Long Johns? People actually wears those?

      The last time we wore socks (not really)!     

              

We leave for New Hampshire tomorrow and so I am busy getting ready for our trip! The event leader informed us there is about 2 feet of snow on the ground! Yeah! I am officially packing my snow clothes! I haven't pulled these things out since our ski vacation to Jackson Hole, WY in Dec. of 2005. I guess that really goes to show how under-prepared we really are for cold weather! I'm going with the theory that more is always better and packing my huge suitcase with lots of socks, scarfs and gloves (all of which I haven't worn all winter). We are excited to go to a new place, meet new people and enjoy a time of worship and snow tubbing with lots of students and youth pastors. We are also going to meet up with some of our friends from Boston, Todd and Amy! I think they just want to see if we can withstand the northeastern freezing temps! I will be posting any interesting stories and pictures of our adventure in the near future. Ya know...the beautiful, white, powdery (Is that even a real word? It sounds funny!) snow is great until you are actually standing in it...cold and wet. Tomorrow night I'm sure I'll be dreaming of the warm sands of Panama City Beach! 

Beautiful day at PCB!

It rained all the way to the beach and my hopes for a lovely weekend were starting to diminish until I woke up early this morning and saw the sun shining bright! It turned out to be a gorgeous day! We relaxed and napped all day! I regretfully did not pack my bathing suit and today was the perfect day to lay out and get a great tan. Since I didn't have a suit I sat on the deck of the condo in my shorts and read a book. It was wonderful! Cody looks like a lobster because his face is so red. I warned him! I hope it turns into a tan tonight since he has a video shoot for the Lit Conference on Monday. It's going to be hilarious if he is red and peeling for the promotional video. Our fearless leader (who obviously doesn't wear sunscreen)! We had two great nights at the D-Now weekend. We got to meet some great students and the band was really awesome. We love the ministry God has blessed us with and all the people we get the privilege to meet! As Cody said 100 times today "It's great when you can't separate your job from vacation!" Now we are beyond ready for spring/summer weather. Tomorrow we head home for a week of work and then to New Hampshire for the weekend (where it will NOT be 75 and sunny). We are literally going from the sand to the snow! 

Going to the Beach!

Ah...the perks of ministry! We are doing a Disciple Now weekend for a church in Panama City Beach! The weather is supposed to be warm and beautiful and I'm so excited. I love the beach and I love warm weather! I'm packing my open-toe shoes (yes, my toes are presentable...as always)! It should be a fun weekend with awesome students who are lucky enough to live at the beach. Hope you guys have a wonderful weekend! More to come from the sand!!! 

Listening pleasure

For the past few days I've been on lock-down in my room with a cold/flu and it has allowed me time to read and catch up on some beloved podcasts (Erwin McManus from Mosaic is awesome). I'm finally diving into books I received for Christmas and haven't had the chance to enjoy yet! I love to read! My love of books was revived last spring when I read "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers! If you haven't read this book you must! It's the first book I've ever read that took me through every emotion a human can have, made me feel a deep connection with the characters and completely inthralled me from start to finish! It's all I talked about for weeks!

I recently finished reading "Be the Change" by Zach Hunter. It was a quick read with stories of people living in bondage who long for freedom and the courageous bystanders who fight (sometimes risking their own lives) to set them free. My eyes were opened to the facts; facts that shocked me beyond belief. Did you know there are 27 million slaves in the world today? Did you know 91 U.S. cities have reported cases of human trafficking? 91! This book was great to put things into perspective and it's awesome to know God is using a 16 year old to bring light to our careless neglect. Zach will be speaking at Lit conference and I'm excited to meet him and hear what God will speak through him Aug. 7th! 

This week I've been reading a book my Mom gave me for Christmas called "The Road Home" by Tenney/Olsen. It's a modern retelling of the story of Ruth which is one of my favorite passages in scripture. I'll let you know how it is when I'm finished. I've also been listening to Erwin McManus series on The Billboard. Obviously I think my husband is the greatest speaker alive but when I'm not listening to him or pastor Pete, I'm on my laptop or i-pod taking in Erwin. If you want to hear something that will stretch your thinking and break you out of your box listen to one of Erwin's talks! 

I always like to know what people are reading and listening to. I'm also attempting to keep myself from being bored! Back to my book! 

Apple Bottom Jeans...you know the rest!!!

Tonight (actually it was last night b/c I'm writing this at 1 in the morning) Cody and I had dinner with two (and a half) of the greatest people we know...Pete and Hollie. We were joined by Addie...who is amazing (we missed you, Hopie)! The child carries on a conversation as if she is 17 and it is hilarious to see these unbelievable sentences come out of her small, adorable, 4 year old body!!! As usual Cody and Pete immediately got the "work" conversation over before we made it to the restaurant which allowed time for more important dialogue like movie quotes and gas stations! 

I guess you could say my last blog was a big fat lie because we went to the movies and I did not follow-through on the promise I made. We went to see another "girlie" movie..."Step Up 2"! How bad is that? Have you ever dreamed you were a pro at something and attempted to do that certain task when you awoke? Well, this same behavior happened after we watched the movie and Cody and Pete thought they would be able to dance like fools! I suppose this ideal caused a "dance-off" between these men which I'm sure will last for weeks to come (resulting in lots of laughter)! 

Our night ended with a bang when my crazy husband jumped out of the car at the red light and began to dance (my definition would actually be...flail about) in front of the cars! It was awesome! Everyone looked at us like we needed to be put away! Check out my man's moves in the clip! 

Have a happy weekend! 

Happy Late Valentine's!

Happy Valentine's! I know it's late but I hope you all had a great day and celebrated the one you love! Cody and I didn't do much for Valentine's since we will be going to Hawaii in like 11 weeks! Yeah! I have officially started a countdown!! We exchanged cards with sweet notes written inside, went to dinner and then to see "Definitely, Maybe". We love going to the movies and it seems like we have seen quiet a few "girlie" movies recently. On the way home, I promised Cody our next trip to the movies would be to see something with weapons and lots of violence! So, I guess we will go see "Vantage Point" when it comes out! It's really hard for me to believe Cody and I have known each other for over 6 years! God answered my prayers and as I wrote in Cody's card yesterday...first love, first kiss! I love that guy! 

Enjoy your Friday! Who knows what we will get into for the weekend?!? 

Ya-Ya Sister's B-day

Today is my cousin's, Morgan, 19th Birthday! We celebrated at the Mexican restaurant and then came home to yummy Hershey bar cake and American Idol! There is no better way to celebrate! Anyway...Morgan has been living with us since the beginning of the year and we love her so much! She's made some life changing decisions in the past few weeks and we are so proud of her! I know this year is going to be her best yet! We can't wait to see all the Lord will do in and through her life! She has already allowed Him to use her in so many ways! She and I share the same favorite scripture verse...Jeremiah 29:11-13 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." It's awesome to know God has a plan even when we can't see the finish product or fully understand! He knows the future! Hope you all have a Happy Valentine's Day! Happy Birthday Morgan! 

Pimp my Page!

I have a confession to make. Here goes...I love the show "Pimp my Ride" on MTV! Cody, Dad and I used to watch it all the time and we were really obsessed! It was so obnoxious to see the super "pimped" out cars with plasma TV's and sound systems that could be heard in the next state! We loved it! I decided it was time to put the things I learned from the show into action and I pimped my page! Thanks Will for working so hard to make my page cute! Hope you enjoy the new look! It's all for your viewing pleasure! As Xzibit would say I've "officially been pimped"!!! 

Friday Night Smorgasbord...

What do two couples with no children do on a Friday night...lots of stuff! It all started when we went to dinner with our dear friends, Brian and Jen Bennett (her blog is on my links).  After eating lots of chips and salsa at Chili's, we headed to "Swayze's" to hear our friend, Shane Cole, play with his band. "Swayze's" is a venue that sums up garage band style with its concrete floors and plywood (which was spray-painted black) pieced together on the walls and held together with duct tape. Shane's band was really good...especially considering the fact that the sound system was not the greatest! Hopefully we can go hear them again when there is a superb system! Shane is an incredibly talented musician and a super sincere person! He also plays an amazing role in our church band! 

The concert didn't last long so the night was still young and so we decided we "needed" some dessert and a movie. We all wanted milkshakes from "Chick-fil-a" but, upon our arrival, our guilt began to kick in and we all (except Brian) opted for something with less calories!! Following icecream and a milkshake we chose to ignore the harsh critics and went to see "Fool's Gold" for a late movie! I think we may be getting older because we were all about the fall asleep before the movie started! We should have listened to the talented critics and we would not have waisted 20 bucks! It really wasn't as horrible as I've made it sound but, it wasn't the best! Our conclusion...wait and watch it at home! 

Brian and Jen, we promise to hang out more often! We feel so blessed to have a bunch of awesome friends to hang with! We love our church and all the people we meet there! It's wonderful to have a place that feels like home! Check out our church at www.viningslake.org! 

Daily Grind

We still do not have internet at our house! I never realized it would take Comcast so long to make it out to get us connected to DSL! Apparently there is only one person in the entire Metro Atlanta area capable of getting new residences hooked up for internet access! During this time, I have acutely aware of the importance of wifi. I seriously cannot live without my Mac and internet! Cody and I have found every hotspot to get online...all jokes aside...every hotspot!! This week we have been busy at work for the Lit Conference and so we found the greatest place...The Daily Grind! It's on Due West Road across the street from Due West Methodist. The atmosphere, coffee, food and music are excellent! Nothing against Starbucks but, we like it better! Every day this week we cozy up on the couch, eat, drink and type away! We love it! Come "unwind at the Daily Grind"! (No, they did not pay me to write these wonderful things)

Last week of January? You kidding?!?

The last week of Jan. was just as busy as the other weeks in this month!! It's hard for me to believe it's almost Valentine's Day! We had an early start to our weekend on Thursday night when we had dinner with some new friends, Jarrett and Christy (check out her blog on my links)! We ate at one of our favorite spots, PF Chang, and talked about everything from houses, to kids (which neither of us has), to small groups and, of course, no meal would be complete without a discussion about politics! Soon we realized we had been sitting there for 3 and a half hours. I must mention that we were there 30 minutes before our new friends and we thought we had been stood up! J/K! It ain't no thing the lettuce wraps held us over!

 

Friday night Cody went with my Dad, cousin and 7,997 other men to the Men's Conference at FBCW and I went out with some girls! I actually tried sushi for the first time and I must say...not bad, not bad at all!! It's growing on me! I met my Mom and cousin, Morgan, at the movies and we saw "Over Her Dead Body"! It was really cute! We laughed a bunch and so did everyone else in the theater (which is great b/c there is nothing more awkward than being the only person in the theater who is actually laughing)! After sitting in the car and chatting about life's issues with my best girls, I headed home. I love you Jenn and Hollie! 

After the Men's Conference on Saturday, Cody and I shared a plate of spaghetti and saw the greatest movie we've both seen in a LONG time..."Juno"! It kinda has the Napoleon Dynamite feel because of the simplicity of the movie. It is so sincere and we loved it! We are definitely going to see it again! In fact, we both wanted to go see it again last night instead of watching the Super Bowl but...who could miss the Super Bowl? So, we went to a Super Bowl party, ate chips and salsa and played wii?!?! We found out the Giants won when it popped up online! Pretty lame huh? That's just how we roll! 

Until next time...go see Juno!!