Prom, A Wedding, A Birthday... and 2 Greedy Men

First off, a little bit of news that I forgot to share earlier this week...Little Reidy-boo was crowned CHS Prom King this past weekend and I TOTALLY forgot to give him a shout out! Major bad-sister moment. Oops :) Anyway, bub- you definitely were lookin sharp in your chocolate brown tux. Love you Reidster!
Okay so I found out some TOTALLY uncool news this morning. My 5:00 client, Clay, informed me that one of the owners of The Cascades (the community we live in) was finally ousted by his other 2 co-owners. I don't remember if I let any of you in on the dramaforyourmama that has been happening, but it is NOT good stuff. Basically...3 men purchased the land around Lake Bellwood in Tyler and had the bright idea of turning it into the ultimate luxury community complete with retirement high rises, lake homes, lake house getaways, lake condominiums, town homes, apartments, a MONSTER clubhouse...etc...

So...the beginnings of this community were blooming right around when Brian and I were in a major hurry to find a place to live. So... after touring the townhomes and being filled in on all of the insannnnely great/awesome/convenient amenities that would be included, we reluctantly decided to go for it. Everything was supposed to be finished in late Dec/early Jan. Umm...NOT ONE SINGLE THING has been done. In fact, most of it hasn't even begun construction. No workout facility. No pool. No tennis courts. No clubhouse. No community restaurant. No community doctor. No spa. No dog parks. No running trails. NOTHING.

Super frustrating. Well.. we found out that 1 of the 3 owners was not cool with the way things were going and the other 2 just wanted to maximize their profits. So basically... they ousted the good guy and are now planning to just sell everything off for millions and leave the rest unfinished. We have tried contacting the corporate office for all of 4 months now and they are totally unresponsive. We hear that the lawsuits are just piling up and things are NOT looking good.

What in the WORLD have we gotten ourselves into? I guess that's just the WORLD. It's weird though. I just can't understand how people can lie and be deceitful and intentionally cheat people out of their money and then wake up every morning like it's all good. SAD!

On a MUCH more pleasant note...YAYYYY FOR FRIDAY! I'm super excited about this weekend. I'm NOT excited about all of the driving by myself...but thank God for ipods :) Anyway, I'm driving to Lafayette, LA to see my little Websteroni get married tomorrow night!! And then on Sunday I'm headed to DFW to celebrate Scarlett's first bday!!! And I will hopefully make it back on Sunday night in time to see my hub's fball championship...assuming they make it there :)

Pray for safety on the roads if ya don't mind and have a superrr splendid weekend! I hope everyone gets to do something either realllllly fun or perfectly relaxing :)

Peace <3

The Story of Audrey Caroline

Wow.

Ivy, a friend of mine from UT, brought a pretty amazing blog to my attention. It's called "Bring on the Rain: The Story of Audrey Caroline".

I thought I might give a quick synopsis, but I don't even know where to begin. Just click on the link. It will take you to beginning of their story and you can go from there.

Their story is an increddddible testimony to faith, God's power, and the power of relationship/fellowship in Him. Their story is SO humbling.

Love you guys so much!

The Power of a Praying Wife

SO EXCITED!!!!! ...just got a call from a friend here in Tyler. She's reading "The Power of a Praying Wife" and has been inspired to get some newlywed (ish) friends together and start a little prayer group once a week...biweekly perhaps...um...AWESOME!! I started reading this book in college and it was THE BOMB, but I got distracted with college-ey things and just never finished. SO PUMPED.

This is the kind of fellowship I am SO thirsting for, yet lacking bc we haven't yet found a church to join in Tyler.

God...you're The Man. Thank you for yet ANOTHER answered prayer :)

I think I hear God whispering something about "Patience" in my ear... <><

Nashville's latest star...

Country-fried Jessica... you like?

I think I do. I always knew she'd return to her good ol' southern roots :)

Happy Birthday, Boo!!

Happy day of birth to my super cool/hot hubling. 28 years ago you came into this world naked and unpottytrained and look at you now...I LOVVVVE you, and I hope your bday weekend has totally been thebomb.com! Sorry I burnt the bacon in your special bday brunch this morning, but hopefully I made up for it by finishing all the rest of your nasty laundry!

Thank you for being hilarious when I need you to be, super sensitive at all the right times, patient with my random-question-asking habit, the greatest personal chef I could ever ask for, supportive of all of my 8 million ideas for "what i want to be when i grow up", a hard-worker, and a God-fearing/seeking/loving guy. All of these things make you an INCREDIBLE husband and a superrrrrrrr great best friend, and I can't imagine anything better than spending every day of my life growing with you! You're the coolest.

LOVE YOUUUUUU BDB!! <3

A Fresh Philosophy on Swimsuit Shopping

It never fails. As each new summer season approaches, grumbling can be heard from women around the country because the time has come. The time has come to purchase a new swimsuit ( or 2..or 10) for the summer. It happens Every. Single. Year. And since I have been in the fitness industry for a few years now, I think it's only been magnified. It always seems like such a DOWNER way to approach summer, which in my opinion, is TOTALLY the best season of the year.

I guess I've just never totally understood why standing in front of a mirror at a store is any different than standing in front of a mirror at your own house? Are these women NOT already fully aware of what their bodies look like? Maybe I'm weird, but I was under the impression that it was totally normal for women to check themselves out in the mirror everyday before they get in the shower. (If I'm completely misguided, I would def appreciate someone letting me know, ha) Anyway, swimsuit shopping does exactly the opposite of depressing me. It EXCITES me! I mean... I guess it DOES make me a little bit more aware of the parts of my body that I'm not totally thrilled about showing off to the over-analyzing public. HOWEVER, when I have a mega-cute new swimsuit that I can't wait to look good, er...presentable, in, it gives me that extra motivation to eat a little bit better, and work out a little bit more consistently. I'm sure my dog loves it too, because she somehow gets to go on a much longer walk than normal a LOT more often than normal when swimsuit season comes along.

So maybe, as universally dissatisfied with our bodies as we females are, we just need to change our outlook a little bit. Instead of being depressed and refraining from indulging in the PLEASURES that summer brings along...why not INDULGE and use it in a more motivating and uplifting way?

Maybe it's that simple. Maybe it's not. But either way, it's totally worth a shot, if you ask me :)

Richard Kekher-esque....but WAY better...

Holy...

Brian and I are sitting here doing work and of COURSE we have the TV on, it's the background music to our always-exciting (obviously) life. Anyway, tonight the program of choice is, "So You Think You can Dance".

WOW.

These people are freaks. I'm serious. I just watched some contortionist dude bend in places that are ABSOLUTELY not supposed to do that. Seriously...I just tried to find something on YouTube to show you guys what I mean...and nothing I have found can even compare to what I just saw. Cuhraaaaaazyyyyy.

This guy totally just put Richard Kekher to shame.

tenderhearted

A significant number of my friends are struggling right now. Interestingly enough, many of their struggles are blaringly similar. In talking with them, I have become acutely aware of my emotions. We have talked a lot about how emotional females are and how it is so difficult to keep ourselves from just masking our feelings. It's difficult to know when to act on your emotions and when to suppress them.

We were created by God in His image, right? So...with that said, we were created with TENDER hearts! God gave us hearts that can be happy, sad, and broken, and He rejoices in that. We can honor God not only in our joy and happiness, but in our sadness too. He is glorified when we are true to the hearts that He gave us. I mean, come on, even Jesus cried! In suppressing every negative feeling we have, we are denying the tenderhearted and CHRIST-LIKE spirit that God has given us.

The difficult part seems to be discernment. How can we discern which feelings are from our selfish flesh and which are a result of Christ like hearts? Although I don't have the answer, I know that the answer CAN be found from God. I KNOW that if we are seeking Him and asking Him for wisdom and discernment, He will grant those things to us. His word promises it.

Something I have learned is that my heart is SO influenced by the spirit! Yes, my flesh weighs in all the time, but when I am seeking God and asking Him to give me Godly desires I should TRUST those feelings. Sometimes, sharing those feelings will sharpen someone you love. Sometimes sharing them is the first step to resolving a situation and in doing so, allowing God's glory to overflow. We are his vessels, and when we ignore our spirit, we are robbing ourselves of something that God is trying to do within us AND through us.

This world is an intimidating place. The world tells us that beauty=size 2 jeans with a 32C, that strength=putting on a happy face and masking your struggles at all costs, and that a calloused heart is the only way to go.

God tells us that beauty is an expression of our hearts. God tells us that strength is being true to our hearts and trusting in Him to provide all we need to make it through. God tells us that a tender heart is what He desires for us, and that only when we let go of ourselves can we experience the peace that we long for. God is the ONLY one who gives us The Truth.

Welcome to the tornado in my head...

For some reason, my head is SWIRLING with random thoughts right now. gotta get them out:

I love my job. FOR real. It's awesome and I ACTUALLY look forward to going to work every day!

We had a "team party" with our vball team and tonight and decided that we're gonna start doing it once a month. It was a bunch of 20-somethings and then 72-yr-old Jack and his wife. PS- 72-yr-old Jack is a STUD vball player. I hope I can be like Jack when I'M 72.

I decided I want to live in an olllld Victorian looking house when I grow up. THey're SO cool and have so much character! I love them. There's this area in Tyler called the "Azalea District". OMGOODNESS I'm in love with it. All of the houses are super old but gorgeous and their yards are COVERED with azaleas...and a bunch of other fun landscaping. I love it. And there are parks every few blocks...it's just...GREAT.

Rileton is in Costa and I can't WAIT to hear from him! It turns out that Sarah Ford's little sister is there too! RANDOM/I'm glad he has a teeny little bit of unexpected familiarity over there with him.

This wknd is B's bday and his parentals are coming into town. I'm EXCITED bc we're taking them to this AMAZING crawfish place that some friends of ours just introduced us too. They'll be obsessed.

This is SO super gay, but I want to know SO BAD if Jessica and Tony are still dating or not!! (pathetic...I know...but it's consuming my mind!)

My mom has braces and she looks so cute.

I found out today at our trainer meeting that this summer the East Texas Crisis Center wants 2 trainers to come help with their kids day camp once a week. I am PUMPED and hope it works out bc in the car on the way home from Austin this wknd I was JUST telling B how much I miss being involved in those kinds of things like we were in Austin. It's so hard when you move to a new place to figure out where to find cool opportunities like this.

I had the greatest time in Austin this weekend. It was seriously one of the best weekends I've had in a loooooooooooooooooooooooong time. I LOVE Brian. I LOVE Austin. I'm soooo happy I got to see all the ACU ppl in New B (congrats Nugster!). I'm super happy I got to see Tbaby graduate (UT commencement is THE.BOMB.)! I loved hangin with Rileton a little more before he left for Costa. Ahhhhh it was just a super amazing weekend with gorgeous weather, lots of ppl i LOVELOVELOVE, fun time with the hubster, a church service that MOVED me....God is good :)

K...bedtime. Peace.

TONY! TONY! TONY!...

Okay, so I am totally a Tony Romo Fan. I love the guy. HOWEVER, he is THE most tone deaf person I have ever heard... well...with maybe a few exceptions from my childhood :) Some of you may know who I'm referring to...but, I digress.

Please just take a look at the following vid. It's only a minute long. However, you may only be able to stand a few seconds of it. He prob should have invited his girlfriend to help him out on this one...

And now I hand it over to Mr. Romo:

Dear God, Thank You for Tyler...

I am way thankful for Tyler, Texas. Um...wait. Let me re-phrase. I'm just way thankful for God. DUH, right? It's just that...I have recently been let in on some pretty cool info. Apparently, God TOTALLY has a purpose for Brian and I being here. Who'd'a thunk it? haha...I know, I know. I'm pathetic. I mean...I have told people all along that I totally trust in where God leads us and am ENTHUSED to honor His will as He reveals it to us by opening and closing doors. Um...talkin the talk. Walking the walk?...not so much.

I realized that I have been treating Tyler as a short resting point on a much larger journey. But, who am I to say that it is only a rest stop? Who am I to think that I KNOW what God has planned for our future? For all I know, we could spend the rest of our lives here. I have NO idea. HOWEVER, God recently slapped me on the wrist and awakened me to the fact that I have not been ACTING faithfully. I have chosen my steps carefully, building relationship here, but with the idea in the back of my mind that it would only be temporary. Proof of my total and complete trust in Him would look more like me embracing that THIS is my home. THIS is God's will for my life right now. I should be searching and seeking His purpose for me IN THIS PLACE. DUH. I'm pretty sure a 2nd grader could have taught me THIS lesson.

Anyway, I'm excited :) I KNOW without a SHADOW of a doubt that there is an INCREDIBLE purpose for Brian and me in Tyler, Texas. Tyler, Texas is EXACTLY where we are supposed to be right now, and I am SO happy to be reminded of that. I am excited not only to continue to seek Him, but to actually LISTEN to His reponse.

Sometimes, I am so dumb.

Yay, God :)

Prayer Request:

Got a prayer request for you guys:

Keep Rileton in your prayers. Pray for where God is leading him. Pray for God to give him wisdom and to open doors for him. Also, He's going to Costa Rica in a couple of weeks so prayyyy for safety and for God to just be moving like crazy in his heart during that time! Pray that God will give him clarity and discernment in his decision making.

K...thanks. You guys are the bomb.