Love is alive.

[[This morning I woke up with a heavy heart for so many people I know who are going through a tough time this Christmas holiday...]]

I guess living in the OBU “bubble” for so long had numbed me to the fact that there are people out there who truly ache during the holiday months. 

While I was at OBU, I was so focused on what I had to do to make it to Christmas break in one piece.  I was focused on studying for that one final for that one class that I absolutely loathed. I was focused on making my own Christmas list filled with the latest and greatest. I was focused on figuring out how I was going to fit ALL my stuff in my tiny little Honda. I was focused on getting home to my home so I could sleep in my warm bed. 

I was focused 100% on myself.  

Going into my first Christmas outside of the “bubble” has been an eye opener. So many people are hurting during these weeks coming up to Christmas and I can’t help but be affected by it and realize that not everything is about ME. 

Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus is the ultimate comforter.

He gives peace to the weary. He meets you exactly where you are in life.  

He is the ultimate definition and symbol of LOVE.

Sara Bareilles has a song that came out last Christmas called “Winter Song”. In the chorus she sings the line “Is love alive?” over and over again. 

I have come into contact with so many people who feel that love isn’t alive this Christmas. They feel like just because the calendar says it’s December and the radio songs sing words about being “filled with glee”, and how its “the most wonderful time of the year”…their heart ultimately tells them differently.  

Sometimes situations come our way and we forget that God is love. He loves us in a way that we cant even comprehend. He laid down his OWN life so that we, sinful man, could live in the presence of a Holy God and have our sins forgiven. Jesus gives us REDEMPTION. 

He took on ALL the burdens of this world…every last one of them.

So if your feeling like love isn’t alive this Christmas just remember that whatever situation your going through- God gets it. He understands. He wants to be your comforter and the one stable thing in your life that wont fail you.

So to answer Sara Bareilles question….Yes. Love is very much alive.....

His name is Jesus Christ. 

This will make you laugh. No doubt.

Busy Bee.

Man oh man what a crazy couple of days it has been! Let me just give you a brief re-cap:

Woke up Thursday morning and realized that my poor Holly Honda had been broken into by some Grinch wannabe. They bashed out my passenger door window and decided that my GPS looked like a perfect object to steal and take for themselves. Now- I’m not saying that I wasn’t stupid for leaving my GPS out in the open for the taking but STILL….Go out and buy your own dang GPS. Here is a picture of the window damage....

After calling the cops, my dad and I learned that Holly wasn’t THAT special and I wasn’t the only car broken into that night. Apparently they had hit about 7 different neighborhoods and even broke into somebody’s car just for a pack a cigarettes and 45 cents. I forget how lost our world is until an incident like this happens. Thankfully, we were told the next day that my GPS had been recovered and the case was going to court. Plano Police saved the day!

Friday morning finally rolled around and my family and I went to Ryan’s Southwestern Seminary graduation ceremony. My family is very proud of Ryan and all of his accomplishments he has made in the past 3 years. He has worked so hard and definitely earned that degree! I have a lot of respect for people who continue with school after college because, Lord knows, I don’t have the drive to be back in a classroom! Sadly, technology seemed to hate me that morning because my big camera died AND my Flip camera wasn't working so I had to resort to Iphone pictures and video to capture the moment! All the professors wear Cowboy hats with their robes. Kinda weird but its Texas so go figure. 

That night I met up with Megan, Amy and her sister Natalie for dinner at Legacy Town Center’s Mi Cocina! Amy and Natalie had come into town for some Christmas shopping/sister weekend and thankfully I got to spend some time with them! I’m still trying to convince them to move to Plano and I wont give up till I have succeeded. :)

Saturday was another early morning at Prestonwood North with our Northern Lights Christmas performance practice! Here is a picture of the children getting ready to sing “I Love Christmas!” They were all so cute and did a great job!
 That night I went with Ryan and some of his family to Prestonwood South’s “The Gift of Christmas” performance. It was SO amazing. Between the fireworks going off the sanctuary and the flying angels (which is my dream to be one day :D)…I was in awe of it all! I was so impressed with everything and it was such a blessing to watch!  It made me miss the good ol’ days of being apart of the Dallas Christmas Festival performances and all the late nights that came with it!

Sunday was busy with two services packed full of Christmas music and much needed lunch at Blue Goose with fun friends that always make me laugh! I made the mistake of wearing some high heels that literally made the bottom of my feet feel like they were being hit with a hammer over and over again. Its clearly been awhile since my pageant days. 

So now its finally Monday morning and the week has officially BEGUN! I wonder what fun things will happen to me THIS week!?!


Here is a random picture of my long lost kitty Bella. She is the cutest. :) Thank you Megan for sending me weekly pictures of her! Meow. 

Decaffeinated coffee is the devil's blend.

For some reason it has been one of those weeks were I can’t seem to wake up no matter how many cups of coffee I have. 

I wake up in the mornings not feeling like P- Diddy but rather like somebody who has had a truck run over them numerous times. On my way to work I pass about 4 Starbucks that taunt me with their green and white round logo. Usually by the time I pass the 4^th one- I give in to the temptation and stop to enjoy a delicious Carmel Brulee Latte and if I’m really in a good mood- maybe a cinnamon coffee cake.

Is it just me or does holding a warm Starbucks coffee cup in your hand make you feel like you can conquer any situation that gets thrown your direction?

I blame this subconscious notion of coffee on Hollywood. In movies and TV shows they make coffee seem like a necessity and a way to survive the harsh world we live in. They make it seem like as long as you have a coffee cup in your hand- nothing can touch you. For example- in the show Gilmore Girls- the character, Lorelei, has a coffee addiction and makes it seem trendy and cool to down about 5 cups a day. If that were reality and she really did down 5 cups a day- her teeth would have then been brown and nasty and, sadly for her, she wouldn’t be so trendy anymore. On NCIS, Special Agent Gibbs drinks the stuff all day long- and somehow solves a murder mystery about a Navy Seal in 30 minutes. We also see celebrities’ like Britney Spears downing the drug in every magazine we pick up and somehow she lands her own dedicated episode on Glee after dropping her kid and shaving her head?

So whether you blame it on the genius branding strategies of Starbucks, or just blame it on Hollywood- one thing is for sure- coffee, like rain, is a good thing and will always be around to make your day that much better.

Treat yourself to a warm cup today. You deserve it.

Keep it Classy World Conquerors. 

photo credits here, here and here. 

.::Fun Facts about Thanksgiving::.

Okay okay…I said I wouldn’t tell you fun facts about Thanksgiving but I came across these today and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share them with you! 

•     Americans feast on 535 million pounds of turkey on Thanksgiving. That’s insane to me. 

•    According the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 45 million turkeys are cooked and eaten in the United States at Thanksgiving. That number represents one sixth of all the turkeys sold in the U.S. each year. Who knew there were even that many turkeys in the world?! Where are all those turkeys when Tyler wants to hunt them at the ranch??

•    Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be our national bird. You know they were all in a room voting on what the national bird would be and Benjamin Franklin laughed and hit the guy next to him and whispered, “Watch this….”

•    Domesticated turkeys cannot fly, however wild turkeys can fly up to 55 miles per hour over short distances. GO turkey GO!

•    Only male (tom) turkeys gobble. Females make a clicking noise. The famous gobble is actually a seasonal mating call. Men should learn from Turkeys. If you gobble at a woman…I bet you 100 bucks you will get her attention. Try it.  

•    The heaviest turkey ever raised weighed in at 86 pounds – about the size of a German Shepherd! …..Good grief. What was that Turkey eating…McDonalds?

•    A turkey under 16 weeks of age is called a fryer. A five to seven month old turkey is called a roaster. Baha…

•    The Turkey Trot, a ballroom dance in the 1900s, was named for the short, jerky steps of the turkey. It became popular mainly because it was denounced by the Vatican as "suggestive." I wonder what the Vatican would have thought about the “Dougie”?

•    Turkeys are known to spend the night in trees. OBU freshman and turkeys have a lot in common.  

•    Turkeys can drown if they look up when it's raining. “Hey look guys it’s raining!” “AW CRAP TOM NOOOO!”

•    A turkey's field of vision is 270 degrees--one of the main reasons they're able to elude some hunters. Sneaky devils.

•    There was no milk, cheese, bread, butter or pumpkin pie at the original Thanksgiving Day feast. Whelp I would have left that meal starving.

•    Contrary to popular belief, the Pilgrims did not have big buckles on their clothing, shoes, or hats. WHAT?! Next they are going to tell me that Indians really didn’t know how to braid there hair..

•    President Abraham Lincoln established the original date for our National Thanksgiving Day celebration in 1863. Thank you Ab. Because of you…I have two days off of work this week.

•    The average person consumes 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving Day. This is the exact reason why I wear sweatpants on Thanksgiving every year. I’m not ashamed. 

{credit for facts and image}

Hope those made you smile. Have a Happy Thanksgiving everybody!! Enjoy your 4,500 calories! :) 

Gobble Gobble.

Well, Turkey Day is around the corner which means as I type you are mentally coming up with a game plan deciding how you are going to consume more calories then one human normally does in a week- all the while not gaining one single pound. Trust me when I say....Its impossible. So do yourself a favor and wear your "fat" jeans while stuffing your face along with large comfy sweatshirt. You will save yourself a lot of stress if you do. :)

I know the most cliche thing to do around this holiday is to list out the things in life that you are most thankful for but did you really think I was going to blog about the different ways to cook a Turkey..or fun facts about the pilgrims and Indians?? I don't even really LIKE turkey all that much nor know much about the pilgrims and Indians. So I write about what I know....and i know what im thankful for in life.

Okay onto my list! (that is in no particular order...My thoughts are random-therefore so is this list)

I am thankful for.....

- Makeup.....every girl is I assume. 

- The Circle L Ranch...best place on Earth.

- My bed....I tell it that I love it every night...Just ask Megan. 

- My job. Not many people get to say they do what they love to do.

- My brother Brandon. He keeps me sane and is the best advice giver ever. 

- My weenie dog- Chloe. She may bark like a bird and have breath that smells like fish but she's my pup.

- My Grandaddy and the angels that were around him that day. :)

- My mom and dad. They have done more for me then any two humans should. 

- My accomplishments in life. 

- Moments I have failed in life. 

- Good/ bad decisions ive made.

- My church.. 

- My other half in life and somebody who has stuck by my side for almost 15 years...Carly.

- The one person who could live with me for 4 years and still wanna hang out with me.....Megan.

- The one friend that I could talk to all day long and not get tired of...Amy.

- The only person who could do the worm in her wedding dress and tell me that my short hair cut was "uneven" on the E Spring Outing and get away with it..Brooke.

- The only friend who makes me laugh till I cry....Kate.

- The only friend who is more competitive and "say it how it is" then me...Sam.

- My pageant days. 

- My high school days.

- Situations in life that turned out differently then expected.

- My brown leather Bible. 

- My 9th grade table group girls.
- My EEE Days and Pledge Class...those girls will always have a special place in my heart!

- Forgiveness

- My MeeMaw and Pa Paw and all the nights over at their house.

- My knight in shining armor...Tyler Nathan Toney.

- Jeff, Pam and Paige Toney and all the love they show me. 

- Bob Bob and Nean 

- My aunt and cousins, Haylee and Houston. 

- Prayer

- Jeans that fit just right.

- My red poka dot robe

- DVR

- Alyse Eady.....My Miss America. :) 

- My big brother...Ryan. 

- Air conditioning.

- My bath tub.

- My car- Holly Honda. 

- My Salvation.

- My cell phone. PTL for Iphone.

- My laptop.

- Things that sparkle.... like crowns...and other things....

- Ice Cream and chocolate

- My love for singing.

- Good music.

- My home.

- Times I laughed till I cried

- Times I cried till I laughed.

- Friendship.

- Starbucks coffee...mmm Pumpkin Spice Latte....

- Encouragement when least expected.

And the list could go on and on.....

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?? Take time this holiday to write some of those things down because we ALL have things to be thankful for! 

Keep it Classy Turkey Lovers... 

:::everybody has a happy place:::

Everybody has that one place in their life that they love retreating to. It’s the one place where they can forget the weeks worries and drama and just sit and enjoy the stillness. For some people this is a special lazy boy chair, or a swing out in their backyard. I don’t care who you are or where you live- You have a happy place.

I always enjoy going to Circle L Ranch on the weekends because for a brief two days, you forget that there is a crazy world out there. You forget that Mondays exist. You forget that your room needs some major TLC. You forget about the million little projects you need to get done but have no time for.

I’m always reminded of God’s beauty every time I make a trip up there. Sometimes it takes God bringing you to a quiet place for you to actually HEAR Him. We live in such a busy and loud world; it’s sometimes hard to hear the whispers of God.  

This weekend, I went up to the ranch with Tyler’s family, my brother Brandon and our friend Karis. The only thing better then experiencing the ranch for a weekend is having people with you who are experiencing it for the first time.

Circle L Ranch is my happy place….What’s yours???