There has been a black cloud hanging over my family this past week. It has been a little crazy but all true...

Monday: My Dad went in the hospital for scheduled hip replacement surgery. He was supposed to get out on Thursday. After several complications he was released 8 days after surgery.

Thursday: My Uncle was taken by ambulance to the ER with pancreatitus. He is still in the hospital with impending gual bladder surgery.

Friday:

1. During the middle of the night my cousin's apartment building caught on fire. Their apartment was the only one that didn't burn. Praise the Lord! But, the whole building has been condemed.

2. My Aunt & Uncle had to go to the emergancy vet with their dog and because of issues had to put her to sleep.

My Dad has 5 brothers and sisters and each of these stories is from different families. It was a very hectic Christmas season. Even though it was crazy busy I feel blessed to have such a wonderful family and such a wonderful Lord to serve. He has been faithful throughout all of this.

At the request of my dear friend Brandi I am blogging about something serious...

It is an interesting thing to have a parent go through serious health issues. At the age of 37 my Dad had a heart attack. I remember waking up in the morning to find my grandparents at the house and hearing the info that my Dad was at the hospital. It is a life changing experience to learn that your father could have died.

This past Monday my Dad went in to the hospital for hip replacement surgery. Every time someone goes under the knife it is a risk. It is even more for my Dad because of his heart history. So it is a trust thing for me every time this happens. I experience an emotional battle with the Lord and me being willing to trust that he has the best in mind.

I can say that the surgery went well. There were a few complications but we are hoping that he will come home tomorrow. The Lord has again shown me how much more I need to rely on Him. I am so thankful for the blessing of a wonderful family and a great relationship with my parents.

Thanks for reading what has been on my heart...

One more thing I am thankful for...






Mr. Boots doggie name tag that says his name and my phone #

I am house sitting for my Aunt and Uncle. I dropped Mr. Boots off at their place this morning and put him out in the back yard with the big dogs. We have done this several times and he has been fine. Well at about 2:00 p.m. today I got a phone call...


Lady: Hi...ummm...I have Mr. Boots
Me: WHAT?
Lady: I have a small dog named Mr. Boots. Is he yours?
Me: Yes! I am staying at my Aunt and Uncles and he must have gotten out of the yard.
Lady: Can you come get him.
Me: I'm on my way!

I drive the 10 minute drive in total panic that not only has something happened to my dog but my family's dogs. Come to find out that they are all fine. Katie and Cooper (golden retrievers) were in the back yard. Mr. Boots had somehow squeezed through a tiny space at the bottom of the fence wanting his freedom from the yard. I'm so thankful that he only made it to the next door neighbors before someone found him.

Things that make me happy during the Christmas season...

1. shopping - I have all mine done!
2. Christmas music - I stream it all day at work!
3. peppermint hot chocolate from Starbucks
4. parties - I have already been to 3 and it's only Dec. 13
5. Christmas lights - especially driving around and looking at them (or mocking them) with friends
6. family - pretty much ALL of my extended family is coming to visit this year
7. my tree - it is humble but it makes my house look pretty
8. cookies - these make me happy all year round but I especially like Christmas cookies
9. friends - every year some friends from highschool get together and it is a great time
10. holiday pay - I like having time off work and getting paid for it!

It has been a good holiday season so far. Even though I have basically no voice right now it is still good!

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas - Music Video

My Aunt June shared this video with me when I was in Tallahassee. It makes me laugh!!

This Friday I am going with my good friend from college, Christina, to Tallahassee. My Uncle Grady and Aunt June live there and I am gonna stay with them for the weekend. On Friday night they are taking me to see Dracula. I am pretty pumped about it. This is what Wikipedia had to say about it...

Dracula is a 1924 stage play adapted by Hamilton Deane from the novel of the same name by Bram Stoker, and subsequently revised by John L. Balderston. It was the first adaptation of the novel authorised by Stoker's widow, and has influenced many subsequent adaptations.
The original production starred Raymond Huntley as Dracula; Deane had originally intended to play the title role himself, but in the event opted for the role of Van Helsing. This production toured England for three years before settling in London.
In 1927 the play was brought to Broadway by Horace Liveright, who hired John L. Balderston to revise the script for American audiences. The American production starred Béla Lugosi in his first major English-speaking role, with Edward Van Sloan as Van Helsing; both actors reprised their roles in the 1931 film version, which drew on the Deane-Balderston play.
In addition to radically compressing the plot, the play reduced the number of significant characters, combining Lucy Westenra and Mina Murray into a single character, making John Seward this Lucy's father, and disposing of Quincey Morris and Arthur Holmwood.

I want this...

I happened upon the movie i'm reed fish last night. I was searching through all of the movies on demand titles and saw that this movie starred Alexis Bledel. I have enjoyed the stuff she is in so I decided to check it out. It is such a cute movie. The story is very suprising. You are about 1/2 way through when things take a twist. I like that. Jay Baruchel, the lead guy, is so funny. I love his facial expressions. I definitly reccomend it as a good chick flic.




P.S. - check out the singer/actress Schuyler Fisk in the movie. She has an amazing voice. Come to find out she is the daughter of Sissy Spacek. You can check out her music on myspace. She is touring with one of my fave's Josh Radin. While you're at it check him out too!!

Laughed so hard I cried!...

About 3 years ago I "adopted" a mini-schnauzer from my friends Paul and Cathy. He was then called Bootsy. He has since been dubbed Mr. Boots. I love my dog. Although he can drive me completely bonkers he is a great companion. Somehow I did not realize how attached to him I was. That is, until this week. Friday he had some sort of spasm, yelped out and then kinda froze in a weird position. I was totally freaked out. I called my parents, called the vet and in the end it was decided that I should wait to see what happens. Well it kept happening. By yesterday I was convinced that he was having seizures. Yesterday I left him home all day while I was at work. I was in such a panic on my drive home that I was going to find a dead dog. He was not. He was still hurting but totally alive. So...today I took him to the vet. Come to find out the vet thinks he has a pulled muscle. Should not be a big deal at all. He has to take a week of anti-inflammatory meds and he should be fine. I have come to realize that I am one of those crazy dog people that I totally mock. While I maintain that I will not spend thousands of dollars on the health of my dog I was terrified that something was wrong. I am so glad to say he is ok. Thanks to all of my friends who put up with my worriedness. They all realize how much I love him.

Yesterday I went to Publix. Pretty much as soon as I walked in I was overwhelmed with the smell of cinnamon. I am a HUGE fan of cinnamon smells. I kept walking around the store and in the fruits & veggie section I noticed the cinnamon brooms. I was so excited. Having the brooms means it is a certain time of year. It is fall. It is time to have thing smell "fall like". So I scooped one of the brooms up and put it in my cart. My house smells so nice now. I woke up this morning and went down stairs and was immediately surprised with the scent of cinnamon tingling my nose. I love it!

Happy 1st birthday to my most cute nephew Tristan!! Aunt Lindsey loves you SO much!! Incase you have not linked to my sister's blog here is a 1 year pic of him...

Ok so I just opened my purse to get some chapstick. Come to realize that I have some interesting things in my purse and thought I would share...

1. 2 Lip Smacker chapsticks
2. 1 tube of lipstick
3. 1 tube of lip gloss
4. tide pen
5. earrings (belong to my roomie)
6. earplugs (I have NO idea why)
7. check book
8. phone
9. wallet
10. DVD (needs to be returned to Blockbuster)
11. check from UPC
12. gum
13. Financial peace cash holder
14. keys
15. black pen

I do think the 4 things of lip gloss/chapstick is kinda funny. You just never know what you will be in the mood for. The other funny thing is that I change my purse often and still manage to have this much junk in it!

Let me start by saying that I am not a reality TV watcher. For some reason I have never really been able to get into it. Last week my roomie and I were waiting for our new guilty pleasure, Gossip Girl, to start and we watched Kid Nation. There has been a lot of controversy over this show. The premise is that there is a group of kids living in an abandoned town with no adult supervision. It is kinda like survivor in that there are challenges between teams. The difference is that the challenges determine what "class" you are in. Upper class has pretty much no work to do and Lower Class has to clean the outhouses and other dirty jobs. There is a council of 4 kids who are the leaders of each group. Anytime rules are set or things are awarded it is through the council. Each week 1 kid who stands out to the council is awarded a gold star. The kicker is that it is a 2 lb gold star worth $20,000! It is really interesting to see the dynamic with the kids. Also to see who the leaders are and are not. If you have time check it out!

Where will I be tonight?....

The new Kohls in Oviedo OPENS today. They sent me a $10 giftcard in the mail. I'm pumped!!

Who Am I Casting Crowns

Last night I went with my roomie to see Hairspray. It was such a fun movie. I highly recommend it if you are looking for something light and fun. Also I have to say Monday is the night to go to the movies at the Oviedo Mall. I parked in the front and then walked up to the ticket booth with no line. It was GREAT. During the movie I noticed something. I am a HUGE Veronica Mars fan. There was a character introduced in the last season named "Piz" played by actor Chris Lowell. I now have a really big crush on him. He is totally dreamy and adorable. But I digress...

In the movie Hairspray one of the main characters is Link played by Zac Efron. It is eery how much he and Chris Lowell look alike. Check out their

pics...

Zac Efron & Chris Lowell

My cousins are parents!! Congrats to David & Julie on their new little one Judah Stephen!

www.freechickenandcoke.com

If you are a lover of Chick-fil-A like I am then go to the above website and register. They will mail you a coupon for a free chicken sandwich and a free coke! How can you beat that?!

I am feeling a BIT frazzled today! Things started off with me waking up late. I guess I did not set my alarm clock last night. So I rushed around today trying to get ready. When I got to work there was already lots of stuff to do. THEN some people that will remain un-named showed up for a meeting. These people did not come prepared at all!! I was asked to do several things for them, totally part of my job, on top of what I was already doing. Normally this would not be a big deal but today is CRAZY. There is to much to do. AAAKKK!!! I know that I am not the only one like this in my office. I also know that several of my friends feel this way. We have a BIG event here at the church this weekend and it is making everyone a little crazy.

Note to self:

How to tell when you need a new blowdryer? When is burns your hair so that chunks of it fall off!!!

My roomie Betsy and I watched the movie "The Ultimate Gift" last night. She told me on the way home from renting it that the movie had gotten a "Christian" rap because it was put out by Fox Family Media. I will say that it had a very strong message of redeption but I would not label it a "Christian" movie. I absolutely LOVE Abagail Breslin. Ever since I saw her in Little Miss Sunshine I have wanted to see her do more. She was great in this flick. I highly reccomend this movie! It's a good one.

Yesterday at UPC we had a pretty eventful day. Tanya, my co-worker, and I were walking down the hall to use our "back-up" copier because our regular copier broke. After we finished up we were walking back down the hall and noticed an oder. It was a burning type oder. We tried for like 10 minutes to figure out what it was. Then we called in Jonathan and Mike. They too could not figure out what was going on. So...what did we do? Call the firemen! After about 5 minutes 2 trucks and one ambulance show up. They make all of us evacuate the building. An hour later after all 10 fireman have looked up and down the building and in all the air vents they said they could not figure it out. The smell went away. It was SO weird. I mean who needs to do work really?

Yesterday my good friend Cindy, in the pink, made my other friend Karin, in the black, and I lunch at her house. It was SO yummy. I also have to say it was one of THE most relaxing afternoons I have had in a while. We ate lunch, chatted, drank coffee and ate brownies, chatted, moved the party into the living room, and chatted. We were there for 4 hours! I can't tell you how much I enjoy these girls. We can be talking about absolutely nothing or something totally serious and either way it is great. I'm blessed to have friends like them. They keep me from having to much drama in my life. :-) Also the 3 of us saw "Becoming Jane" on Saturday night. It was a good one! I think i'm the only one that appreciated it truly. Karin fell asleep, big surprise, and Cindy was expecting more. Maybe it is just that i'm easily entertained.

Blue Cross Trigon Commercial

Watch ALL 3 of these cause they are SO funny!! Thanks Aunt June!

Trigon Commercial - Karate

Trigon Commercial 2

For the past 7+ years I have attended University Presbyterian Church. For the past 4.5 years I have worked at UPC. So during that time you could say that The Bates Family (Mark, Anna Katherine, Allison, Ashley, and Tricia) have had a pretty big impact on my life. It is a true blessing to work for a man such as Mark. His leadership is powerful and I deeply respect him. Just about 2 months ago he announced that he felt God was leading him to a new church. When he called me with the news I was a wreck. I sobbed on the phone. I can not imagine UPC with out him or his family. Then...I heard him explain how he felt God calling him to move. When you hear Mark speak of such things you can't really argue with him. I have seen God lead him many different times and all have had amazing outcomes. This past Sunday was the day he preached his last sermon and also the day of the going away party for them. It was a day filled with mixed emotions. It was great to feel the outpouring of love not only from myself but the whole church for The Bates. I'm sad that they are gone but they have left an incredible legacy. God is going to do awesome things here at UPC because God, through Mark, has laid an incredible foundation to move forward with.

My friends Brandi & Greg are in the process of adopting from Liberia. She posted a blog yesterday talking about the visa issue there. This is what she had to say about the situation...

"As some of you know, the visa situation in Liberia is a serious concern right now. There is a new American Consular in charge of Visas. Because of some allegations against other agencies (not Acres of Hope, who has NEVER had a complaint filed against them) she has decided to slow down adoptions. She has a couple of ideas up her sleave, but the main one right now is that she will only issue visas on Thursdays and only 2 per agency. Right now, we have 110 kids at the orphanage and almost every single child has already been referred to a family. There are children being turned away b/c they are full and can't take any more kids until we can get some of those kiddos home. This is one of the things that makes the visa situation life or death, not just impatience to get our kids home! Also, Acres of Hope is the ONLY agency that will take special needs kids. Of these special needs kids, many NEED to get home asap b/c of their physical conditions. So, we're asking you to pray! This week on Thursday, Patty (AoH founder) will be meeting with Ms. Alma (the visa lady) to discuss the situation. She will be asking for more than 2 visas every Thursday and for an extra day just for AoH to process special needs visas. Please join us in praying for that meeting. Pray for Patty to clearly and lovingly express the needs of the children in a way that will reach Alma's heart."

If you have a moment today please stop, think of Liberia, and say a prayer. We all know that the God we serve is the only one who can have impact on this situation.

August 07, 2007 AT THE SOCIAL
Mae
- with guests Dear and The Headlights.











Doors at 5:30PM, $18.00, All Ages.
Tickets available at the door, Ticketmaster locations, Park Ave CDs UCF, and Park Ave CDs.

My friend Amy and I are going. If you wanna come let me know!! It will be an AWESOME show!

Brad (the one in the hat) and his friends...

Check out this video: Mi Amore



Add to My Profile | More Videos


They did this while they were camp counselors recently. SO FUNNY!!

After much waiting my roomie Betsy is FINALLY engaged. I am so excited for her and Mike. They have been together for about 6 years and so this was a long time coming. They are planning to be married November 24. This will leave me without a roomie. As excited as I am for Bets I am sad to see her go. She has BY FAR been the best roommate that I have ever had. I can't even tell you how much fun we have together. So I have begun, kind of, the process of looking for someone new. The plan will be for her to move in December 1. I am just praying to find someone as great as Betsy. It will be tough!

I make take a bit if ridicule for this but I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan. While on vacation last week I went to see the most recent movie Order of the Pheonix. It was SO good.







Then on Saturday I recieve the latest and final book in the series.












The only issue is that i'm afraid the stupid press is going to leak the story before I actually get to read it. I have pretty much closed myself off from ALL news stations. By mistake I turned on the radio this morning and they were talking about it. It is highly inconvenient but totally worth it!

Britains Got Talent - A Star Is Born

When I first saw this I was skeptical but it will give you chills! Actually, it brought me to tears.

Something I have been thinking about lately is how strong my belief in God is. I have several friends who are questioning their beliefs. The other day I was thinking what if all of my friends and family stopped believing in God. Would I continue to be strong? Is my faith enough of my own that I would continue even though none of my peers did? I don't really have an answer to this question right now. I would love to say that if I was put to the test I would make the right choice but I am to much of a go with the flow person to think that of myself. I want to grow stronger. I want to know in my head and heart that God is who he says he is ALL THE TIME.

Just something I have been thinking about...

You Are A Good Friend

You're always willing to listen Or lend a shoulder to cry on You're there through thick and thin Many people consider you their "best friend"!

What Kind of Friend Are You?

Your 80s Hunk Is

Kirk Cameron

Who's Your 80s Hunk?

The guy in the middle at the top is my friend JP! This ad is in the latest issue of Rolling Stone.

from Karin...

You Are a Frappacino

At your best, you are: fun loving, sweet, and modern At your worst, you are: childish and over indulgent You drink coffee when: you're craving something sweet Your caffeine addiction level: low

http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofcoffeeareyouquiz/">What Kind of Coffee Are You?

As my dentist will attest to I am not a good flosser. By not good I mean that I never do it. Last night at Target with my good friend Karin I decided to pick up one of those Reach Access Flossers. I thought maybe if I left it in my car I would floss on my way to work. Well today was my first day with this new trial. While flossing it seemed like a positive thing to do. 2 birds - 1 stone kinda thing. Well 2 hours later I am kinda regretting this decision. My gums are very sore. I know this is because I never floss but let me just say the feeling does not encourage me to do it again.

This is my new phone. I'm pretty excited about it!...

How is it that things can change so quickly. One minute you are best friends and spending all your time together. The next you are reading about their life online or getting together once a month (maybe) for lunch. I'm happy with where my life is right now and who my friends are but I still miss them. I miss my friends who seem to have moved on without me.

Feeling left behind...

Now that Grey's Anatomy is over for the season my new guilty pleasure on Thursday nights is The Starter Wife. It stars Debra Messing. I absolutely loved her in Will & Grace. She has such amamzing comedic timing. Similar to W & G she is surrounded with crazy friends that are her support system. Each of these friends have their own issues that will unravel during the season. I love to watch a show when it first begins because the first season is so fresh and new. Most of the time as the season's go on they find some way to trash it up. Check it out if you have time!

Today I made my first ever post on Craigslist. I'm pretty excited to see how it goes. I'm selling all of the VHS tapes that I have. There are 48 of them. Hopefully someone will be interested and I will get some extra cash. If you want to check out my listing go here...http://orlando.craigslist.org/emd/342548457.html.

Regal gives moviegoers power to fight movie ruiners:
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/features_popculture_blog/2007/05/regal_gives_mov.html

I have to say as a fan of movies I am pretty excited about this. I have been avoiding the theatres recently because it is just not a good experience anymore. YAY to Regal!

I went to see Pirates 3 last night with my friend Jaime. I now have a HUGE crush on Will Turner (aka Orlando Bloom)!! It is an excellent movie. Lots of twists and turns. I'm going to have to see it again not only for the hunky Will factor but because there is so much going on I feel like I missed a bunch. If you have not seen it I felt like it was well worth the $$ and as my bro-in-law would say..."it is 3 hours of piraty goodness!"

Something I WANT but don't NEED...

I absolutely adore Hoops & Yoyo!

It was my 27th birthday this past weekend. I have to say thanks to all my family and friends for making me feel really special. My mom made my favorite meal for me which is lasagna. She also got me carrot cake from TooJays. I got lots of fun presents. It was a GOOD time! I love birthdays!

For Cathy...

Do you ever have one of those days were you just don't want to go to work? As soon as the alarm clock goes off you start coming up with reason's why you should take the day off. Just call in sick, you tell yourself. I am having one of those days. I am at work but I sure don't want to be. Not for any other reason except for my bed wanted me to stay in it this morning.

I went to a funeral for a family friend last night. At the service the preacher gave an example of how God always loves us. He said that he had a $20 bill. He knew that everyone would want the $20. Then he took the bill and crumpled it up and stomped it on the floor. Then he said who would want this dirty bill? EVERYONE! It is still $20. It is still valuable and can still be used. That is how God looks at us. No matter how damaged an used we are he still wants us. We are still valuable to him.

I thought this was pretty cool. Especially since the funeral was for someone who had a pretty tough life.

Tonight my favorite show Veronica Mars comes back on. It took a bit of a break but starts again on the CW tonight. If you have not checked out the show yet feel free to ask me about it. I own the first 2 season's and am totally addicted. It is GOOD stuff!!

Woman of the Week - Susan Enlow

On our local radio Christian radio station Z88.3 they do this thing called Woman of the Week. Basically you nominate someone who you think deserves this honor. My sister Allison nominated our Mom. Check out the link and read what she had to say...http://zradio.com/index/wow/.

So I am getting this CD player for FREE!! Pretty much daily I get coupons from Office Depot at the church. Mostly they are junk or they are discounts on a purchase. Today in the mail was a coupon to get this Coby CD Player for free if you made a purchase of $75 or more. I just happens that this morning I made an $81 purchase for the church. My reward? This baby!! I am pretty excited. It will arrive tomorrow and replace the old junky one that I have at home. I LOVE free stuff!!

Note to self...
When making oatmeal cookies make sure you have enough oatmeal before mixing ALL the ingredients! If you don't have enough and try to make the cookies anyway they will turn out like oatmeal pancakes.

Here are some pics of my SUPER COOL new chairs!! Enjoy and feel free to be jealous!

This weekend was pretty good! I did some babysitting and made some extra $$. I also went garage sailing. The first one was VERY dissapointing. The only thing I ended up with were some books for my nephew. I decided to stop at one more on my way home and got the find of the century! I will hopefully be able to post pictures later in the week. For now my description will have to do. They are wooden framed chairs that sit pretty low to the ground. They have leather/vynil seats that are a yellow color. Think very 1973 furniture! I am SO pumped about them. They were only $5 each! All I need to do is strip the wooden frame and put a fresh coat of varnish on it. Good times!!

I have always been one of those people who follows the rules. If you tell me to do something I will do it. If there are guidelines then I will follow them. I only got 1 detention in ALL of highschool and it was for wearing pj pants to school. I only did it because my friends were all doing it. This said sometimes I want to rebel against the rules. Not because I don't agree but because others are breaking them and getting away with it. It annoys me to no end that someone can break the rules every day and get away with it. Why even have rules? It makes me want to do what they are doing just to see what would happen. Why don't I? Because I am a rules follower. I would feel horrible guilty and probably somehow repent for my actions. Sometimes it really bothers me that I am such a goody two shoes!!

My best friend Stacy got married this weekend. The ceremony took place on a cruise ship! It was a pretty cool wedding. We all arrived at 10:30 a.m. and got checked in. Once checked in we were allowed to board and explore the ship. My other best friend Amanda and I grabbed a drink and then walked around the ship. I have to say that it was pretty amazing. I now have the itch to go on a cruise. I don't think I would want to do a 7 day cruise or anything like that but a nice 3 0r 4 day one with my friends would be a good time. This picture is of me, Stacy, and Amanda at the reception.

While moving my roommates car the other morning I noticed that she had some really good music playing on her radio. I looked to find that the station was 91.5 FM. On my way to work that same day I decided to tune in. It turned out to be a really great local radio station. They are based out of Rollins College in Winter Park. If you like emo, punk or eclectic types of music then give them a listen!!