BUGS=ANNOYING

I'm not kidding at all when I say that BUGS (any kind) really ANNOY me!! I went for a run yesterday at Willow Springs and although I have already been out there 3 times to pick blackberries I saw some huge ones that I could not resist. However, the bugs found this prize patch too. They are very territorial, those june bugs and yellow jackets. I mean I would have to run up, snatch one and run away as they threw themselves at me like a suicide bomber!!! I hate the sounds that June Bugs make too.... It sounds like an amped up version of that symphony song Flight of the Bumblebee...which is nerve wracking anyways. Adam thinks I'm crazy but I promise that when he is with me that can smell MAN and they don't attack as much. I know the people at Willow Springs think I am a nutcase, darting in and our of bushes, screaming and flailing my arms. I took Jerri with me last week and talk about CRAZINESS....we scared each other more than the bugs scared us....people probably thought we were beating on each other as much as we screamed. In the end I have collected a freezer bag worth of blackberries. You couldn't pay me a 100 bucks for that bag since blood, sweat and tears have gone into it. So far I have made a blackberry cobbler and 5 jars of blackberry jam..YUMMY. I was thinking that should invent a temporary bug bomb...that just puts the bugs into a deep sleep for like 10 minutes, just long enough for you to grab all the berries and high tail it out there before the bugs wake up. Oh AND...the bugs have totally ruined the country, down home, warm, grandparent memories I have while picking blackberries. When you think of berries, cobblers, june bugs and summer you think of grandparents...well I do. Now, that the bugs have become my sworn enemies I think of nothing but survival while out in the battlefield called Willow Springs Park!!!!!

July 26th..really?

So my brain is a like a slushie right now....like a big Powerade slushie from Sonic...this gives me physical pains to once again be in the passenger seat of Chief with Virginia, downing our slushies after a grueling match of tennis in Auburn. Anyways, I just finished a book by Karen Kingsbury called Divine. Adam's mom gave it to me centuries ago and I just now got into it. However, after page one I was addicted and read it in two 2 hour settings. That is the story of my life with books. I probably won't read another book until say November but when I do it will be fast and furious and then I will reflect on it for another 3 months. This book is a modern day Mary Magdelene story set in D.C. That is what hooked me, the minute I read Washington D.C. I thought "yes, i was just there and I will know everything she is talking about". Wrong. It really had nothing to do with D.C. and everything to do with the Divine power of Christ, hence the name. One thing that I wanted to share thought was a scripture used in this story from Joel 2 :25 " 25And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you." Let me set this up for you without giving the whole story away. Mary Madison (clever huh) and her grandmother have been seperated for years, despite the fact that they both are looking for one another. When Mary voices sadness over the years that they lost her grandmother quotes this scripture to her. It immediately struck me as a verse that I felt as if I should cry out to God. God, Im so sorry for all of my wasted years here on earth, let me make it up to you, let me serve you longer and better and more faithfully to make up for those years when I turned my back on you, for the years that the locust ate!!! Just a thought. That verse could probably apply to several other areas in our lives as well.

Acts 9

So if you haven't ever read Acts 9 you should do so. I am studying it for Adam's lesson on Sunday and WHEW, what an awesome adventure!! I want to comment on it but I'll have to do so later...so read it and tell me what you think!!!
P.S.- read acts 1-9 to really get the jist of what is going on before Saul's conversion!!!
So this chapter is proof that the Bible is soo not boring. HELLO..have you ever been sent down in a basket because people were on your tail for preaching Christ?
AND to add to Angela's comment...(paraphrasing Adam) Aninias walked into to see Saul and spouted off a reason to kill him " The Lord Jesus came to me"...he is saying that he is a Christ follower to the very man who is known for killing christians. What faith!!
It also makes me think about my past. Saul was known for hating christians but once he began to speak and the disciples saw his countenance they knew that he was genuine in his transformation. As I think back to college and high school I wonder if my transformation would be considered genuine. I was a Christian then, yet my life did not support that claim. Sometimes I wonder what I could do or say to show people Christ at my high school reunion and whether or not people would blow it off as they remember my past. I think we have to push through our past sin and recognize Christs strength....wasn't that last Sunday's sermon on sanctification. To be miserable in our weakness but rejoice in Christs strength. To use the laws to show us where we fall short and invite Christ to come in and make up for it? To allow Him to glory in our bad habits, evil lifestyles, horrible faults and pleasures of the flesh?
Just some thoughts that were provoked after reading Acts 9.
Our friend, Joel Sasnett, found this article online about What the Tomb and Calvary actually looked like...from an archaeologist perspective..its pretty neat...check it out.
http://theologica.blogspot.com/2008/07/what-did-calvary-look-like-interview.html
http://theologica.blogspot.com/2008/07/what-did-jesus-tomb-look-like-interview.html

Traditions

So, I thought this would be neat to see what people leave me!!
Do you have any speical traditions within your family or with friends?
For my immediate family we always call the person whose birthday it is and sing to them Happy Birthday regardless of how bad we sound. Needless to say I was greeted with my dad, mom and brother's voices at 8 o'clock this morning.
My immediate family also does a money routine on Christmas that my dad's parents started when he was little. The children get however old they are in 1 dollar bills. Needless to say my dad is racking up. Chris and I always count ours just to make sure we dont get jipped! :)
For Adam's family they always open one present on Christmas Eve.
For my bigger family we get together every two years for a reunion back in florida where most of them live.
For my friends from Auburn we have started a tradition of getting together every other 4th of July at someone's house. Two years ago we went to St. Louis , and this year we went to D.C.
As for Adam and I , well he started one this morning. He got up at the crack of dawn and made me pancakes with blackberry syrup. So sweet..i mean this guy never wakes up a minute before he has too and he had them ready for me so that I could still be at work by 8 o'clock.

So what are your traditions with your families/ friends?

Too Busy

If you are too busy for God than you just too busy.

Lately I have had a thirst, a real physical thirst for scripture. Its something I have been praying for. Its a great desire to have and I hope to never quench it. However, my days are just soo busy. I have 3 jobs....this is not a complaint :). I have 3 jobs that pay and that is wonderful. But, these three jobs and my grad classes can get quite overwhelming and my bible continues to go unread even though I carry it around in hopes that I will have a 10-15 minute break throughout the day. I have to admit that I could wake up at 6:30 instead of 7...I could read from 10-11 instead of watching tv to lull me to sleep. I think that I need to re prioritize (spelling?) my time. So sorry Jon and Kate- I may watch one less episode of you and your sweet kids this week. Sorry Elvis and Priscilla, I may start treating you like cats instead of children a little more often. Sorry to my 3 bosses, I may not volunteer to work those extra hours anymore. Sorry to my 2 blankets that I still have at least 2 days worth of crocheting left to do. Sorry Adam the house may be a little less clean and there may be some laundry and dishes that pile up. Otherwise I will be really sorry for ignoring my Savior and this thirst that He has given me.

2 John 5 :3
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

First year of marriage

Its a coming!!! On July 21st Adam and I will celebrate one year of being hitched! I just have to say this......it makes me laugh to think how stupid I was coming into it. I mean, you take two nasty ragamuffins (to use angela's word) and expect them to fuse their entire lives...and they better do it with smiles as they skip and hold hands through dandelions and clouds. GAG. Marriage is so much more than that. I think I can safely speak for both of us when I say that our love for each other has deepened so much in the past year....and its not a dandelion and cloud love either. It's a respectful, I know you, I know your faults, I know your weaknesses, I want to spur you on to Christ love. I am so glad that we went to pre-marital counseling...because we have experienced almost everything that our pastor warned us of. Communication, Money, Our new families and add on Graduate school...i mean without God we wouldn't have a chance. I'm just going to be honest and say that there have been times when we have let our problems get the best of us...its hard to live off of one income, support each others hobbies (i just dont like disc golf and he will never understand scrapbooking) make a whole new set of friends, and figure out what career we both want. Now, with saying all of this when I think back over our last year of marriage and our 1 year of dating and engagement the sweetest memories I have are the times when we were focused on God and excited to serve Him. There is no greater responsibility that a husband and wife share than encouraging the other onto being faithful and deepening thier dependance on Christ. It only makes sense that Christ would allow us to enter into this relationship, so that we can see a glimpse (and that is probably to big) of His love for His Bride. Just as I want to be beautiful and blemish free in Adam's eyes, so much more does Christ make us clean when presenting us to God. To make each other spotless Adam and I must keep each other accountable for our shortcomings and find joy and satisfaction in Christ. I can't help but think that this one year of marraige and all of its newness and excitement is nothing when compared to the eternity that we will spend in Heaven. Its wonderful to know that as great of a life that God has provided me on earth that I better keep my fork, because something better is coming.
Love you Adam.....Thank you for being attentive to God as you seek out a future for us.

A Food Journal

So if you were cheering me on in my food journal quest THANKS, however its not working. Its not working because frankly I already eat a pretty good diet and my love for sweets is not something that can be tamed with a journal. Therefore instead of wasting precious room (:)) on our blog space with names of food I think I am just going to exercise more. So there.....life is too short to write down every morsel i put into my body. Although, after doing a food journal for about 3 weeks I must say that I think long and hard about having that 2nd helping!!

I've Been Thinking

So...here are some random thoughts .
A-I think that there should be an "extra emergency" brake in standard vehicles. I say this b/c I almost took out 12 cars...no joke. Adam and I have traded vehicles since he drives longer to work than I do and my car gets better mileage than his. One of the first days after our switch I pulled into ETSU gym and was thinking about everything except for the dumb truck. So I am almost inside the gym and I hear a "THUD". I turn around and see a white truck out in the middle of the road up on the median. I think "wow, someone just drove right into that median". This guy that was walking in behind me said "Isn't that your vehicle?". I was like "OH CRAP, THAT IS MY HUSBAND'S TRUCK"..I literally ran all the way to the truck in this horrible panic. I have to say that God was truly watching out for us that day because my truck could have hit at least 5 nice cars and 7 others. Luckily, when I parked I left the wheels turned all the way to the left, so the truck rolled back down the hill and went in a complete circle, out in to the middle of the main road and up onto the median, where it sat waiting for me!!!!! The guy that told me it was my vehicle ran with me and had a hard time not laughing. I mean seriously, he probably think I fell off the tater truck yesterday. I just had not driven Adam's truck long enough to recognize it. You can ask him this, but if it weren't for my AU sticker on my car I would walk right past it. I just dont pay attention to cars that much. So, therefore I say that standard vehicles should have an automatic emergency brake that clicks into gear when you park.
B- I don't think that cats have any control over thier tails. Well at least not our two. We have a low coffee table that Adam built in our living room. When we eat in front of the tv we have to watch our plates when the cats come around. Their tail flails about and inevitably land in our food....GROSS. Also, when I am brushing my teeth and they sit on the sink to admire themselves I always end up spitting on thier tail since 99% of the time some part of it is in the sink. I guess I always thought of their tail as a 5th ummm....leg? I don't know..I just wish that they would watch where their tail is at!
C-I wish that they would make lactose free milk that tastes as good as the real deal...and by the real deal I mean skim. I am a sucker for milk....I mean I crave it...in big batches. However, I am also lactose intolerant and suffer bad stomachaches and other nastiness from it. I have tried organic milk, soy milk and powdered milk....give me a break..I don't buy it! It all tastes like a fake! So I guess I either have to get going on a milk like liquid minus the milk, or just drink something else....I think I'll do neither and guzzle down another cup before bed!!!!
D-They should make a fat free, sugar free, cheesecake flavored yogurt.
E-I have decided that I will wear sunscreen daily. I have been putting 50 on face everyday before going outside. I have just read and heard too many horror stories about young girls dying of skin cancer. I think I will just slather on some of that nasty smelling self tanner from now on and call it day. I have to admit that I could lay in the sun all day long...but now I will just do it with a thick layer of sunscreen between me and Mr. Sun. I also think that maybe one day when I am older I will thank myself for wearing sunscreen. Who knows...maybe I won't wrinkle up so bad either!!!
Thats it...just some random current thoughts to put down. We are heading to D.C. for the 4th to hang out with Joel, Caroline, Virg, Brenna, Shane, Baby KEWL, Adam B and his new girlfriend! I SO CANT WAIT!! There is nothing like meeting up with your college buddies and catching up. I get all warm and tingly just thinking about!