Friday thoughts!

WOW.... Friday already, crazy!!!

1. If you would, please keep my friend Sarah in your prayers!!



She just recently found out she has Hodgkin's Lymphoma cancer. The cure rate is 90% for this type of cancer, so they are VERY VERY hopeful. But the whole process of getting back to health is going to be hard for her because she is going to have to go through chemo. Had dinner with her at Carrabba's last night, and she has such a positive outlook though. She's amazing.

2. Oh.My.Word....Speaking of Carrabba's....



Their Chicken Bryan is OUT OF THIS WORLD!! You have got to try it if you haven’t already!!!

3. Let it be known that I am having an affair with McD’s…. Sorry Starbucks, but I have fallen in love with the caramel latte at McDonald’s. And hello, soooo much cheaper, ha!



4. Tonight I get to hang out with these cuties!



These precious twins belong to my co-worker Cristina. They and a bunch of other little girls are having a sleepover tonight and Cristina asked if I wanted to come over and give her an extra hand as her husband will be leaving the premises, haha!! So we're going to have a girls night and do nails and all that fun stuff. I have become really attached to them and love them to pieces.

5. My BFF Monica is graduating with her Master's tomorrow morning.



This was her and I on her wedding day last June. It's almost been one year, crazy!! I haven't been able to see or talk with her much this past year because life has been so crazy with her settling into married life and working on her Master's. So it will be nice to have my friend back and re-connect with her! I'm so sad I won't be able to go to her graduation because she is only allowed so many tickets :( But I am so so proud of her!!

6. And in other BFF news, my roommate Jill has will be leaving :(



She is a traveling nurse and so her contract at the hospital is up. Granted her schedule was crazy, my schedule was crazy so we barely saw each other, ha... but it was still a sweet season for both of us to have her there at the house with me. Love her and know God has great things ahead for her!!

7. I'm so excited because I'll be in NY next month for a family wedding and we're going to take a day trip into NYC. It's only a day but I'll take it, ha!!!



8. We might get to see the Lion King on Broadway while we're there.



I am keeping my fingers crossed! I want to go soooo bad. Have any of ya'll seen it?

9. I am coming off of a week long break from school and I have LOVED every single second of it. Not that I've done anything thoroughly exciting this week but just to have no schedule and to have my nights available has been heaven.

10. I am finding it so hard to believe it's already May..... the year is flying and I don't like it. Time slow down would you? The saying is true when they say the older you get the faster time flies!! Agree??

Have a wonderful friday everyone and have a great weekend!!!

Baby love!

Last week I went to go visit my friend Tonja who just had a baby. A precious girl named Presley Grace. Such a cute name.

It gives me baby fever and I’m NOT EVEN MARRIED and not even with anyone for that matter, haha!!! Marriage has got to come first (at least for me)...

The miracle of life is just simply amazing!





Don't know what is going on with my chin in the second picture. Pretend like you didn't see it. So, do I look like a natural or what? LOL. Makes me so excited for my niece to arrive in August!!!! :)

Just love babies. Love kids, period!

What if....

As I was driving this morning I was pondering and a lot of us go through our lives thinking “What if”…

What if I stay single forever?

What if I never have children?

What if I never have that house to call my own?

What if my prayers aren’t answered?

What if God keeps me at this job where I know I don’t want to be forever?

What if fear is a constant presence in my life?

What if I never take risks?

What if I’m always in debt?

What if I lose this relationship?

What if God is not listening to me?

What if I never lose these extra pounds?

What if nobody likes me? (No how many of us have thought this when we’re in an unfamiliar setting?)

What If I never fulfill my dreams?

What if God doesn’t heal me?

What if, What if, What if…

BUT, what if we simply just choose to trust him…… It's a simple concept but so hard for alot of us to put into practice.

Hmmmm…Now, there’s a what if for you…

Think about it, what’s your “what if” today???

Beth Moore and Blogger Weekend - Part Two

So Saturday was conference day. Aishlea, Tiffany (Aishlea's cousin), and I set off for Atlanta at 6:30am in the morning. So nice because we really got to chat and spend time with each other on the drive there and way back. We arrived quite a bit early and it was a good thing we did because the parking lot was a mad house.

So we got our seats and the blogger fest was in full force. Met sooo many bloggers before the conference started and while we had a break for lunch.

That was just the icing on the cake but Beth brought the message and she brought it good. She spoke on her book "So Long Insecurity." Ya'll it was ordained before the foundations of the earth that I be at this thing. Her message blessed my socks off. She spoke mainly out of Ephesians Chapter 4. There was not one person who had to have left that building not feeling more secure. I learned that security is it's own form of pride and is self-idolatry. It keeps our minds on ourself. Hello, Bethie, speaking to me much?????? We need to esteem who God has made us and security helps us think less of ourselves. We cannot wait till we're secure to start believing. We make up our minds to be secure.

Granted not all the problems of the world were solved for each woman as we walked out of that building, but doggonit we sure as heck were more secure, and if someone wasn't I would have to ask, sure we were at the same conference? Ha!

There were 300,000 women who took part in this simulcast and 9,000 of us were in Atlanta and hearing 9,000 women praising God with Travis Cottrell leading us in worship, that's a little slice of heaven right there. It was amazing!!!

So without further delay, here's the rest of the weekend in pictures:

I met:
Kelly from Kelly's Korner (As I said before)


Aishlea and I (Well, technically I met her the day before, ha)


Aishlea and I with Laurie and Hillary (BFF's of Kelly and I read their blogs too).


Caroline and Jenna


Betsy Maddox

Aishlea and Tiffany


Jennifer Francis (Another AR girl, they are ALL so sweet)


Faith @ Walk with me by Faith


Megan @ Tales of the Trees


Amanda Ledford

Becca

Trina


Erin @ Blue-Eyed Bride


Jenna @ Jenna's Journey


Aishlea, Tiffany, and I


Meeting ALL these bloggers that I read about and being able to see them face to face and hug their necks, it was all a little surreal and such an awesome experience. It really was just a huge party in the overflow.

We were all in the overflow room. It was almost 100 times better than being in the main sanctuary because Beth and her daughter Melissa came into the overflow room to do a Q & A with us. It was so awesome and I got to get some pictures of Beth and her daughter. It was so personal and fun, and Beth is just flat out funny!!









After the conference was over Aishlea, Tiffany, and I met up for dinner with another blogger named Staci who lives in the Atlanta area. It was so great to meet her and she is so so sweet!



So that pretty much captures the whole Beth Moore and blogger experience. Sunday morning it was time to make the trip back to Florida, but have another funny story. Got to meet another blog friend along the way who was also making the trip back to Florida but never had the chance to meet while at the conference. Natalie and I have talked for quite sometime in the blog world and turns out we were right beside each other on the road and so we both stopped for gas and we met each other for the first time at the gas station. Crazy, right? Gotta love the blog world, haha!!

What a wonderful girls weekend!! Was so sad to see it end. Can't wait for next time!!

Beth Moore and Blogger weekend- Part One

I can't even put into words how wonderful this weekend was.

For real, wonderful doesn't even describe it.

I set out Friday morning around 6am and made the 8 hour trip to Georgia. Can I just say the drive doesn't seem nearly as long when you're excited to get there, but the drive back, oh my word.... Georgia is a loooooooong state, haha!!

I was able to stay with Aishlea ,a blog friend I had never met before but now happy to call her my real-life friend. We hit it right off. She was as sweet as could be and she and her husband Brandon are absolutely adorable. I so appreciate them letting me stay with them. Aishlea, I am so happy to call you friend and can't wait to see you again soon. Please go by Aishlea's blog and say hello. You won't be sorry you did.

When I got there we just sat and chatted for a few hours and got the chance to know each other and then we went to the restaurant Rafael's to eat dinner, Aishlea said it was a Trenton must and it was yummy!!!! Then we just came back home and relaxed, we had an early morning the next morning to head to Beth Moore.

I wish I had taken pictures the day I arrived but the next day held all the pictures. Which I don't have my camera cord, left it at work, but I will have a chance to upload tonight and have a post for you tomorrow.

In the meantime, here's a tease. Stole this from Kelly :)



I got to meet Kelly from Kelly's Korner and many many other bloggers....

And not to mention, Beth Moore is pretty much A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!

More to come!!!

The Sunset!

It was a couple of weeks ago when I took this picture. I was driving around one night and decided I wanted to take a drive around the lake nearby. I’m so glad I did because the view was breathtaking. I’m just as much at fault as the next person when it comes to not taking in the small things. I get so caught up in my life that I fail to see the beauty that’s around me.

I think sunrises and sunsets are such a gift from God. And seriously when one comes around like this, I just want to stop what I’m doing and sit in awe. It’s like a tapestry that can only be created by his hands.

My life is never picture perfect. I have days where the sun is shining and then I have days where its pouring rain and I feel like I’m drowning in the drought. But I’m always reminded that the sun rises and sets each day, and in between those times, the days hold something different for each of us. It’s amazing in the blog world how we can all relate to each other and know that we all walk through the same “crap” (for lack of better word) in life.

Just wait for that next sunset and be reminded that as the sun sets, it will surely rise again and joy comes in the morning!

A little Wednesday nugget for you! :)

Black Bass Circle!

If you have read my blog for any amount of time you know I am a sentimental person by nature. I live in a constant state of nostalgia, LOL!

I haven’t lived in too many houses. Every now and then I get the urge to visit my old neighborhood and drive by my old house. This past weekend I took a drive by.



I will tell you right now, the shutters and the door when we lived there were not that God awful color, and the van adds some nice curb appeal, don’t you think?

Anyhow, this is the home where I spent a good bit of my childhood all the way up until the middle of high school when we moved. So many memories in this house. Some happy memories, some sad memories…but nonetheless they are the memories that make up my life and make me who I am.

This house was really beautiful at the time we lived there, in fact, the whole neighborhood was beautiful. But it makes me sad now because unfortunately it’s just really rundown and not all that nice anymore.

I go back in my memory and like to think it’s still the same as it was when I lived there. That I’m still the carefree child/student running the streets playing with the neighborhood kids. Can picture myself walking the long hill up to the bus stop to catch the school bus. Picturing my brother and I and neighborhood kids walking through the woods behind our house to go eat at Checkers which wasn’t that far from the house. I would often times walk down to the grocery store which also wasn’t far from the house so I can get a magazine. So many holidays spent in this neighborhood. Remember one year when it seemed like all the neighborhood kids got rollerblades for Christmas that year, and of course we spent hours that Christmas morning outside checking out each other’s rollerblades and skating and just having a blast. I loved checking the mail and remember when our neighbor and I would many, many days go to the mailbox at the same time to get our mail, ha! These are just some of the many memories…

Yes, Black Bass Circle was the place to be. On a funny side note, every street in the neighborhood was named after a fish. Sailfish, Kingfish, Starfish, Trout…. Clever, eh? Guess the person who named the streets was a big lover of fish, ha!

I often times wish I could go back to that place…. When you’re young time just stands still but if I knew how time was going to fly I would have savored those moments just a little bit more. Wouldn’t we all though?

Anyhow, there’s always that place that takes you back. What is that place for you?

So Long Insecurity!

I am one who has always struggled with insecurity in one way or another, and I’m sure the rest of ya’ll have as well.

So it’s not by accident that this weekend I will be heading to Atlanta to hear Beth Moore speak on her new book “So Long Insecurity.”



I’m praying in advance that God will open my eyes while I’m there to insecurities that have been deeply rooted for as long as I can remember and that he’ll start removing them one by one.

Insecurity #1
I have never been one to be completely 100% comfortable in my own skin. And within the past few months or so I have put on a few pounds that I’m not proud of. I don’t exercise like I know I should and I think to comfort myself, I eat. I hate the fact I do this. I don’t like to do this. It’s not the amount of food I’m eating, but it’s the junk that I’m putting in my mouth. I want to take better care of this temple that God has given me… but I just can’t seem to find my way out of this vicious cycle. There’s always someone that is going to have better hair, better body, flawless skin, and etc…. But I try to remember that I am fearfully and wonderfully made and created in his image.

Insecurity #2
I’m at a place in my life where I didn’t envision myself being. I’m 25 years old and I know that’s still young, but in a world where everyone my age is getting married and having kids, you can’t help but feel there’s something wrong with you that you’re not. I’m still in school while the majority of the people I know are done and past that stage and onto the next season of life. And I long to be in that next season.

Insecurity #3
When other people I come across seem to have it so together, confident in who they are, have found their niche in life, and I am so not where I need to be yet. I’m getting there but in the meantime being around those types of people make me insecure.

Insecurity #4
I love to people please. I am devastated if I feel someone doesn’t like me or I think they don’t want to be my friend. I recently had someone take me off their friends on Facebook and it hurt me. That’s just an example. I’m insecure when I feel others might have more friends than I do or if I feel excluded from something, then I’m crushed.

Insecurity can manifest itself in many ways! But I so desperately want to be secure and content with every area of my life. God’s intent for us is not to live a life of insecurity. But it all starts with being confident and acknowledging who we are in him. And I’m still a work in progress. As Joyce Meyer likes to put it, I’m just a “cracked pot.”

So, just wanted to encourage you today that if there’s any form of insecurity in your life, just know that you are not alone. And I encourage you to pick up this book… and if there’s a church near you that is doing this simulcast of “So Long Insecurity” this weekend, go join in on it and kiss those insecurities goodbye!

Happy birthday big brother!

Although my brother has no clue I even have this blog and won’t read this…wanted to wish him a VERY happy 28th birthday today!!!



My brother is not one of many words but his actions always show that there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for my sister and I. He has turned out to be an amazing and wonderful man and an even more wonderful husband and father to my niece and I know will be to your daughter who is on the way.

Blake, I love you. Thank you for being the best brother a girl could ask for. All the wedgies and beating up on me you did in the past is nothing but a distant memory and totally worth every ounce of the amazing human being you’ve turned out to be today. Plus, I now know wedgies and wet willies were your love language and oh did I feel the love!!!







Happy Birthday!!!!

PS:
I was looking back at last year’s post and I wished you a happy 26th birthday…. Whoops, my bad.. Never was good at math. Ha!

Skype night!

I am truly blessed with the friends God has put in my life. I have such a diverse group of friends and each one brings something different to my life. That’s what is so great about friendships.

This past Saturday I had girl’s night with a couple of girls that I went to Court Reporting school with, they have since graduated and I’m still plugging along.

Sarah and Jennifer have been some of my biggest cheerleaders and I know we will all be friends for years to come. It’s nice to be able to pick their brains and get their stories and experiences now that they are working out in the real world of Court Reporting.

Two other girls were supposed to make it to the girl's night but they couldn’t, so it was just the three of us. Actually, I forgot to include one more, the other Sarah who also went to school with us but relocated and now lives out in California. We were supposed to have a pizza and movie night but we ended up having a pizza and skype night and ended up talking with Sarah over skype the whole evening, it was so much fun.

Here we are, group picture, ha! Pretty funny, eh?


I am new to the world of skype and I LOVE it and downloaded it on my own computer….. hello, where have I been? It’s pretty amazing!!! You feel like you are all just right there together.

Here’s Jennifer and I.


I wish I had gotten more pictures of this night and don’t have a picture of all 3 of us… But seriously, the movie could wait… Chatting and catching up was so much better and full of laughs.

Plus, I think next girl's night we’re going to go see this movie when it comes out. So we’ll get our movie in then!!!



Do ya’ll skype???

Faith & Drinking!

I write on these two topics without any hesitation and this is my little corner of the internet so why shouldn’t I be able to write about it. Whether you have faith, you don’t have faith, drinking is a topic we ALL come across. Some may not drink, some may. Some may think it makes you less of a Christian if you do and some may think it makes you more spiritual if you don’t.

As for me and this gal, I serve the Lord and love him with all of my heart and still learning this walk day by day ..but admit I may have some wine or beer on occasion.

After reading that last sentence some of your opinions of me might change, some might stay the same. I share this with you because I want to be as real as real can get and I don’t want to portray anything less.

You may wonder why I bring this up. But in my experience this past month, the subjects of faith and drinking went hand in hand.

I had the opportunity to be introduced to somebody in hopes that maybe he and I might be able to get to know each other better. Well, it proceeded to go nowhere based on the issue of drinking.

He had his opinions and experiences to base his viewpoints on concerning drinking and they vary from mine. But when it came to the end it basically summed up to that he didn’t want to be involved with anyone who drinks.

The whole reason the topic of drinking came up was because he saw a picture on Facebook where I had a drink in my hand. And from then on he had already formed a perception of me. What hurt me the most was the possibility that he wouldn’t take the chance to get to know me based on pictures he saw on Facebook or this perception he formed in his mind of how I choose to live my life and felt like my character was in question.

Unfortunately, he was not open to getting to know me or seeing what could happen. In the end it was going to be nothing but a friendship and he was interested in talking about this some more. Honestly, at this point in my life I am not looking for another “friend”. I’m looking for something more. So I expressed that it was probably best that we both move on.

The whole thing was a good learning experience.

I think the biggest thing I've learned is I now know I am ready to get out there and meet someone. I had a lot of emotion put into this, more so than I thought. And I asked the Lord that if this wasn't meant to be, then shut the doors and if it was then leave the doors open and make the way. He showed me very clearly.

And I know God has someone very special out there for me, but he’s just holding out on his best!!

Thoughts???

Having a Nostalgic moment!

I don't know about your corner of the world.... but where I live in my tiny part of the U.S. of A no matter how much I might want to get out of this small city and experience someplace different..there are places, people, and things that have engrained themselves into a place in my heart where memories are stored and tucked away.

Wolfy's is no exception.

Wolfy's is a historic restaurant which has been a landmark in my city for many, many years. It's been here since my mom was a child. It's nothing extravagant but it's just something that's always been around, everybody knew what Wolfy's was.

I have alot of memories of Wolfy's.

Well, it burned down last night. For a few years my eating there has been kind of sporatic. But nonetheless it made me sad when I heard about this.



It almost made me want to cry, isn't it funny that a restaurant can do that to you? Sure it can be rebuilt and they might just do that, but it will not be the same. Driving by it is 10x worse. So they would totally have to knock it down and start from the ground up again. The interior will not be the same which I don't think had changed in about a million years. The smell when you walk inside wouldn't be the same. The same smell which you had always come to expect when walking in the doors. It was a comforting smell. It was a smell that brought the comforts of home, the comforts of the small town life.

This might all sound silly..... but it got me to thinking no matter what, things can burn down, restaurants can burn down, houses can burn down with all the material things inside of it. But the memories, those are the things that no fire can take away EVER.



And the memories of Wolfy's didn't go down with the fire... I can still picture in my mind the interior and the smell of the food, and can picture the waiters and waitresses that had been there for years that now no longer have a job.

But the memories, those still remain!

And now I'm laughing.... because did I just dedicate a whole blog post to a restaurant!!!

I'm sentimental, what can I say.

Simply said, this city just ain't right without Wolfy's!

Letters to God and Some other people!

I always get real excited when a faith-based film comes out. Don’t know if ya’ll have heard about the movie coming out in theaters today called “Letters to God”…

I’m so excited to see it. Don’t know if I’ll have a chance this weekend but hopefully sometime soon I can go see it. It’s coming out in 800 theaters across America and hope it makes a major impact.

Here’s the Trailer: (Turn the volume down on my music on the blog so you can hear)



And I have a Friday funny for you….. Back a couple of Wednesdays ago I turned on American Idol to catch the tail end of it. I have Dish Network and when it gave the description of the show I busted out laughing when I saw this:



Poor Randy, Kara, and Simon..they got left in the dust. Guess they’re just some other people, haha!

I took this picture on my phone and posted it on Twitter. By-the-way, if you are on Twitter you can find me under www.twitter.com/lkelly611. I got back on the bandwagon :)

Have a great Friday!!

P.S.
Hoping to get caught up on the blogs this weekend!!!

Seriously, I really am here!

WOW, did I seriously just take a whole month off from blogging and then come back for a day and then a whole week went by without blogging?

That my friends is what you would call a blog funk. No other way to explain it.

I am actually sitting out on my porch as I type. It's a beautiful evening. The sun is poking through the trees, a bird just sang a sweet little melody for me, it's not unbearably hot like some Florida nights can get, and loving the fact that everything is turning green again. All the ingredients to make for a great evening and reminds me that I need to take time to sit out and enjoy my porch more.

My view from here:


Well, a little overdue but had some Easter pictures I wanted to share with you....

It was a great one. Wonderful church service and then we just had everybody over at the parents house to eat and as always the time spent with family was awesome. We were just missing my brother's family and my sister, so it wasn't quite the same but nonetheless still great!

Took this picture before service started. Just thought the stage looked beautiful!


Me and Larry (Mom's hubby)


Me and the Mommasita!


The yellow brigade!! :) Made Ian get a picture with me since we matched, ha!


Larry and Miss Emma!


The cute little cupcakes. Totally picture worthy, ha!


My sister Christy and I.


The parentals!


Trying to act cool, ha!


Sweet picture!


Okay.... So it was time to hide the eggs for the kids so they could find them. So we're going about our business and then all the sudden we hear my mom yell, hey....I laid the golden egg. The picture speaks for itself and look closely and you'll see the egg, ha!!!


Hunting the eggs down!






Hello, call the modeling agency!




There ya have it!

Hope everyone is having a great week. Trying to do my best to get back to my bloggy flow!