the Fox!!! Jessica Schwartz and I met up at my parents house and were city bound for the concert. We enjoyed a yummmmmy Italian dinner at Baraonda-we had caprese, bread and olive oil, a glass of wine, a delicious mushroom pasta, chocolate gelato, and some lemonchello--We were stuffed!!! There was no time to sit and digest because we had to get to the concert! Mumford and Sons is one of those albums that I can listen to on repeat and love each of the songs. They were incredible live...they could easily be tied with Garth Brooks for my favorite concerts ever.
The crowd in and of itself was humorous enough. A lady in the row behind us was passed out drunk for both of the opening bands, then popped up when Mumford came on stage. She shouted ridiculous things like "Thank you for coming to America!" and "Play Lion Man!" (after they had already played it) Watching people dance was pretty amusing too...there was the fist pump guy, the seductive dancing girl, the couple that refused to separate more than 2 inches from their other half, a guy that clapped with practically every song, and our drunk friend that was standing on her seat and hanging onto her friend's shoulders for support.

Monday morning, Jessica and I stopped at Starbuck's (I swear they put crack in their coffee to make me crave it at least 4 days a week...that's got to be the only reason I crave it so often) and headed down the longest, most boring stretch of road ever constructed: 316. But that tragic road makes up for itself because I know that on the other side of 316 is the Classic City, Athens. We had lunch at Marti's at Midday, which is a quant house-turned-restaurant that serves huge portions of chicken salad on their made that day bread, fresh mint sweet tea, and anything else that a true Southern girl could ever want. I made Jessica stop by the Alpha Gam house so I could see the non-existent construction progress, but I at least I got to take pictures of our beautiful house.
Then we meandered through the campus bookstore and reminisced over the best 4+ years of our lives. There was an orientation group there, I had the urge to walk up to some of the girls and give them college advice...I didn't want to come to terms with the fact that that was me six whole years ago. I'm old. Katie and Charlotte had some errands to run in Athens, so they picked me up so I could spend time with my favorite redhead.
Then we met up with Jessica at Silver Lining Cupcakes-yum! I have got to do a better job of taking pictures of my food because that's always what I want to show on my blog...fat kid statement, but true. Jess and I walked downtown, ordered a cheese plate and some drinks from Highwire, had more food at Speakeasy, and stopped by the Winery before going home and crashing. Chickfila and a diet coke were a must before I was on the road again on Tuesday morning headed back for a staff meeting and a day at the office in Chattanooga.

Although I burned through a whole tank of gas and more money than I want to come to terms with right now (I'm refusing to look at my bank account until my pay day tomorrow), I loved my reverse weekend in Chattanooga, Atlanta, and Athens!

Just Another Day at the Office

I love my job, but I especially love my job in the summer. I'll show you a few reasons why with some pictures from last Wednesday at the lake and you can see what I love so much about it...


If it makes you feel any better, I did spend all day today at my desk or in meetings.

Tea Time

Last Sunday after church, Beth Austin and I hosted a Mother/Daughter Tea for current and rising middle school girls and their moms. The idea was totally Beth's idea, but we thought it would be a good idea for the upcoming 6th graders and their moms to ease their way into Youth Group. I don't know about the churches that most of y'all grew up at or go to now, but I know at JFBC and First Pres, the Children's Ministry and Youth Group are run at totally different paces. We're trying to make the transition from 5th grade/Children's Ministry to 6th grade/Youth Group not nearly as traumatic as it could be and what better way to do that than with food and girly crafts?!

I was in charge of the food while artsy Beth brought the craft...but of course, she had the wonderful idea of making the food presentation even look cute. I don't know what I would have done without her because the presentation would not have been nearly as polished as it was!


And the craft was super easy and fun! Such a good conversation starter and easy for moms and their daughters to do together. It was was so neat to see how different everyone's turned out!

My Big Brother

I've mentioned my "big brother" several times on here, but majority of you probably didn't know that I even have a big brother, did you? Well, I don't technically have a biological brother, but Shahrukh is the closest I could ever get to having a brother--stands up for me, tells me when I'm being stupid, knows me better than I know myself, and always there for me no matter what.

This all started Junior year of high school. Shahrukh and I were both in band, but hadn't really crossed paths much until we had Honors US History together. A huge portion of our grade was this notebook that was more or less graded on how much you doodled--decorating notes apparently signified learning to Mr. Kirk....the correlation still isn't too clear to me, but don't get me wrong, I loved it. Shahrukh on the other hand was not much of a doodler, or a note taker for that matter. I would get to school early for club meetings, study time, etc. and he would get to school early because of his how his rides worked out so most of our mornings Junior year were spent in the band hall with me decorating Shahrukh's notebook and helping him piece together his notes while he would give me a hard time over my sometimes ditzy comments. Eventually we started talking more about our lives and before too much longer, we became improbable friends.

Just to give you a picture of Shahrukh, he's 6'4, at least double my weight, and from Pakistan. He had had a rough life and was still really caught up with just the wrong group of people in high school. We could not have been a more unlikely pair of friends. Despite the differences-I was the prissy, over-organized, over-involved girl while he was smart mouthed, pot smoking, smart without trying kind of guy-something about our friendship worked. It was much harder for him to trust people than it was for me, but over time we would confide in each other and have honest conversations about whatever drama was going on and that was exactly the grounding that both of us needed.

Senior year, Shahrukh really hit a low point as he was struggling with drugs, depression, and just life in general. One night in early October, he attempted to commit suicide. After taking several pills, he called me to say his final goodbye and say that he was sorry...It took me several minutes before I could really understand what was happening, but by the time I realized the seriousness of the situation, he had hung up. I called my parent's in an absolute panic and they contacted Shahrukh's parents, called 911 and they got to him just in time. He went straight to the hospital and from there to an inpatient rehab facility. That night has impacted both he and I more than we have probably ever talked about to each other, but I know I think about it often when I realize how precious life really is and the importance of a friendship. I have a picture sitting on my desk at work that was taken the day he came back to visit on Senior Night after being released from rehab that I wish I had so I could post it on here....still to this day, I have never been so happy to see someone.

He and I have kept in touch throughout college through lots of texting, occasional phone calls, and seeing each other about every 6ish months. 9 times out of 10 times, we do the same thing. He picks me up at my parent's house, he takes me to get ice cream or a smoothie, we drive around East Cobb, and catch up on life. Shahrukh is probably the one person in my life that can say anything he wants, as crass and off color as it might be, and get away with it. He's earned this right because as mad as he makes me sometimes, he knows who I really am and knows when to expect more or better from me. Don't worry though, this a a 2 way street and I do not hold my tongue when it comes to calling him out either. Apart from my blood-related family, whoever I marry is going to have to get the approval from Shahrukh, which is not an easy task since he's really only liked one of my boyfriends out of all of the years we've known each other. I respect, appreciate, and love Shahrukh more than he'll ever know and I am grateful beyond expression to have had and will continue to have someone that I can call my big brother.

Memorial Day, Pt. 2

I know that Memorial Day was a week ago, but this is literally the first night I've had at my apartment where I've been able to sit down and update the ol' blog! And to make matters worse, (I'm really doing a good job of encouraging you to keep reading, aren't I?!) I took zero pictures except at Peaser's wedding at the youth group event!

Either way, I woke up EARLY on Friday morning so I could drive my co-worker Baxley to the airport so he could fly to California for some vacay time. But that meant time with Kirby and Felicity since they live less than 5 minutes away from the Atlanta airport! When I discovered that my sister is turning into a health-food hippie, I passed on lunch at their house and I drove home to my parents' house. Once my first priority was met (food), I headed straight upstairs for a nap! I woke up in time for my favorite restaurant, Cherokee Cattle Company, with my parents and a night out with my "big brother". After I'm caught up on posts from Memorial Weekend and this past week, I'll dedicate a post to Shahrukh. *Public mental note*

It was so nice to have a lazy day on Saturday before the wedding! Saturday turned into a late night, so I slept right through church on Sunday morning! But thank goodness for technology because First Pres puts their sermons online, so I was especially grateful that I didn't miss Tim Tinsely wrapping up the book of John! The youth group went to the Lookouts Game that night and I honestly felt like they were going to have to mop me up off the floor because I would have been a puddle of sweat by the end of the game! So. Stinking. Hot.
Of all days, I realllllly wish I had taken a picture of my day on Monday. Drexel and I went to a late breakfast on Monday to celebrate our day off and after some slight detours, me, Ryan, Matt, and Drexel went to D's parents' yacht. She always refers to her parents' boat as a boat....no, it's a stinking yacht. Two bedrooms, a kitchen/sitting area, bathroom, and a sun deck! There's even a token Sea Doo. Crazy. I felt so legit at the Marina getting on their boat...And I figure that I'm totally allowed to brag about other people's nice things without sounding snobby. It was so relaxing to just sit in the water, talking, or laying out on the back of the boat, all while talking with good friends. Finishing the day with Chinese food and the Bachelorette was just the cherry on top.

Well that's about as concise as I can get it. Last week was pretty low key and even felt like a continued vacation because Katie Woodruff was housesitting for a family in East Brainerd so we took full advantage of their neighborhood pool and nice flat screen tv. I felt spoiled to say the least.

Even if she's Brittany Hughes, she's still Pease to me

Brittany and Ross are married! The ceremony was short, but sweet (my favorite kind of wedding ceremony!) and everyone looked great! After the ceremony, we took a little detour and made our way to the reception. It was held in Brittany's parents' backyard and it was beautiful! They had tents and tables set up around the yard and the dj was on the porch (the pool being right next to the dance floor made me nervous on several occasions, but no accidental fall ins happened!).

Rather than ramble on, here are some pictures (some of these are borrowed from Sloan's dad who served as a secondary photographer at the wedding)

The food set up--and look who was there to help!! Ms. Linda was the cook for our sorority house and we LOVED her! She's hilarious and I'm so glad she was there!
We sang our "sweetheart song" and did the Alpha Gam toast...I felt like I was back in college for 4 or 5 minutes... The candy as a gift was so Brittany! And I love how they decorated using the sparklers! And they're off! It was so fun to see PC '05 girls and some PC '06 girls too! It was a nice reprieve from the "real world" and just have a fun night with them and their husbands, fiances, and boyfriends--since when did we mature enough to have married and engaged friends? Weird, but I love it.

Congratulations Ross and Brittany! I'm so excited for the both of you!