She's Sun and Rain

Wow. The last 24 hours have been so good I just had to write about it. I am pretty honest in my blog. Sometimes life is hard. Sometimes, it's not. I write about what I think and feel during each season of life. Having a baby is HARD. She tried to come early at 19 weeks, I had bed rest, two hospitalizations, magnesium sulfate (ugh, that stuff is AWFUL), lots of medical bills, and then a c-section. Try having a c-section after your muscles already don't work from laying down for 4 and a half months. I couldn't even get up off the toilet by myself. For.2.Weeks. TMI? The medical bills abounded and then we had jaundice, low milk supply, followed by reflux and colic. I had a meltdown somewhere in there. Two of them actually. Thankful for my neighbor who came to help and my mom and mother-in-law and my sweet husband. So, needless to say I had a rough 2012. But we are blessed. I have a healthy baby girl who sleeps at night and is starting to nap well during the day. Colic is on it...

There was a time in my life (not so very long ago) that I thought I might have something meaningful to say and somebody somewhere might read it. Haha... the truth is, I am just a sinful human being like anybody else humbled that God would send his son to die on a cross for me so I can go to heaven. The craziest part is that there are people in this world that don't know that fact. You don't have to teach a kid to steal, you have to teach them to share. When a baby is crying, that baby is a sinner just like the rest of us. We aren't holy like God. We can't spend eternity with him unless we become holy like God. Such a concept. Realizing it, and realizing all the selfish things we do in this life is key to knowing we need God's grace and mercy and Jesus living a perfect life replaces our sinful non-perfect life. There are people in this world that don't know that. When you are alive, you are living for one of two things. Yourself or God. I want to help people know...

Yesterday I pulled weeds. Adam mowed the grass (what a man!) and I decided I'd get down in the dirt too :) I love planting flowers and trees and bushes. I am hoping to have a garden in the next year or two ish. And I even love pulling weeds. I probably love doing this because it's instant gratification. I enjoy painting, vacuuming, sweeping, and other things that make things look nice instantly. I even like washing my car! I know, I'm so weird. While I was pulling weeds yesterday I had a tough one. It's root was right near the root of one of the planted bushes. Low and behold, I pull out what looks like a huge onion bulb! I laughed out loud and of course had to show Adam. Look honey, a big root of a weed! It got me to thinkin'. When you pull a weed out, if you don't pull it completely out by it's root, it is going to come back. Such is life. When you have an issue, an argument, a problem you can't seem to get resolved...you have to get down to the root...

Ok, I have to get this off my chest. The last few days I've been looking at wedding photos to print to put up in our home. I have been lying in bed this morning thinking about it. You see, I read a lot of blogs (hence out of control blogroll) and alot of photography blogs (that may or may not be on the blogroll) and one thing keeps coming to my mind. I wish we would have done the whole "at first sight" thing. Adam and I talked about seeing each other before the wedding, but I stuck with tradition for some reason. Well, I didn't want all traditional photos, just to stick to that tradition. I do think a certain amount of traditional photos are good to have. Now, let me clarify in saying I had an AMAZING photographer, and this is definitely not her fault or really has anything to do with her :) I just wish that we would've done the see each other before the wedding thing and taken all the romantic, sweet, just him and me photos before. After the wedding and before th...

Something spurred (is that the right word) in me today thoughts about stages of life. I was talking on the phone last week with a friend about how even though we are married women now, we don't want to exclude ourselves to only talking and hanging out with married women. When I was single, I hung out with singles, married people, people with children, old people...whatever :) I notice however that some people choose to only hang with people in their 'life stage'. I find there is something completely wrong about this. That's my opinion and I'm stickin' to it! Although I am not as fun of a playdate as someone with children, I think I'm pretty fun. ;) I'm kidding. But seriously, I think that sometimes people can get into this phase where, because they relate better with someone in their life stage, they choose to only spend time with them. There is much to be learned and shared with others in their different life stages. I love being around moms with childr...

I doubt my blog has ever made blogspot's "Blogs of Note". Or that anyone hitting the 'next blog' button has ever spent more than two seconds reading my ramblings. That's just what they are...ramblings. I usually have random topics or thoughts or things that make my heart jump or something that bothered me or pictures from a recent event. Tonight I went to see Julie and Julia with Shelly. It was a great movie written about a blog that was started by Julie Powell learning to cook Julia Child's recipes. She would go to her mundane job every day and come home and cook because she enjoyed it. She turned something she loved into a life. Eventually the blog became a book which then became a movie that I'd go watch on a Sunday night in September with Shelly. Now... I have spent (as most people do at times I'm sure) a significant amount of time and energy lately trying to figure out what it is I should do with this life God has given me. When I was very lit...

The past week or two I have been doing alot of thinking, imagine that. My life is about to drastically change in many ways. Already this year I have gone from single to engaged, from employed to unemployed, from knowing I live in Charlotte to knowing I won't be, and soon...I will be a wife of a new husband living in a new state, Georgia, at a new church, in a new house, with a new (hopefully wonderful fun loving happy people) job. So, needless to say there is alot to think about. Since being engaged I have thought frequently about being a good, godly, loving, kind, patient, unselfish... wife. Haha wow what a list of adjectives. I feel like I have so much to learn and it's scary going into it. My cooking is okay, definitely not anything to write home about. I'm incredibly selfish most of the time and it's a huge challenge for me to constantly remind myself that I am not the only one getting married! My plusses are that I can clean and organize like a champ. Haha. Humblin...

I'm not sure anyone reads my blog anymore, but in the hopes that...well, shoot, I just like writing. So readers or not, here I go. :) As I wrote before, life has been a whirlwind here lately. But I am, in fact, the happiest I have ever been (post my pops heading to heaven anyway). I was driving tonight home from my mom's house after church and it was awesome. Fun country songs on the radio, the smell of a late summer-ish night with the windows down and the warm air coming in from the cornfields and singing at the top of my lungs, some really cool clouds, it was blissful. I was thinking about how excited I am about this time in my life. It's an adventure. I'm SO excited to be marrying Adam. I have no clue what my next career is going to be, and I'm planning a wedding in less than five months. An Adventure I tell you! But what a great one to be on. I feel so blessed right now. I am, in fact, still the most indecisive person I know...at least when it comes to wedding g...

Fridays used to have a different meaning. They meant more traffic but a great weekend ahead. Specifically this time of year, people heading off to the lake or the beach or the pool. Tomorrow my Friday is less eventful than a day at work and making sure I get all my work done by 5 so I can leave, or even leaving early. Tomorrow I just have a check up for my appendectomy last weekend. Which, I might add, is nothing compared to what some people go through. I was just reading on Brian Keeter's recovery. He is on a blog I'm following. He was a basketball player at N.C. State while I was cheering and also my roommate at that time's boyfriend. We saw a lot of Brian, and he was in a car accident and is now fighting through being paralyzed and other things I'm not knowledgeable enough about to speak of. However, his attitude from the posts of his family members is extraordinary and he continues to push on. I've had two small surgeries in comparison and will be back to mysel...

I am so incredibly thankful that I am exactly where God has me right now in my life. Unemployed, (hopefully not for long, but for now...until he provides...this is where I am), with the most incredible people surrounding me. No negative people, no condescending people, no people who make me think that what I do isn't good enough. I have a wonderful group of family and friends who are in my life. What a huge blessing! No matter what trials I am going through, not only is God always a constant in my life, but he is providing such great support for me. I am so excited about what's happening now and what's next. It is uncharted territory...a mystery to me if you will. But it's going to be great taking it one day at a time and learning new things about him and what he has for me.

I went to the park today. It was a beautiful spring day. The Carolina blue skies were bluer than ever and the grass smelled like springtime. As I was walking up to the track and turned on my Ipod, there was a mom and daughter at a picnic table with a cute little basket and a checkered tablecloth. It was like a scene out of a movie. There were a few kids playing soccer on the field and you could hear some down on the playground. I started walking. As I was walking, I noticed that I always walk on the outside of the track. When I run, sometimes, I'm tempted to run on the inside...it's just a tad bit shorter. I would end up not going the full distance if I were to run on the inside of the track. Today, I decided I wasn't going to run on the inside...if I ever had before, and made a commitment to never run on the inside again. Why? Because I didn't think I'd be pushing myself enough. I wouldn't be giving 110 percent. If I'm going to run this race of life, and ru...

There are some things that I have to shake off and say "It's not my problem" and there are others that may not be my problem but I can help with. The great thing about all this is that God's in control of everything. He's the same no matter the situation. My priorities are to put God first in my life and obey Him. Now if I only had or made more time for my priorities. It's ashame my job has to be one of them, haha. I think that's one reason why heaven's gonna be so great. We spend all this time here doing things we don't want to or have to, and my heart just wants to be serving Him and helping others. Some of my favorite things to do are spend time with the students at CSF and other areas. Give me Your eyes...I feel like I have them sometimes because I watch people around me self destruct or leaning toward it. I can't imagine what God feels to see us sin and hurt our selves when He knows we can have better for ourselves. When we get to heaven w...

This is Lake Serene. Serene was the best word I could think of when remembering why I like mornings. I'm not a morning person in the sense that I like to wake up at the crack of dawn and rush around like a crazy person, forget something, and then end up somewhere I don't want to be. That's not a good morning. I'm a morning person in that I love mornings. I love twilight, dusk....too. But in a different kind of way. My body, my mind, my heart....everything is a little more relaxed in the morning. Probably safe to say alot more relaxed in the morning. If I wake up on my own (or at least without the awful hum of an alarm clock) I am peaceful. I don't talk much...and my mind doesn't race. It's the most wonderful feeling! Even when I had a roomate that would come into my room and we'd sit on the bed and chat, those are fun times. Relaxed, enjoyable, serene mornings. Waking up to quiet...sometimes waking up to other sounds. When I was younger waking up to the...

I travel, alot. Today in the office we were talking about how everyone is charging to check baggage now. US Airways is 15 a bag and if it's over 50 pounds you still have to pay another 25 bucks for it. They are making 15 dollars off every person that checks one, and some check two. What in the world?! As if they don't make enough money by raising airline prices. The only benefit I can see is the planes now have less luggage so they weigh less so they use less fuel? Luggage and Baggage are similar terms. I sordof understand the term Baggage. You're carrying a bag. Why not call it Suitcaseage? Where does luggage come from? Is it because you are lugging something around? I need to research this more. Where does the term baggage come from in life? When referring to...any issues people have. Friend baggage, relationships baggage, home-life baggage. We all carry 'baggage'. Who decided to coin that term and it have negative connotation? I wonder who the first person was th...

Hi folks....just sittin here thinking... 2008 has been great. Taylor and I came up with the theme for it this year after 2007 sucked (defined: not good, horrible, sad, unhappy, dramatic). But, 2008 has been GREAT! I'm so blessed with friends, family, a job in a time of economic chaos, and the love of Jesus Christ. I've tried my hardest to avoid drama this year, to spread cheer (pun intended) and love others. God has drastically changed my life from 2007 to 2008, and it just makes me so thankful for how amazing He is! I think part of it is a positive mindset too...with encouragement from friends and an attitude of Great in 08, you can help make it what you want. Living life breath by breath, moment by moment, and trying to be obedient in individual circumstances helps to not be overwhelmed by stress in life. Granted, life can still be stressful, but choosing to not let it overcome you is half the battle. In 2008, I've made new friends, traveled to Alaska, Illinois, Kansas, ...

You'd think I'd have learned by now. There's a new song by Lady Antebellum called Slow down sister. I'd rewrite it to be "Slow down Ginny". When I don't....I get sick. There was a time in my life (like two weeks ago) I'd say: I never, or rarely get sick! Not so much anymore. Since I started working for Cheersport last summer, I've been sick several times. Traveling, working, traveling for fun, and too much 'stuff' to do has kept me going. It's like I think I'm superwoman or something. She-ra for those of you who remember the princess of power. I really do enjoy downtime, so I'm not sure why I don't take some of it. I've been thinking the past two days how nice it would be to be at the beach. I think because when I'm there, I'm slower. Life's slower. My t0-do list is non-existant and I just live. The biggest decision I have to make is what I'm going to have for dinner. I took Tuesday and Wednesday off work...

I read a book last year called "Strong Women, Soft Hearts" by Paula Rinehardt. It's a great book about being a godly woman and having a gentle and quiet spirit but still making an impact in the world. I sometimes have a loud voice, loud opinions, loud goals or a loud laugh. But I hope that even through them, I have a gentle spirit. There are certain women in my life that have that kind of spirit. I'm not sure if I could describe them to you and do them justice, but I will try. When you are around them you feel at ease and the conversation is effortless. They are easy to talk with and you don't feel like you have to sugar-coat or leave out part of your thoughts. You can be real and truthful and feel safe because you know they will try to understand and give you an honest response. You also know when they give you their thoughts - they are going to give you a biblical response. Reminds me of the verse "Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him reb...

I have several topics I want to post about. One is this: Why do Mexican restaurants charge extra for sour cream? I can't seem to understand this philosophy. Any Mexican, the authentic, or Moe's or Qdoba, or whatever. They all charge extra. I can get as many jalapenos, olives, tomatoes, cheese etc. But if I ask for some of the white stuff, they charge me 50 cents. What if next time I go in and say "I don't want any of the other stuff on my taco, just sour cream" do you think they will charge me for it? Obviously they are saving money on the other ingredients. Next is this: Last night I had two missed calls. I went to the park with my mom's best friend to walk for a while and I got to my car I had two missed calls. Kristi and Casey had both called within a few minutes of each other. This meant something was wrong. I just had a feeling, a sick feeling in my gut. I called Kristi back and she said that Colin (The Fishes son - Rebecca and DJ, two of my good friends)...

This has been my lesson for today. It wasn't in my quiet time this morning, but on the way to work I listen to 106.9 the Light, which is Billy Graham's station and the sermon this morning was talking about having a way of positive thinking. He used specific verses. (NIV below) Romans 8:4-8 4in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. 5Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6The mind of sinful man[ a ] is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7the sinful mind[ b ] is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. He also used... Ephesians 4:22-24 22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put o...

Those are the words that my father spoke when he got up in the morning. It may sound cheesy, but for someone who spent 20 or more years not living for the Lord, when he decided to change his life around, he really meant it. He spent every day of the last 12 years of his life asking the Lord what they should do today. I ask myself this question, What is God asking me to do today? The past several weeks I have wondered if I am where "i am supposed to be" or "doing what I should be doing". Such strange but not so strange questions to ask. I just wonder if I am missing something or not listening. But then there are days when I think I'm silly because there are plenty of reasons I'm where I am. So then I weigh the pros and cons to all sorts of different places and things I'm involved in. This is an ongoing process. Here's the thing(s). I get impatient about getting married and having a family. I know I'm not the greatest cook, but I mean, a girl impro...