HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAM!

This weekend Whit and I traveled to Chattanooga to celebrate his nephew Sam's first birthday!! Sam had a pool party and all his little friends came over and played in the kiddie pool...played in the sandbox...on the swing set....and of course had great birthday cake! There is something so fun about seeing a little one have cake for the first time....its like this whole new world has just opened up in front of them! Sugar!! He somewhat stiff armed the cake at first...not wanting to have anything to do with it...but soon enough got a little taste and then the digging in began!

Whit and I got him the Little Peoples "farm" set. Have you seen these people. They are just so dagum cute. We also got him a shirt that is grayish black and says The Beatles. We had to. He will always know that this shirt came from his uncle whit...I mean all music derived from The Beatles...right whit!?:)

Here are a few pictures that I took at the par-tay.

Sam with his little birthday outfit on!

Cute little hands...

Lesley and Sam...playing in his new sandbox.

Birthday ride around the yard!

He was not having anything to do with that cake....

He soon realized the goodness...

This is one of the only ages where it is socially acceptable to swim naked...

Sam we are so grateful that you are in our lives!! You are a joy!!

What's Love Got To Do With It.

A few weeks ago Whit and I were driving somewhere and he had a new cd playing in his car. Now this was odd because I usually have full control over the music while sitting in the passenger seat. (Okay. Those who know me well can stop laughing now.) I do have a control issue in this area. I can openly admit it. Whit and I like to play this little game where I pick out a cd and I say, "Don't Look!" "Seriously, Don't Look!", "You're Looking!". He says, "I promise! I'm Not Looking!". Then I pick a cd out....and he guesses which one I chose. Now when he gets it right....well of course he was looking. But sadly I usually choose the same three. He needs to switch his cd's out more....but I usually either choose....Andrew Peterson...Far Country(if you don't own this cd or know who Andrew Peterson is you need to stop whatever you are doing...well finish the blog....and then stop and go buy this cd. amazing.). John Mayer...Heavier Things, or this newer group called The War...there is no political agenda behind that name.:) SO. Long story short. This one particular day he was playing his selection and I asked who it was...He said...Andy Gullahorn. Who?! Andy Gullahorn. Oh. (Blank Stare) No clue who that is.

Well since that day I have bought his newest album on itunes. Its called Reinventing the Wheel. It's a little folky. You honestly feel like he is telling you a story in every song. Like you are getting chapters into different parts of his life. There are those who tell stories and you're not quite sure if its about them or someone close to them or even no one that they no at all...but with his songs there is no doubt that he is speaking truth about his life. There is one song that really stood out to me and has been on constant repeat in my car and at my desk while I work. It's called "That Guy". I tried to look it up on the playlist site to post it on here but it was not in their system. But if you go to www.noisetrade.com you can purchase it for free...or of course you can download it on itunes. The lyrics of this song are extremely honest and convicting. Check it out...and then go listen to it.

THAT GUY
He scoped out the market
All the women and kids
With so many distractions
Nobody noticed him
Nobody noticed him

He had a jacket a size too big
A skullcap on his head

And a couple of homemade bombs

He duct taped them to his chest
He taped them to his chest

God loves that guy
God loves that guy

He followed his heart
To a co-worker’s bed
He could have salvaged his marriage with kids
But he chose to leave instead
He chose to leave

He thought it was love
But it was just a mirage
So he sits in his idling car
Parked in a closed garage
Inside a closed garage

God loves that guy
God loves that guy

Me on the other hand
I can write somebody off

Like the last check for a student loan
I can love when it’s convenient
But it’s not always convenient
It’s not always the easy road

I want to look past the outside to the well-meaning heart
To the good they forgot that they had
Teach me to love, teach me to love
Teach me to love like that

He messed up again
Wanted to disappear
But he can’t ‘cause he’s easy to find
I see him in the mirror
I see him in the mirror

God loves that guy
God loves that guy
Teach me to love, teach me to love
Teach me to love like that
Love like that


The past two weeks have been big for our country as we all sit around our tv's watching speech after speech. We listen to their thoughts...concerns....likes and dislikes. We all make decisions on how we view this candidate or that candidate....we watch the people in the crowd and either find someone who we resonate with or those we find harder to understand. If I can be honest I don't really like this time of year. I would honestly rather just get it over with. When the finger pointing starts I start to feel very uneasy. Conversations are had between friends, co-workers, families and lines are drawn in the sand. You can either side with me or you just might be wrong. We all are entitled to our own opinions... don't get me wrong. But I just don't know that it's as black and white as we would like it to be. But all that aside...while I have been watching these speeches the one thing that has been coming back to my mind is this song. God loves that guy. He is absolutely crazy about that guy. While we can sit and find fault after fault...and we can make remarks about his or her abilities or their true intentions...the same God that passionately pursued a relationship with me and marvels at my existence... loves every single person on that stage and in that crowd the exact same way...no matter what background...what party...what denomination...color...race...He loves them. Passionately loves them. That's the great mystery and wonder of Christ..that he loved while we were still sinners. There was nothing good in us. There is no wrong doing, mistake, or choice we choose to make that can change this truth. He whole-heartily loves us. No questions. No pre-requisite. We are called to the same.

May we choose love over the next two months.

Update on "Mission Desk"

So apparently if you write on a blog that you need things they will come to you. It's kind of like Oprah's vision board. Since I wrote my post about needing things for my desk I have accumulated some fabulous new items that I would like to share with you my faithful readers who entertain my ridiculous posts...like updates on "Mission Desk". So here goes it.

I found this frame that I had bought for something else and thought it would look great on my desk...I am putting the picture of me, my mom and Noah in it...until then we have a little message from the Lord.:)

This cute little pen holder is a glass from Anthropologie that my sweet, talented, loving, fun amiga Avery got me while in Nashville...it has the word "milk" written on it in different languages. I love.


This is just a staple. Grande Skinny Vanilla Latte.



Whit gave me this frame on "race day"...a picture from the day will definitely go in it. It also came from Anthro. Love that store.

Now here is the absolute winner. Whit gave me this today! I L.O.V.E. red candy. It is my favorite. Red Sprees being the ultimate fave. SO he filled a jar with lots of red candy! We have Red Sprees, Red Now and Laters, Strawberry Mentos, Red Skittles(ah!!) and Hot Tamales!!

And then if that wasn't enough...he gave me the left overs that would not fit in the jar and some of the other colors...PLUS red dum-dums and Smarties!! I have them in my desk drawer....I will now be known as the candy lady. I am now the children of this worlds favorite person...or maybe just the ones that come in here.

If you are not really a spree person than you do not know how the spree company rip you off with red sprees. For every red spree you get 7 yellow, 6 green, 5 purple and 4 orange. Basically you might get 3 red sprees in a package. Thank you Whit for buying and unwrapping so many rolls of sprees so that I could enjoy them on a daily basis!

SO those are my desk goodies. Thanks for all the ideas and then the gifts to follow!!

Hmm what else do I want....;)

It is Finished!!

SO. This morning I ran the Franklin 10K!! The days leading up to the race I started getting nervous that I wasn't prepared enough...that I would get to mile 2 and have to stop...that I would stop like 50 times...I had a dream that I forgot how to run!! This morning I just tried as much as possible not to think about it and just do it!! Let's just say it was pretty hard. There were many more hills( up and down..up and down...) than I expected...but I pushed through and finished in under an hour!! Darby was a huge help as she talked to me the last mile...we talked about everything and anything...!! Here are some pictures that Whit took for me!

Me, Darby, and Avery...this is before the race!! Getting pumped up!

Avery(one of my college roommates) and I!! She came to visit me this weekend AND ran the race!!

This was the starting line!! Crowded don't you think?!



This is like Where's Waldo! Where's Sarah!! This was us about to start the race!

This was the finish line!!

Darby and I at the very end!!

After the race! Lindsay was so moved that she was in deep thought with her eyes closed!

Whit and I!

All done! And Sweaty!

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

My talented and lovely friend/roommate Lindsay Beals...aka....Bealsabub(its not meant in the you know...bad way..) has started a blog!!! And since I know you all like great blogs I thought I would give her a little shout out on here! So here is it...."LINDSAY HAS A BLOG! CHECK IT OUT!! IT"S GREAT!!"

This is when we met the president. We were a pretty big deal. We had snipers on us.

We were M&M's. Cutsie.


Tennis Pros.


Celebratin'.

We do this alot. Just so you know...this was Halloween and I was Pam...Lindsay was a ladybug!?! Hmm.

www.lindsaybeals.blogspot.com

Desk Smesk

I sit at a desk all day...and though I love my little area and view outside the windows...my desk itself is pretty boring(big...wood...)...I have a lamp that I like...a picture frame that is cute(yes just one) and two stackable trays that are super cute from the container store. Thats it. And behind me I have this sort of desk that has drawers and all. But I have nothing on top of it. I need help. It does not represent me at all. I want to make it more organized and homey. What do you guys have on your desk?! I need inspiration...ideas. I know this is a lame post. But I really need some fun creative ideas to spruce up my work enviroment!!!

Help a sister out!!

Pictures are worth....

So. I was given this site...and it's amazing. I promise...I am working...you just have to take breaks. Here are two pictures for you to enjoy.

Gosh. Bangs were Awesome back then!

This is my favorite! Ah!

Go Yearbook yourself!! Okay....back to work. It is the day before my birthday...I am entitled to do what I want...right!?!

Laughter is the Best Medicine.

Okay. I know. I've been a.w.o.l. I have also been trying to update my blog with a Fallish layout...yeah didn't happen...I'm pretty sure pink is not a Fall color. Nonetheless its a good color. My fave at that. Oh. Sorry that you have been deleted from my page...your names that is. I still love you and I will work on that. That got deleted somehow in the chaos of finding the perfect Fall layout. Geez.

So. For an update. I am officially signed up for the 10k race that will take place on Labor Day. Lord have mercy. I am actually really excited about it. I am ready and I have trained my little legs off. So I say Bring it! It's all mental they tell me.

Somebody has a birthday this weekend. Any guesses!?! ME! Yep. August 23rd. I will be 27 years young. I am really looking forward to this year...its going to be a good one...I can already feel it. I don't know if I have ever talked about this on here...but I kind of have a problem with the odd numbers. Birthdays that is. I feel like they are a little Debbie D. You hear 28...you think Exciting! You hear 27...eh. You hear 24! Wow! What a year! 29...hmm. BUT! I have decided... out with that thinking..how dare I put a curse on it before it has even begun. I love birthdays. They are super.

So the other night I was lying in the bed with my biblioteca...I don't care that its not translated right...I like it...I mean why would you use biblioteca for library...hello its obviously bible. Someone was not doing their job the day that got approved. I was reading and came across Proverbs 31. You know. The calling all women verses. As I was reading them all the sudden this one verse just stuck out to me. You know people say...its like I had never read it before...it was so new to me in that moment. I really think I have NEVER read this verse before. I mean have I just skipped over this one every time...did ALL my bibles accidentally delete it!? Did all women's conferences skip over this part for time sake!? It was crazy. The verse is: Strength and honor are her clothing(this part I had read), and she can laugh at the time to come. Proverbs 31:25.
She can laugh at the time to come. Holy Cow. I am going to say it one more time. She can laugh at the time to come. How many times have I been in a place where I laughed at what was coming...the known...the unknown. I didn't say, Well I know that the Lord is going to take care of me so I can rest in that...I can have a peace in knowing that(which is not wrong or bad)...but no...I am so lost in the freedom of who He is and have such confidence in who He has said He will be in my life...that I will laugh...I will let my heart be light...so light that it laughs. Maybe I am reading way too much into this...but it just really spoke to me. I realize that there are things that happen in our life that are so hard and so tough that we can't even begin to imagine a smile...let alone a laugh...and the great thing about it is that God loves us completely in the moments that all we can do is sob...or scream...or sit. I don't want to belittle those times by saying we should laugh it away. But He was obviously trying to tell us something in this verse....just a thought...

Oh. Another thought I had while reading that chapter. Dang! She is busy. I got tired just reading about all the things she sewed and made and created and woke up...girl multi-tasks.

Say I Can't...

So. My roommate/great friend Bealsabub and I were talking the other day. Whenever the Olympics come around we start to get really jealous of the people competing in the games. I mean let's be honest, they are super talented, dedicated, and they get all this air time..plus they get these really cool necklaces or medals...whatever you want to call them. AND we get really frustrated with our parents that they didn't see the need to place us in a sport that would eventually bring us to the Olympics...we could have been training and training and training and could be competing this month in Beijing. But no. We are sitting in the US with no medals, no Olympic stories to tell and no face on any cereal box. So we started thinking. We could train now! Hey! That swimmer is 41 years old!! If we started training at 27 years old we have a good 8 years to get ready and we would only be 35! Younger than the lady this year! So. We talked about what we would want to train in...the child in me obviously wants to do gymnastics...but let's be honest I'm too tall. SO we are thinking either swimming, diving(lindsay says, hey all they do is jump off the diving board and twist and stuff), or...and here is my fave...synchronized swimming. We think we could bring a new life to this sport. Lyrical Hip-Hop Synchronized Swimming(LHHSS). We would ask Tabatha and Napoleon from So You Think You Can Dance to help us with our routine and then we will practice for the next 4 or 8 years. I think its doable. What do you think about this!?

Lindsay and I(Easy)

Easier.

Hmm.

Cutest Little Boy I Know.

Okay! SO. I just got in last night from my weekend in Ohio! I decided that I would share the experience with you in pictures. So here it goes.

Mom and I right before we left for the airport!! So excited!!

Noah drinking his first Starbucks! Lemonade/Green Tea Freeze. We didn't know that all he had had until this point was water and milk....oops.:) He loved it! Drank the whole thing in maybe 10 minutes.

Okay. You might be thinking...why is he wearing pants...haha. Well they are his size swim trunks...he just has cutie patutie short legs....it was sooo funny to watch him in them. AH!:)

Here we are taking a little ride around the neighborhood. Noah waves and says hello to everyone. He gets a little upset when people do not wave or say hi back. It's pretty funny. He grunts at them.:)

Target.:)

Fruit Punch. Drank the whole thing.:)



Noah and his first ice cream cone!! He LOVED it!! Below is a video from this event. It cracks me up!!

Sorry its sideways again...:)

:)

He wanted to hold the WHOLE preztel. Of course.:)

Mimi and Noah!

Pool Time! He likes to splash outside of the pool...so I thought if I got in it might encourage him....and then this is what happened....

He is watching me...in the pool...by myself....

Craft Time!!

Finger Painting for the first time! He didn't know what to think of it at first....He doesn't like to get his hands dirty...but as you can see he got over it.:)

We had the BEST time! We were completely exhausted by the end but it was all worth it to spend some quality time. We were sad to leave....but hopefully we can get another trip in soon!! We love you Noah!!