Puerto Rico Purses

No one can ever say that I don't work for a generous doctor. The week before last, Dr. Hines went on a week-long vacation to Puerto Rico. Apparently this was the first time she ever went away for so long and kept the office open. Part of me felt honored that she trusted me enough to watch over the office (the other part of me was freaking out that I was the one in charge!) She brought everyone souvenirs.......



In her words, she couldn't find anything that said "Puerto Rico" on it, so she went to the Coach store instead:-) Keep in mind that I work with 7 other women... and we all got one. Then I found out that last year for our office manager's birthday, her gift was a trip to Puerto Rico. Maybe she wants to give me a birthday gift of enough money to pay off my student loans:-)

Our Little Garden

One of the best things about living in our own home is the fact that we can do whatever we want to it! No apartment management telling you what color to paint your walls, that you can't have pets, and that it's normal to be 92 degrees on the 3rd floor in the summer:-) So in our backyard, we have now started a garden! It's a very slow process but it's so fun to come home from work everyday and check on the little plant's progress. We had to start the seeds inside, until the "danger of the frost has passed" and in the next week or so, we will start planting outside. I was getting a little worried when I was seeing any progress, but it has worked so far. I might have been a little overzealous with our first garden, but we are planning on growing tomatoes, green peppers, zucchini, cucumber,broccoli,lettuce, green beans and even blueberries and blackberries! Here are some pictures of our gardening skills and everyone can be looking forward to some fresh produce come harvest time (late July/August) :-)


Adam working on moving this giant fence thing that was in our back yard


Our first seeds!!


It's hard work shoveling out a plot of land!

"Resurrection Day" 2009!

Well for most of you, the traditional day is called Easter:-) However, I was officially corrected about 2,045 times on Easter Sunday when I said "Happy Easter". Apparently the correct saying is "Happy Resurrection Day". I don't know, maybe it's an Assembly of God thing:-) Anyways, it's the day that Jesus rose from the grave and whatever you want to call it- I'm so glad he did it!!! Poor Adam had a sunrise service (at 6:00 am), 4 regular services, breakfast run by the youth, and an outreach service at Shady Hill (the trailer park community our church does outreach with) in the afternoon. It was a pretty exhausting but pretty wonderful day! Since I haven't lived in Cleveland in about four years, one tradition that I have started on Easter is my traditional Easter dinner:-) When I was a graduate student in Nashville, a bunch of us weren't able to go home for the weekend, so we had Easter potlucks two years in a row. (I realize I tend to take on the mom/cooking role for special events). Last year was Adam and I's first Easter in Chester and we invited some of our friends over for a laidback meal. This year, however, I wanted to provide a full-out traditional Easter feast and invite all our close friends and have them just show up and hang out without worrying about bringing a dish. I made a huge ham (for the 1st time), smashed potatoes, green beans, corn casserole (thank you, Abby:-)), croissants, grape salad, and strawberry shortcake. We pulled out the good China and the boys set the table perfectly. Thanks to everyone for coming over!


Easter Morning


Most everyone helped get everything together since the outreach lasted a little long






Look at this table:-)

Give Me Your Eyes

Call me "behind the times", but I just went and saw the movie Slumdog Millionaire last night. Alot of people had said it was a really good movie and I knew that it had won tons of awards (which USUALLY means that it's too deep of a movie for me to understand:-)), but last night was the first opportunity for us to go see it. And I'm so glad I did.
As compared to most Christians I am surrounded by (and here's some honesty here...) I feel like an inadequate Christian. I know it's not a comparison game that we are playing, but I also know my downfalls. I have one of the most selfish spirits in the world and I don't have a heart for the lost as I feel most people do (and I know I SHOULD). I have had an easy and wonderful life and find that it's so easy to get complacent. I always beat myself up that I am not a missionary living overseas or that I don't do more outreach even in the city where I live. I know that working with the youth is bound to get me some points, but let's face it, most of them grew up in the church and have had at least a chance to hear the gospel. I get so caught up in my daily life that I just glance over the "other things" and let someone else go do it. I pray SINCERELY for God to open my eyes up to the rest of the world. We are called to spread the news of Jesus to the poor and brokenhearted and what do I do? I go shopping. Or out to eat. You get the picture. But anyways, back to the movie. Last night's description of the slums of India really hit home to me. And I honestly don't think it was just an emotional response. My heart broke for those kids that have to grow up like that and I know children have that kind of life right across the highway from me, too. Adam and I have talked about adoption and I believe that is one step we will take later on. Right now, as always, our lives are a work in progress. And everyday I have to ask God to show me his heart for the lost, because I'm not doing a very good job by myself.
If you haven't heard the lyrics to this song by Brandon Heath, it's called "Give Me Your Eyes", I would recommend downloading it.

Lyrics | Brandon Heath lyrics - Give Me Your Eyes lyrics


And I apologize for the seriousness of this blog-- I'll try not to let it happen again:-)

Monument 10K

So this weekend was the 10th annual Monument 10K here in Richmond. It was a HUGE race with well over 40,000 people running/walking and it was Adam and I's first official 10K ever. We had been training since January and I honestly never thought I would be able to run the whole thing (6.2 miles). Well, the rain stopped for the morning, my old lady knees held in there, and we finished in a good time. It was such a fun race, too-- bands were playing every half mile or so, people were cheering with their families and dogs, and Monument Avenue is one of the "old money" streets in Richmond so you basically get to run beside beautiful homes the whole time. Not to mention the course is almost completely flat:-) This race is also one where you can enter into a costume contest and this year Pastor Wayne won! He's placed 2nd or 3rd every year up until this year, but if you can see this picture, you'll understand how he got 1st.


(Indiana Jones..complete with rock behind him and an Ipod playing the theme song)

But now that the race is over, I realize I kind of miss running. Now don't get me wrong, I have no aspirations of ever completing anything farther like my crazy half-marathon and marathon running friends (I truly envy them!!!) , but I would be interested in running some more 8 or 10K's. So if anyone has any suggestions, I'm up for it!

Meet Tammy!!!!

drumroll please)
I would like everyone to meet the new addition to our family: Tammy!
Tammy Two-Tone that is. ISN'T SHE BEAUTIFUL?!?!?!

Now let me explain. Putting almost 1000 miles a week on my 4-Runner was not cutting it anymore, so Adam and I have been shopping around for a "ghetto-commuter car". And look what we found:-) Tammy is a 1998 Hyundai Accent, has 137,000 miles on her, and is perfect for driving to and from work. No power windows or power, she shakes when she reaches 70mph, only an AM/FM radio (no cd/tape player), and a horn that sounds like someone is throwing up. The BEST part about the whole situation, though, is that she is TOTALLY two-toned. I mean, how many people can say they drive a purple car with a silver hood? Not many:-) We literally laugh out loud every time that we get in to drive her. And yesterday was the first time in my life that I have ever had to have somebody jump my car (Since there is no "dinging" noise that reminds you to turn off your lights, they were left on all day at work, resulting in a dead battery-and only the 2nd time I had driven her to work). But Tammy brings a life lesson with her: humility (and I am being really serious). Now please don't think I am being snobby, but I have always had a nice car. You couldn't have paid me money to drive something similiar in high school or maybe even college. But I'm noticing something changing in me (that I know still needs ALOT more work)-- I am starting to focus less on material things and more on things that are really important. It's a slow process, but I believe Tammy is really helping me out with this. It's really teaching me that it doesn't matter how the world views you on the outside, it's about what your heart looks like. And I believe Tammy is helping me out with this:-)

Unlucky Weekend!

This past weekend I was able to fly home to TN for a quick weekend visit. I knew it was going to be rushed and packed full of family and friends but I was up for the challenge. Now normally I am a pretty organized, on-top-of-things, non-clumsy, not unlucky person. This weekend, however, was the farthest thing from that! Here is the woeful tales of my clumsy weekend:-)
-Friday night: I left work at 5pm and had until 7:25pm when my flight was departing. The airport was only an hour away (according to Mapquest). Traffic was rough, the DC airport was insanely busy, and I checked in late enough for them to tell me it was too late to check a bag. (Thankfully I was carrying on!)Security took forever and I was THAT late person on the flight where everyone watches you walk down the aisle glaring at you and wondering how someone could be so unprepared. Let me also mention that somewhere in the shuffle I lost my parking ticket that told me what lot I parked in and when I entered it.
-Friday night on the way home: My wonderful friends Katie, Abby, and Courtney came to the ATL airport to pick me up. On the way home, it was raining and a big wreck happened literally 20 feet ahead of us. Courtney was the 1st person to call 911! (Granted this event was no related to my clumsiness, but it still happened!)
-Saturday night we were sitting around the dinner table and my brother threw a nerf ball at me. Of course I threw it back at him (missing him) and hit one of my mom's hurricane vases. This being the 3rd one that either Scott or I have broken.
-Sunday afternoon: I went over Abby & Katie's apartment and being the good patron that I am, saw empty parking spaces but still decided to park on the side, in the mud. The minute I pulled in, I realized that I was not going to be coming out easily. Brad & Steve attempted with no avail. Thankfully Cameron's brother came to our rescue with his jeep and helped pull me out. (Keep in my mind, this is all happening in a parking lot)
-Sunday night at the airport: I make my 1st flight to Charlotte without problems. I rush to my connecting flight and realize it is 2 hours late! This makes the departure time 12:30 AM (due to mechanical problems). So me and my fellow passengers wait in the airport together for >3 hours late in the night. We ended up taking off at 2:15 AM, arriving at 3:30. I finally arrived at Tim & Jessica's apartment at 4:40 am, slept from 5-7, and had a complete work day! It was pretty rough!

Now I hope you don't think I am being pessimistic, because I am really had a wonderful weekend. It just felt like everything I touched was falling apart:-) I think this is how my friend Paula feels all the time:-)