Sisters

A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves - a special kind of double. ~Toni Morrison

On January 22, 2012, I met my sister. I walked the hallway of the hospital full of emotion. I was going to visit my father who was close to leaving this earth, and going to meet my sister for the first time ever. I am not really sure which emotion was the strongest. You see, God has blessed me with "sisters of my heart" for many years....so I have never felt like I didn't have the experience of having a sister. And then I saw her.

She is taller than me....and she has the most beautiful hair I have ever seen. And when we hugged for the first time, I realized I didn't want to let go of her. I wanted to hug her and share every good thing I had missed, help shoulder every bad one along the way...make up for her 29 years of being on earth and me not being there. I quickly realized I couldn't but oh, how I wish I could!

The speed at which we became "comfortable" with one another was amazing. Almost instantly, we fell into that comfortable rythym of sisters. Our similarities were breathtaking, and our differences were quirky. I remember sitting on the couch together, all huddled into one corner giggling over something silly and thinking that I wish I had had that with her for the past 29 years. There was no need for personal space-just like there isn't a need for that with my God gifted sisters. When I brushed and fixed her hair it was like we went back many years and I was making up for lost time. And when my father passed away 72 hours later, we held hands and held each other as we took care of the details. As my brother helped with preparations, like the Collins men do, we took care of the finer points. We all worked together much like a well oiled machine. Three siblings that were together for the first time ever pulled together like there had never been a day that we were apart. One of Gods many miracles during that week.

As I pulled out of the driveway at 4am, my sister sitting on the front porch and both of us crying, I got the most hilarious text message from here before we reached the end of the drive. One more similarity-dealing with sadness with humor. I immediately felt her absence like I never had before and vowed to make a paper chain to count down until the next time I saw her.

Dear Phalon,

It was so nice to finally meet you. I'm so glad you are a part of my life, and my family's life. Only 119 (approx.) days until I see you again....

Love,

Your big sister

I, Robot

How do you do everything you need to do when you get the call saying your dad probably won't make it?
I'm like a robot. I methodically do things that have to be done to prepare.
Make a list.
Get out my suitcase.
Choose the clothes I need to have while I am there. Include a dress-just in case.
I need shoes to wear with that dress. Pick those out.
What is the weather like there? What will it be like all week, because I may be there for a whole week.....
Pray. Pray again. For peace that passes understanding and for peace for my dad and the rest of our family. Pray I get there in time. It's a twelve hour drive.
Feed Seth breakfast. Life doesn't stop around you just because yours has.
Think about the fact that I don't want to do this at 33 years old. Then remember that we never really want to do this, no matter our age.
Worry about what my boys are going to do this week. I am an obsessive planner and I have never left them to figure it out. Consider making Olin a list-it's my love language....but not his. He will tell me it will get done. And it will. I just don't want him to forget anything this week like Seths medicine, laundry, the dogs water, etc. If I can't control my dads health then I want to control my boys schedule. Trying to learn to give that up. It's not working, yet.
Pray again. And finish packing. I need to be ready to go out the door. Pray I get to say things that mean something. I want him to know, more than anything, that although it seems like I have fought him my entire life, I was really just fighting FOR him. I don't think he knows that.

We're Alive!!!

Well, it's been approximately 985 years since I last posted. Life came along and just happened. We have been busy! In the last several months, Olin got a job, I got a job, I lost my job, my mother-in-law had back surgery, school started, Christmas is only two weeks away, we had Thanksgiving, and my dad and step-mom came up for a visit!
Whew.....got tired just typing it. We truly believe we are where we are as a part of God's plan for our lives. We have good days and bad days. It's been a really hard year. However, we are looking for the favor in our situation and most days we find it. We want to be present in the moment and really try to learn what God is showing us in each situation. We are grateful to have a roof over our heads, a car to drive, a healthy boy, and a job for Olin. We are aware that we have a lot more than some people.
My dad and step-mom came up for a visit from south Louisiana! I hadn't seen them in about 11 years or so. I believe we had a good visit and we were blessed to have time with each other. It was good to re-connect and for them to get to meet my boys! We had a week of really good cooking by Ms. Paula and time with family. Seth calls going to my uncle's house "going out to the farm" and he loves it!!! There are goats, chickens, tree swings, and four wheelers. What is not for a boy to love?
I would tell you I will try to post more but I always say that! Ha! I really am going to try to. This blog is one way of me remembering what happens in our little family from time to time and when I don't write it down I don't remember. :/ Praying for friends and family members that are in changing seasons this Christmas! Love you all~!

"I will not dwell on what was lost. I will build on what remains." -Pastor Steven Furtick-

Courtney

Reconnection

Hi blog world! It's been quite a while since I last posted. There have been many good, hard, messy, wonderful, and scary things going on around here. It's a lot to process. I can just about guarantee a post will go up about each one but first I have to finish processing them!
I am posting to ask for prayer. Specifically for the following things:

*Clear conviction on a medical procedure that may or may not come to fruition.
*Open or closed doors on the house we are in the process of acquiring. There have been some red flags.....
*The job application that is in. I've already interviewed. Just waiting to hear back from them now.
*A good attitude when dealing with the hard stuff. I keep reminding myself of what my "other mother" would say...."That's what love does". Maybe it is...but just being honest that sometimes it is hard to do what love does.

There are several more things going on but the list is getting long... :) I would love the opportunity to pray for things that anyone that reads this blog needs as well. Just comment or email me and let me know!
I promise to follow up within the week and fill everyone in. I am anxious, nervous, scared and excited. God is planning quite a season in my life....and I know that it is all in His perfect timing. Praying that I can go through it glorifying Him.
Have a great Sunday everyone!

I Have Some Thoughts

I had some thoughts about some things this morning so I thought I should get them all out here....on this ol' bloggy...that I never blog on.

Many of you that know me know that a few weeks ago, someone I like to call a good friend of mine passed away. I was beginning to take piano lessons from him (He has been to the White House to play-he is that good), he sang in my wedding, he had the sense of humor of 10 men, and he was one of my greatest prayer warriors and encouragers. I have been trying to figure out what it all means. He was 58 years old. He has a beautiful family and he loved the Lord with everything he had. Why did he have to go? I like to think the Lord had a spot open in the choir and needed a piano man. Whatever the reason-HIS timing is perfect. In my own selfish vain, I began to wonder what God was trying to teach me out of it. I couldn't believe how impacted I was by his death. I think because it hit so close to home and reminded me of my own mortality. In the last few weeks I have realized several things.
1-Never put off what you have in your heart you want to do. For example, piano lessons. I should have started years ago. Now I have missed an opportunity to learn from the best.
2-Hold my husband a little tighter every day. I may nag, fuss, etc. What if he died tomorrow? Would I be pleased with myself when thinking about the last time I said anything to him? Would they be nice words or would they cause me to live years in regret?
3-Never take having a spouse for granted. Yes-we need our own time and space within the day-but never take for granted having someone to share my bed with. Never take for granted the kiss on my forehead that I get every morning as he leaves for work. Never take for granted that everyday he greets me with "Hey, Beautiful". I never know when the last time I hear those words will be.
4-I should strive to live my life as a testimony for God. I should be humble about it. Almost 1000 people showed up to Charlie T's funeral. He would never have imagined the number of people he impacted. That's what made him as amazing as he was.
5-It's never too early to decorate for Christmas. Charlie T started in September every year. He relished all of the decorations and they brought so much joy to everyone who had the pleasure of seeing them. In his honor, on the day before his funeral, several people on his street put their Christmas trees up. He knew how to celebrate the birth of our Lord and he did it in the finest ways possible!!!

I feel quite certain that there are many things the Lord is trying to teach me through all of this. I can't begin to imagine what his family is going through. If it affected me this much, I can only imagine their pain. However, I know that I know that I know that I know that his family is firmly rooted in their belief of God and that His ways are perfect. We may never understand on this side of Heaven. We may question God-we wouldn't be human if we didn't. However, at the end of the day, we can rest knowing that Charlie is where he is supposed to be and he got there on the day he was supposed to. Through our belief in God, we have hope. A hope that we have a future and that His best for us is more wonderful than we could ever imagine. My prayers stay with this family as they go through their grief. I grieve for the people that will never hear him play or sing again. I rejoice because he has joined a choir more beautiful than we could ever imagine.

New Songs and Jewelry Boxes

I was 11 years old, living in South Louisiana. My hair had a wing span wider than a large bird and my pants were tight-rolled. And I lived with my daddy.

The first time I can remember meeting my father I was 9 years old. He had came to the Carolinas to visit and I went to my uncles house to see him. They were boiling crawfish and I tried one for the first time that night. In hindsight-I would have done just about anything my dad asked me to do in order to impress him. He was taller than the pictures led me to believe and his hands....well, they were the largest, strongest hands I had ever seen. I still, to this day, could pick his hands out of a line-up. You see, when your daddy picks you up for the first time you can remember, you seem to memorize everything about him-especially his hands.

Fast-forward a couple of years and I was living with my dad in Houma, LA. It's a little town way in the bayou and I spent two culture-shocking years there. For someone that had never been away from her grandmother or North Carolina, the accent and food rocked my world a bit. It was a couple of years that were definitely a definition of ebb and flow for me. I remember getting saved and my daddy being there to watch me get baptized. I remember my dance recitals and how before I moved there I didn't even know little girls took dance classes. I remember grasping still-even though my daddy was in the same room-looking for some clue of security. I wanted to know that at least every once in a while I was the most important girl in his world. I wanted his full attention. Everything he did was momentous to me. I remember him coming home from a one month stay in Trinidad and bringing me a small round jewelry box. It has flowers on the glass part on top that have flaked away through the years, but the outlines are still there. And when you opened it, it played a song. You see-I believe that this is the first time in my life that my father shopped, picked out, and bought something for me by himself. I imagine him in a little sidewalk shop in Trinidad picking it up and inspecting it-looking to see if it was good enough for his girl.

And so, out of everything in my life, and all the many moves, it has been saved. It has never been put in storage or left in a box for long. It is my prized posession. And today it quit playing. My husband can't figure out why or how to fix it without taking it apart and I wouldn't dare dream of it. And the saddest part? The one that gets me the most? I can't remember the song it played. At all. But maybe-just maybe-this is God's way of ending that song-that chapter of my life that I remember with a few fond memories and the more plentiful sad ones I cling to-and He has started to make me sing a new song. One riddled with memories of weddings and sweaty little boys. Of babies and friends and a renewed relationship with my daddy-one that is set by my terms. Maybe that 20 year old jewelry box can just hold my wedding rings now-or maybe I will ask for a new one and finally pack it away. Quit trying to make it work and accept that it may never play again. Some days it's hard to make adult decisions-to be quite honest. But I know that I know that I know that I know that He is writing a more beautiful song than I could have ever imagined or composed.

Here's to new songs and jewelry boxes.......

The Royal Wedding

I was one of those people. I woke up at 4am Friday morning to watch the Royal Wedding. My husband, the wonderful man that he is, woke up to make me "royal waffles" while I watched. I had that feeling of nostalgia. I thought of how she felt getting ready in the hotel with her people around her. I had a moment of thinking I wanted to re-new vows so I could do it all over again. I kept having the same thought over and over again-wow, she is lucky!

And yes, she may be lucky.....at the same time I am blessed. I am sure that in the middle of all the chaos, she felt like every other girl feels on her wedding day. Take away the servants, the 2 billion people watching.....and to her it was the same thing. At the end of the day she was just a girl...standing in front of a boy...asking him to love her. (Name that movie) Sure, she may be a princess now but I am too. She will now be treated as royalty, but I am too. And that kiss? The one on the balcony of Buckingham Palace? I had that too....in the middle of a field in front of a couple billion less people but I am quite certain it felt the same.

Tonight instead of sitting around wishing I could do it all again and my wedding could be more "regal", I am choosing to appreciate my king. I am so happy for the new couple and I can honestly say I know EXACTLY how she feels being married. :)

Snapshots and Songs

Most memories of times in my life are framed by snapshots and songs. I have always emotionally connected to music and pictures. Maybe, in some weird way, it's been my way to preserve things I want to remember.

The old hymn "Love Lifted Me" can take me right back to the pew in Webbs Chapel Baptist Church, with Lester Heavner singing bass somewhere among those in attendance. I can still hear my Grandma Kiser standing beside me singing it. Her voice is something that I will always remember.

A picture of me as a small girl, sitting on Grandpa Kiser's lap outside of their house, eating a popsicle takes me back to a time that I didn't have a care in the world and one piece jumpsuits looked cute on me. My Grandpa Kiser was the first man whose eye I was the apple of. To a girl, this is everything.

The song "I'm Movin' On" by Rascall Flatts. It defined everything in my life at the time I packed my car and moved to Chicago. It was the hardest, yet most rewarding, choice I had made up until that point. I had to get away-pack up everything and glean my life of unsettled experiences and move on. That year turned me into a woman. I learned that I could make good choices in spite of things that tend to hold me back.

I remember a season of my life that was defined by remote control cars, men in cowboy hats, and playing house. It was a defining time in my life. One that I have learned to take lessons from and pack it away into a neat little package. I can take it out from time to time and put on some Al Green, and remember. Then I put it back away until I need it again. "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" was one of the songs in my life that will always define certain things for me.

Dancing to "We Will Dance" and taking those lyrics to heart. Making a hard decision to lay it all out there for a man and trust. Definitely the most rewarding decision of mine to date. Hardest thing I have ever done. Definitely the most rewarding at this point in my life and I don't think anything will ever take the place of that.

I could list songs for hours......Some of the ones that I hum around the house now are Dreamin 'Bout Babies (Tracy Lawrence?), Maybe (Kelly Clarkson), and Free (Steven Curtis Chapman). My friends and I are like walking episodes of Glee, so there are definitely hundreds more-but these stick out.

I hope when I am old and grey I can still pull out some Al Green or Steven Curtis Chapman and relive a piece of history. I hope I can walk outside on a fall day and listen to Lenny Williams and be a young woman again. Or raise my hands in worship and remember the night Seth accepted Christ at church. I hope this weirdness about me never changes. I see everything in snapshots and songs-and I kinda like it this way.

The Hallmark Holiday

Valentine's Day-possibly the most disputed holiday in the calendar year. Some people spend hundreds of dollars to celebrate, while some refuse. Some call it Singles Awareness Day (I was one of those not long ago) and some people just never weigh in on it at all. They couldn't care less one way or another. I have always loved it. Always. Sure, some years when I was single were very hard but I always found something to do to celebrate. Either it was hanging out with my other single friends or someone God had put in my life that needed to be loved on, I always had a reason to celebrate it.

Now I have two men in my life to celebrate it with. Two boys that told me Happy Valentine's Day this morning. I will have dinner with them tonight (home cooked-keeping it simple), and we will exchange our small valentine's. I don't take a second of it for granted. My boys are my blessing and I am well loved. It is my own personal redemption story. We tell each other in small ways all year long, but Valentine's day-to me-is a day that we can take extra time out of our busy everyday lives to concentrate on it. It becomes a priority on this day-not just something we "squeeze in"...

So to all the cynics, celebrators, singles, marrieds....Happy Valentine's Day! Praying that wherever we all are in life that we celebrate the sacrificial love of God-our true blueprint for how to love everyone else in our world.

Amazingly, We Survived

Short post because there are lots of things that I NEED to do today, but not a lot of things that I WANT to do. Ahem....

My husband attended a meeting in Charlotte last night. This should not be a big deal. However-if you know me, you know I am a 90 year old trapped in a 32 year old's body. I am not a person who does well after dark when my husband isn't with me. I use to be very independent and this didn't bother me at all. However, with age comes the wisdom (or insanity) that scary people come out after dark and I. WANT. NO. PART. OF. THE. SCARY. Within 10 minutes of him leaving, my mini-man and I had smoked up the entire house with a steak biscuit in the microwave which Seth announced smelled like a dead racoon. Now we live with a dead racoon and I don't know if he will ever leave. I then proceeded to find things to clean for hours. I couldn't sit down because if I sat down I remembered that it was dark out and, for the love people, my man wasn't home!!!!! (For the record, Seth did not know that I was nervous about this. I don't want to pass this on to him-so I kept it quiet.) The bad part about the cleaning is that now I'm afraid that he will find reasons to be gone in the evenings more often so I will clean the house without him having to help. You see-it's become a never ending vicious cycle. Me, Olin, The dark time, Cleaning.....It's like a vortex. At least in my head.

The good part of last night? Seth announced, for no reason, that he was going to go scrub the bathroom. I think I am rubbing off on him with my cleaning streak. Amen, Hallelujiah. Keep Hope Alive.....

I'm hoping there will not be anymore late night meetings in Charlotte anytime soon. I really think it's for the best. :)

Checking In

My computer is not being my friend this week. It will pull up everything else...except my blog. What in the world??? My husband and I can't figure out what is going on to be able to fix it. All that to say that until we figure it out I probably won't post a lot. Not that I did before, but I was trying to get better about all of that.

As of last week, my husband and I were both layed off from our job. We worked together, which is why it all happened at the same time. We are trusting and praising God and trying to maintain that perspective through all of this. I truly believe that God is teaching us to have security in Him and not in a paycheck. Please keep my family in your prayers as we try to figure out what is going to happen with all of this and as we begin to hunt jobs. While there aren't a lot of jobs out there, we believe that God has already made a provision for us to have one.

To end on an "up" note, there is a modeling agency in Charlotte that is interested in meeting with Seth. We are going to meet with them Tuesday afternoon. Seth loves to pose for pictures...really loves it...and we have decided to fully investigate whichever agency we decide to go with. Any amount of money he earns, after his 10% to church, will go into a college fund for the future. We are praying for discernment when choosing an agency to work with. We in no way want to compromise Seth's school time through all of this and we have decided that as soon as he doesn't want to do it anymore we will stop. At the least, it will be an adventure and we are excited about that!

I will try to update as much as possible and hoping we get the computer issue figured out soon. It had a virus the other day and we had to wipe it. It would pull up my blog until we had to do that. There is no telling what is going on~ I hope everyone is having an amazing 2011 so far!!

"And I've Made Up My Mind....I Ain't Wastin' No More Time"

So here I go again.....

I have several things I would like to accomplish in the new year, so I thought I would post them on here to hold myself accountable as well as have a reminder of all of my goals.

Here goes nothing....

1. Grow closer to God. This will be on my list for the rest of my life. I don't think a human can ever stop working on this. There is always more to learn about Him and parts of my relationship with Him that I will need to work on.

2. Try to find a job off the road.

3. When number 2 happens, get plugged in at church. And get Seth plugged in at church.

4. Lose weight. I have had a wake up call this year, through a number of circumstances, that has made this one more real to me than ever. Please back me in prayer that this one can happen.

5. Pray over and for Seth every day. We need to committ, as a family, to help him grow in his walk with the Lord. He was saved at church the other night, and I really want to pour into him like never before. Praying for the Lord to lead us to the tools we need that would be the most beneficial to him.

6. Find financial freedom somehow. We seem so tied down to finances and it creates a lot of stress. We want to be better stewards of our money in the new year and really learn how to save.

7. Hold my husband a little tighter and keep my mouth shut more. I am grateful to have a husband that cherishes me and everyone doesn't have this. I need to show my gratefulness every day.

8. I am striving not to be a crap factory. Long story, but I don't want to be one. I want to lose my sense of entitlement to anything.

9. Become Patch Adams. My people know what this one is all about. It goes right along with the lose weight/get healthy one.

10. There really aren't 10. I just can't end on an odd number. Ok-number 10 should be to get over some of my neurosis. Amen.

You've Got The Look

I was talking to a friend of mine last night, and she explained that before their 5 year old went in to see Santa's gifts this morning, he had to come wake them up. She said that one of them had to get down the hall to the living room before him so they could catch a picture of his face when he first saw his Christmas loot. It was then that I realized that we spend years looking for the reactions on peoples faces.

Our children on Christmas morning. A groom when his bride first begins her walk down the aisle. The look in the eyes of a spouse after many years of knowing. The look on someones face when you offer them a gift. The reaction of the person you are celebrating at a surprise party. All of their emotions are wrapped up in their face. This is how you know how happy, honored, grateful, surprised, appreciative they are.

My Christmas wish this year is that I would pay more attention to the looks on my peoples faces. That I wouldn't miss small blessings. That I won't take for granted the looks of Seth. God has given me him as a gift and I don't want to miss any of it. My greatest wish, however, is that I would seek HIS face more. I want to know that HE is happy, honored, grateful, and surprised at what I do. He is the one I want to get the picture of with His first reaction. My life needs to be gauged by Him-not anyone or anything else.

May you all have a wonderful Christmas and never forget to seek the look on His face.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like.....Something.....

I have a lot about nothing notable going on....but thought I would catch up with the ol' blog world. We are in the midst of trying to prepare for Christmas. Try would be the key word here. My shopping won't be finished until tomorrow, we have family dinner on Christmas Eve to prepare for, cookies to bake, presents to wrap, and so on and so forth. Not sure if it looks like Christmas around here or mayhem.

I did get up earlier than everyone else this morning (not unusual) and straighten up the front of my house. Then I realized it wasn't quite daylight so I plugged in the tree. It was very nice to sit here in total silence and look at the Christmas tree lights with a house that was picked up. Not sure how long this will last today, but it was a good start!

Not sure if anyone else experiences this, but Seth's Christmas list keeps changing. Good thing we didn't have his big gift bought yet or he would have been stuck with it. The last thing he tells us is what we will get tomorrow. Then it's done.

As we slide quickly into Thursday, my prayer is that I quieten this crazy chaos in my head before church tomorrow night. It is the one thing I am looking forward to before Christmas and I am hoping it straightens my perspective during this season. Seth has asked every day if it is the day we are going to church. I think he's excited too. :)

Here's wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! May we never forget that it is really for celebrating the birth of Jesus and God's sacrifice in sending us His son. It really is the greatest gift anyone could ever receive. It sure beats socks and underwear. :)

A List of Reasons

This morning, a list of reasons why husbands are awesome.

1. They warm up the car on cold days.

2. Mine is a travelling space heater, and he never minds warming up my ice pop feet!

3. Olin is a fabulous cook. My body shape is a testament to this. :)

4. He gets me. All the quirkiness that is me.

5. Pillow talk. AWESOME.

6. I have a helpmate. I am not in this alone. Such a relief.

7. Accountability. He is my partner in this. He calls me out on things that I would never let anyone else see/hear me think/do. He is the little white angel on my shoulder arguing with the devil on the other shoulder.

8. He puts up with my singing. If you knew how much of a sacrifice to his ears this is, you would know why it is impressive. He even says that I sound good sometimes. (Little white lies like this that he tells me to boost my ego never hurt anyone:)

9. I get to watch him be a wonderful father. To his two legged son and four legged daughter. They both have him wrapped around their little fingers and paws and I. LOVE. IT.

10. He would give me the world. He can't, but gladly would if he could. Just because.

I look forward to adding to this list from time to time. Olin does things everyday that amaze me. I want them recorded in this virtual journal of mine so that one day Seth can see what an amazing man he is as a husband. I want this list to remind me on days that I am ungrateful. I want Olin to have this list so that he will know the little things he does are not missed.

I hope everyone is having an amazing Christmas season! Praying that my family remembers to focus on the real celebration of this season.

Stopping By....

Just stopping by to let you know that if you don't see a post from me sometime soon, please send the search party out. I am about to start cleaning my house and my boys are about to work on this science fair project-again. This project may be the end of my sanity.

Amen.

Of Wise Men and Christmas Miracles

A wise man once said to me..."There is always some type of storm in our life. Not on a daily basis, but after one storm, another one comes up. This is when we can see the work of God. And sometimes we are the victim in the storm but it is all to glorify Him." Then he quoted the song..."Through it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus. Through it all, I've learned to trust in God. If I never had a problem, I wouldn't know He could solve them."

The man I write about is the Pope. He had this conversation with me in the ICU waiting room while his wife of 51 years lay in the Neurological ICU due to, they believe, an infection in her brain caused by her ear drum rupturing-leading to bacterial meningitis. I just had dinner with her a couple weeks ago. She had made gingerbread houses with her grandson on Friday.

I was prepped before I walked back. "It's going to be hard to see her, but you can look at her through the window before you go in to prepare yourself." We talked with doctors, listened to them give reports as we watched her through the glass walls. We methodically put on our robes, mask, and gloves. We were surrounded by machines beeping, doctors talking, the smell of antiseptic, and the sound of the doors opening and closing as people came and went. All of them had a reason to be there. All of them had someone they loved behind those curtains.

For the record, I wasn't prepared for this. But that's how God works sometimes. If He preps us for new things that He is going to teach us we would be like Jonah and try to run and hide. Sometimes He has to thrust us into the situation and teach us as we go. As I walked the long hallway to the elevators, and entered into the waiting room with several other families, I wondered where my days of teenage immortality went to. For the record, I think they jumped out of the 5th floor window at Baptist Hospital. I can tell you that it is a new level of adulthood when you are going to visit and support your best friend as her mother is in ICU. I didn't think we were old enough for our parents to be this sick. I don't think I wanted to be this kind of an adult yet.

However-He will get the glory. He will be honored in it. He is the same God in the valley as He is on the mountain top. He isn't surprised by any of this and He is working out big plans. While this seat may be as comfortable as a concrete block, what a great seat it is!!! How often in our lives do we get a front row seat to watch God work hour by hour??? I may not have been ready, but He was. And just for the record, I can't wait to watch this Christmas miracle unfold. Sometimes we are the victim. But He is ALWAYS the Victor!

From one turkey to another.....

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Just a small recap of ours:

We got in from work on Wednesday night. Ran to the house, unpacked, repacked, showered, and hit the road to Clover. In the small amount of time we were at home, we saw evidence that Stuart Little, or at lease one of his relatives, had moved into the house. I packed extra clothes. My in-laws were stuck with us for a couple of days, like it or not. :) (They didn't mind) There are several things in life that I just cant deal with, and mice are on the list. Near the top.

We got to my in-laws and immediately joined the ranks of people in the kitchen cooking. I was tired but there is nothing as enjoyable as the family in the kitchen cooking together. Especially with Grandma Wiggins. She is one of those women, like so many others, that will never be able to write all of her recipes down for us so we have to watch and learn. She rarely uses a measuring cup. It's like an art form.

We finally got in the bed around midnite. I walked into the room and there was an 11 year old laying in the middle of the bed, smiling like a cheshire cat. We all crawled in the bed together and he played with the dog and giggled his way into sleepiness. I had a few moments of nostalgia as his daddy carried him to his bedroom and tucked him in. Will that be the last time he feels comfortable enough to crawl in the bed with us? Will that be the last time his daddy carries him to his bed after he has fallen asleep? We are reaching an age with him that when I see these things, I have to wonder if it is the last time I will see it.

Thursday morning brought an onslaught of dishes that still had to bake and be finished up. Friends and family came in from all over NC and Virginia. Caroline even had a pug friend, Ginger, come visit! The puppies were happy about their visit, the cat however still hasn't spoken to us. :) By the time we sat down to eat with our plates that weren't big enough to hold all of the side dishes, we were tired, fulfilled, thankful, and starving. When we finished eating, I don't think there were too many people at the table that could still breathe. ;)

We are home now and back to the grind of life. Cleaning house, packing to go back to work today (for me), praying that Stuart Little is gone, doing laundry, cooking meals, etc. As we come down from the rush of the first holiday meal, I am thankful for family. And friends. And hard work and big payoffs. It is every bit worth it and now on to the next one. My boys decorated the tree last night and as I sat here and watched them (They wanted to do it themselves) I couldn't help but wonder if this was the last time that Seth wouldn't be able to reach the top of the tree without his daddy's help. And so the cycle begins again. Praying that I go through the season with eyes wide open and capturing every memory in my mind. I never know if it's the last time it will be like this.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!! From one turkey to another....

Old Vs. New

I have had a lot of real, authentic friendships over the years. I do not take that for granted. Real friends are hard to come by and few. After making some new friends recently, I started to really realized how lucky I am. I have friends that will speak truth to me, even when I don't want to hear it, and do it out of sincerity and love. I have friends that I can sit at a dinner table with and belly laugh our way through the meal. (I sure hope that helps to work off some of the calories that I would be consuming at said meal). I have friends whose parents know me just as well and would be there in a minute if I needed them. They are my self-created family. We are comprised of a group of people that may be very different on a day to day basis....but we care about each other regardless. We care how the other persons day is and what they have going on in their lives. We celebrate each others triumphs and greive with each other over failures. We celebrate each others birthdays and their familys birthdays. We help each other navigate this world of marriage, parenthood, and adulthood in general.

I have been very emotional this week, so please forgive the mushy post. I just know that there is no greater feeling in the world than when an old friend calls you up and asks: "Did you sleep last night?" "How was your morning?" It's not even the question itself. It's knowing they cared and wondered about it. It's knowing that in someone else's world, no matter how busy they are, you matter. And it makes all the difference in the world.

So...Old vs. New? I think I will keep them both. After all, I can have my cake and eat it too... :)

Santa Claus is comin' to town!

Good morning! I got up this morning and did some quick mathematical equations in my head and realized I may need to get on the Christmas train! It's literally just around the corner. Amazing how it sneaks up! One of my main goals this year is to get a Christmas picture done and do Christmas cards. I never mail out Christmas cards. I'm slack. However, Shutterfly has made it easy for me to be able to order cards with the pictures already printed on them and they get here quick enough so that people who procrastinate (not sure who that would be!) can still have them in time to mail them out! My kind of store!
I was browsing through their cards the other day and they have some pretty amazing designs! Here are some designs they have available this year. I love the photo cards! I will tell you from personal experience, that the quality is top-notch! It's amazing!!! I am thinking of using the 5x7 folded carded "Merry Greetings". With the picture I have planned I need a pretty big window on the front and I love the simplicity of it! I also love that you can put pictures on the inside and there is STILL room for writing! This is a great plan for me, because if you can't tell by my posts, I am wordy. I can't help it people. :)
The other thing I am looking at are their wall calendars. I think they make phenomenal gifts for Christmas-especially for grandmothers who love to brag and show off the grandchildren! These are easy to create and they are personalized! Take some time to check them out!
The last thing I want to take some time to mention, is their Holiday Party Invitations. This is my idea of an invitation. They make inviting people to that party you wanna plan so easy! I am thinking they would be perfect for the Cookie Swap I want to plan soon!
I will feature my card on here as soon as I have it ordered and mailed! I can't show it here before all the family sees it! I promise you that if you order from Shutterfly, you will not be sorry you did!