Pics to Spice it up!!

I suddenly realized my blog, of late, has been filled with lots of words and no pictures!! Really unlike me since my camera is attached to my hip. Below are some pics of our amazing days at the beach! We had a great time and I love all these people so much! Super-fab girls and terrific times! 

No, we are not calling each other...a shock, I know! 

Where is Heidi? I'm really not good at taking these shots. Where is the tri-pod?

There she is? Sorry Stephanie! We can only see half of you! 

One word...AMAZING! (you can't see his "rat-tail")

Friday at the beach!

After spending 7 hours tanning (or in our case, toasting) on the beach, we decided to spend the remainder of our afternoon at the outlets! It wasn't a very hard decision to make. We shopped, making intense decisions on each purchase and leaving with some fantastic finds. We were starving when dinner rolled around partially due to the fact that our diet for the day included chips, salsa, raisinets and trail-mix. Brittany and some of her friends had already eaten but they met to watch us eat our stir-fry and edamame. It was a bonus to see Brittany again and to meet her friends...even though I strongly believe they were making fun of us and our crazy antics, which was rude, but that's just how we roll and we will not apologize for it because it is just too much fun (they would really have freaked if they saw us laughing uncontrollably and making a huge scene in the theater before the movie started...fun times with a tri-pod and the 10 second pose). Dinner was followed by a movie and a cruise through the hot-spots of PCB which was, in turn, followed by a full moon! One thing is certain, life is too short to be uptight and we are the complete opposite of that. There is no denying it, we are out of control and we love it!

On the beach...that's where I want to be!

After our late night drive, we finally made it to PCB. We woke up early and had a yummy breakfast at Broken Egg Cafe. The day seemed to last forever (which was wonderful on the peaceful beach) and included a trip in our swimsuits to the shaved ice stand and a strolling speedo wearer with an unimaginable "rat-tail". Only on the redneck riviera!!! The night was fairly uneventful with shopping, dinner, a race to the elevator to beat our apparent stalkers (or at least that is the story we fabricated in our heads) and 2 of our 4 girls falling asleep within the first 5 minutes of our late night movie. We are a blast, let me tell you! Now I'm off to get some sleep because the beach is calling my name first thing in the morning. 

PCB here we come!

I am officially packed! I waited until the last minute which means I have entirely too many clothes for the 3 days in Panama City Beach! Oh well! I'm about to walk out the door to meet 3 other fun girls for a few days at the beach where the weather is going to be perfect for relaxing and getting a tan! Yeah!! 

Hope you all are having a great week! 

perfect weather

be forewarned...i'm too lazy tonight to press the shift bottom to capitalize my words so ignore the substandard blog. since the weather was simply perfect today, i decided to skip going to the gym and spend some time outside. i find it rather frustrating that i pay to be a member at gold's gym every month and go as little as i do. in fact, i haven't been once this month! however, i could not stand to go inside for a class or a run on the treadmill that faces a faux brick wall on a day such as this. mt. everest was my choice of exercise today! actually, it just seemed like mt. everest as my heart pounded within the first 3 minutes (which i'm certain was caused by the incline and not the fact that i haven't worked-out in over 2 weeks). i was joined by my best gal pal who will probably never come to walk with me, ever again, when she wakes up and can't move in the morning!!! the views were breathtaking as the sun began to set over the mountains and it was so clear that we could see the city from the top. a great workout! regardless, i intend on going to the gym tomorrow...i must get my moneys worth! i can literally hear dollars going down the drain. get out and enjoy the sunshine!

Good Times!

We had so much fun in Nashville this weekend starting with dinner Friday night with Brittany, Annie (the orphan), Jill, Jason and Lena at a yum Italian restaurant. We were entertained by Cody and Jason singing song bites in their most scary impersonations. All heads turned!  I, of course, wanted to hear a band or go karaoke but Jason didn't think his voice could hold out for a duet! Since karaoke was out of the question and the weather was yuck, we went back Britt's apartment and talked for hours. Brittany's place is so cute and cozy and she has a closet full of collared shirts and more strands of pearls than a person can count! Brittany also has a 4 pound dog named Ellie Chanel (yes, I voted for this name)...with that being said I must confess I am both terrified and disgusted by animals. It's amazing we are still friends!  However, I faced my fear and stayed in Britt's apartment with the dog! 

Saturday, before heading to Cookeville for Cody's speaking engagement, we had lunch with Jenna and her new beau, Bobby. It was so nice to meet him and see my Jenna! We couldn't leave Jackson's Bistro without trying the cookie-dough eggrolls and it was SO worth it!!! I highly recommend a trip to Jackson's if you are in Nashville. Cody spoke Sat. night and this morning and it was great. We met a new band, lots of great students and the youth pastor and his sweet wife. We had a great trip and got to see so many people we love and rarely see. We are back home now and watching Cody's favorite movie, The Truman Show. Have a wonderful Monday!!

**NOTE: There are no pics of the above activities because I foolishly left my camera at home! I was totally lost!  

NashVegas Baby!

We are so excited to be in NashVegas to spend some time with a few good friends. The only plan we have is dinner but I'm sure we will find some other "shenanigans" to get into!! We are so sad to miss Sunday at VL for the 2 year anniversary and Dominican "show and tell" but, I know it's gonna be great!!! I can't believe it's been 2 years! God is amazing and we are so blessed to be part of such an awesome work!! Happy Anniversary VL!  

Can't believe it's already Thursday!

This week has flown by! We knew things were going to be kinda crazy when we got back from DR but we never expected it to be non-stop. After our amazing trip last week, we took Saturday to chill at home and wash ALL of our clothes but on Sunday, after church, we got right to work. We have spent the week working on the conference and making decisions about things for our house (which we are trying to close by next week). 

I'm so thankful it has finally warmed up and the weather is gorgeous! We have so much to look forward to over the next few weeks...we leave for Nashville tomorrow (Cody will be speaking Sat. and Sun. but Friday night we are hanging out with our friends), I go to the beach next weekend with some girls while Cody goes to work in Orlando and then we go to Hawaii!!! Yeah! Lots of fun times which will hopefully lead to interesting blogs in the near future! 

Enjoy the gorgeous spring weather (excluding all the pollen)!!! 

Missing the warm DR weather and these beautiful faces!

Today was freezing and rainy and I've been missing DR all day! All I could think about was all our fun and lovely friends, the warm sunshine and the pleasant breeze! The following pics are some of my favorites from last week. They include...a 116 year old woman, a sweet gentleman who accepted Christ, the fro that wouldn't stop, Cody with Shane and again with the one and only Hopie, me and Hollie with "the" pose (made famous by Lindsey), a precious baby boy and me with my new friend Nayeli! 

My Handsome Man's Blog!

So here's the deal...I decided not to create a video from Dominican because all my friends did such an amazing job creating video blogs (there are too many to list so check them out on my links)! My hubby is so creative and talented so check out his blog for videos from our trip! It's been so sad not having all our wonderful friends and hospitable Dominican people around us the past two days! We miss everyone!! Hope you all have a super great week! 

Home...SWEET...home!!

We are home from our amazing adventure to Dominican Republic! I plan on posting my best pics tomorrow but for now...I'm snuggling down in my comfy bed for a good nights sleep! Hope you all have a great weekend! And to all the Dominican team...I love you all and I'm so glad we were able to share the experience together! 

More from Dominican!

One of the sweet girls we met at the orphanage on Monday afternoon!

The past few days have gone by quickly and we can’t believe our trip is almost over. There is no way I can ever put into words everything I’ve learned and experienced so I will do my best to give some highlights. On Sunday, we attended church in a village (roosters, dogs, ducks and all) and then went to a park for an outdoor event for the community. The rooster crowed during the service…it was awesome. The Dominican people are so friendly, hospitable and happy regardless of their situation. The church service and the people were such a blessing!

Monday we went back to the village to do another VBS and some of the girls had fun braiding Cody’s hair (which looked ridiculous). We ended the day on Monday by spending a few hours playing with beautiful girls at an orphanage. We colored, did their hair, jumped rope, took pictures and shared lots of giggles. They were amazing! One of the girls who quickly became my friend was deaf but she had absolutely no problem expressing herself!! It was easier for me to communicate with her than it has been to communicate with the other Dominican people! No need for a translator…just use your hands, facial expressions and eyes! Anyone who knows me realizes this is not a problem for me!

Today we spent the entire day in Santo Domingo! We spent a few hours in the morning at the market shopping for souvenirs and Cody was pleased we were able to leave with only one purchase…a photo album to commemorate our trip. In the afternoon we stopped at another handicap orphanage to love on the kids. Words cannot begin to describe the sites we saw. There were 107 children in this orphanage and many of the kids were tied to their beds or tied in actual cages (due to their unstable mental state). Many of the children had minor disabilities and with the right medical attention and one-on-one care, they could possibly live normal, healthy lives. I left feeling powerless but also, thanking God that these children (unlike the others in the previous handicap orphanage) could talk, walk, smile, laugh and express themselves.

We ended the day with Charlie (a cute 7 year old on our team) getting baptized in the ocean. It’s amazing how the kids on our trip are already allowing God to use them to make a huge difference. I’m off to bed and pumped about feeding the village tomorrow! 

Dominican days 1 & 2

Hopie being Christ's hands! 

Dominican is absolutely gorgeous, the weather couldn't be more perfect!! The place we are staying is on the beach so we have a lovely view and beautiful scenery to accompany the warm temps and nice breeze! After our long day yesterday (we awoke at 3:45 and finally went to sleep around 10) we got a good nights rest and were ready to go first thing this morning. Today we went to a sugarcane village to host a VBS with kids ranging in age from infants to 18! We colored, played baseball, sang songs and shared Christ! It was amazing! We will go back to feed this village at the beginning of the week. After lunch we had the privilege to visit an orphanage for handicap children. None of the children could speak or stand but they were smiling and they felt our touch. As I rubbed one little girls back the nurse told the interpreter to ask me not to touch her because she was very nervous and didn't like to be touched. She asked if she was shaking and when my response was no, the nurse looked shocked. The child immediately turned to me and began to giggle and smile. She wouldn't let go of my hand! I sat and played with her until they informed me the bus was about to leave. It was so awesome! We are so blessed to be a part of this trip and we are so thankful for the blessing God has bestowed upon us! 

Dominican Republic here we come...

Cody and I are preparing to leave Friday morning to go to Dominican Republic with a group from our church. We get to see the activity of God in youth group, schools and churches all across the U.S. every week and so we are thrilled to see God do a special work in Dominican. Packing, unlike my usual process, has turned into quite an ordeal...two outfits per day (14 outfits), comfortable shoes, a swimsuit and all the necessary toiletries in one 50 pound suitcase! Our Wednesday night meeting was informative, productive and successful in making everyone excited about our upcoming adventure. As I helped pack the clothes we purchased for the orphanage, I couldn't help but wonder how our visit would change the lives of these kids and more importantly, change our lives. Everyone has been so busy thinking about the trips itinerary and what we will need to pack that the change that will take place in our own lives is literally going to smack us in the face. I can't wait to get on the plane! Please pray for us as we embark on this great adventure! Hopefully I can blog in D.R.! For now, I'm off to finish packing!!