Adele - Rolling In The Deep

This is it. My new favorite song :)) TAKE THAT!

Britney Spears - Hold It Against Me

Girlfriend has still got it :)

Well.

So today was my day off from the new position at Warm Beach and it has been great! This morning we went to a meeting at work, which wasn't so great but we will live, went to my grandparents house for a visit and then came home to look online at my options for purchasing a car.

Let's just say my mood was relaxed before I started looking online, now I am just anxious to go and look at these cars! I will very surely be bringing my dad with me to look so I don't get suckered into something horrid, but I am nervous! This will be my first vehicle purchase and I want something reliable, but not ghetto. Feel me?

Please be in prayer and I will post pics by Monday of what I decided to go with.

XOXO

What in the world...?

Well, it's happened. I have officially moved into a full time day shift position at Warm Beach and am loving it :)

The work can be tough, but I work with some of the best gals out there. I really appreciate all the support I have received from you ladies over the last year or so, its been wonderful. There will have to be some changes to my exercise time, but it has proven to work just fine these last two days. I am up to two full miles without taking a walking break, what a surprise! I find that running helps me work out my aggression and stress. Maybe feeling physically tired is more justifiable in my mind, than just being plain unhappy and stressed. Make sense? Anyways, things are going great! Praise God!

Now for the not so great news... My transmission on my car is going to need a complete work up :(( I took it in when I noticed I wasn't shifting out of 2nd gear without watching my RPM's shoot up into the 5 or 6's.. not good. I had the entire transmission replaced two years ago and didn't have it checked for maintenance after the first 1000 miles, oops. Now the entire 4th gear is burned up making it tough for the car to run in 3rd, 4th and even 5th gear. I found this out today. Maybe that's why I was able to run successfully after a long day at work... So now it's time to start looking for a newish used car, this also makes me stressed. God is faithful though, this could not have happened at a better time because I just got a pay raise at work!! Amen, I know things will be ok! Please be in prayer though, I would like to move out at the end of this year pending that I still have a nest egg to speak of.

So, after I passed my test my sister Sophie, Auntie Tammy and mom took me out to dinner!! We went to the restaurant in the Angel of the Winds Casino and it was yummy! I had the smoked seafood alfredo with the artichoke dip for an appetizer, both were delightful!

We had a great time!

Last week, Sophie and I treated Conner and Isabel to a movie day! We went to see Tangled and they loved it!! Conner has been found to be a movie talker and Isabel gets antsy after about the 1st hour, but we had a blast. I will say though, the movies have become super expensive. On a Monday matinée for two kids and two adults the total cost was 31 dollars! Maybe I haven't been to the movies in a while, but that seemed nuts to me. They had fun though, so it was well worth it.

Picking the candy for their kids meals :)

Lastly, my little Toddie is growing up so fast! His dad has been taking him to the skate park in Monroe and says Todd has skills :) He rides his bike all the way there and then is fearless! What a sweetheart he is. I love watching the interaction between my two kids. Isabel is the older, helpful and teach like sister, while Todd is the quiet, interested and very caring younger brother. They are the best part of my day!!

Sophie had a check up on Monday and everything is on schedule with the baby. Heart beat is strong and the morning sickness is waring off, so there is more excitement in the air here. What a praise report!

XOXO

Coming to you live from.....

Family dinner!! We are currently enjoying the weekly family time together and this week it is at Auntie Tammy's house. Tonight we are having fresh salad, pork strips and cheesy tater tots. Yums!

In other news, Sophie has a doctor's appointment on Monday. Nothing to worry about, just a routine ultrasound to look at the growth of little B Rizzle. My Auntie Kathy is in town and brought her son Sam with her, we are soo glad to see her. It has been too long! The weather has been horrible here today, but they weathered storm and made it over for the weekend!

Ok, so Lady Gaga has released her new single, "Born This Way," and it's awesome!! Very reminiscent of Madonna's, "Vogue" and I LOVE IT! Very Very danceable and absolutely perfect for my workouts in the morning! Well done Gaga, you have done it again!

In other news, I passed my test!!!!!! I passed last Saturday and then got hired on day shift at Warm Beach! Praise God the doors of opportunity just opened a little bit wider! I couldn't do any of this without the love of a mighty Father in heaven and the support from my family and co-workers. You know who you are, and to all of you I say THANK YOU! I start orientation on Monday and then will be doing that for two weeks before they let me out on the floor on my own.... BAH! Wish me luck!

XOXO

Ch-ch-ch-changes :)

Today is about change. I’m not talking about the overnight, all of the sudden, smack you in your face change that happens to many people…. I am talking about the idea that change can be so subtle, that you don’t actually know something is better or worse until it actually is. You might not have even been looking for it, but here you are. Faced with your life being drastically different than it was a year ago and you’re living it. Like, actually (God willing) managing to live a life that is changed.

Change instills in us the ability to conquer any and all things, whether big or small, and make us know very surely that the world we live in is ever growing. Aside from the fact that I have two thriving young children, I have the tendency to not grab change by the horns and take control. Ever since my last birthday, God has shown me infinite mercy by leading me to a place where I can look back and say, “Man! Things are so different!” How long would I have allowed myself to stay the same in my life if the God I love had not intervened?  Where would my heart be and what kind of influence would I be having on my kids if I had decided to stay THAT course….?

For some though, change can give them a million chances to experience their world differently and they won’t move. Maybe they have attempted change for a while, but mix change with responsibility and these people look for the door. I will admit, everyone has been here before. Ya know, the crossroads that threatens our lives with a beckoning “CAUTION! WET FLOOR!” sign plastered all over it. We understand completely that there is a risk involved in taking the steps, but we believe in our ability to walk carefully so we begin moving and then BAM!! With our second step we have hit the wet floor in our new work pants and have no one to blame but ourselves. For me, it hasn’t been easy to laugh off the embarrassment or just get back up without throwing a minor tantrum, sometimes I would just sit in the middle of the wet floor and cry. Ya feel me? I’m sure you know exactly what that wet floor feels like through your work pants and can feel the redness in your cheeks begin mount as you slowly extend your hand to your best friend as they lift you off the floor.

Change. President Obama had it plastered across his campaign banners and Dr.Phil exclaims it to every guest on his show, “ You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge.” What is it within the human spirit that relies on change to gauge where we are and what we are? In the eyes of a mother, change is a constant factor when making long term decisions for her children; for a teacher, change is learning to evolve their methods of understanding to the arena or age group in which they must perform in or in front of. Change gives no real warning and sometimes camouflages itself in unavoidable circumstances it never rights the wrongs people are subjected to when it occurs and it is always present. It’s in the joyful conversations between a set of best friends when one of them is going to have a baby. Or in some situations, in a diagnosis of lung cancer to a man well established in his ways. Change demands attention to detail and will make it sometimes impossible to move without first giving attention to the fact that something has got to give. Permanently.

The one thing I have discovered is that there are some things that will never change. I will always cry when I see a military family reunite; or the way the word cancer can strike fear into me. No one will ever change the way I love my children, it’s unchangeable and it’s one of a kind.

I’m just going to say it: God is the only unchangeable thing that has ever been or ever will be.

In His consistency and patience He is found to be wise and loving; in his persistent and gentle calling He is found to be mighty and gracious. There is no where He hasn’t been and nothing He hasn’t already thought of. In this I find comfort. My entire world could change and the only thing I know I could depend on is God’s voice navigating the wet floor for me. He is the best friend that reaches out the hand to help me up and reminds me of what it means to be forgiven.

I believe God works both subtly and abruptly in people’s lives to affect change for the better. Even when change comes in the form of lung cancer, it is God who is waiting patiently to navigate the unforeseen devastation for us. For me, change has been rough but subtle. God has made a way for me and my kids to navigate change well, and for that I can say without a doubt that I am loved by God. It shows! I have been eating better and managing my time better so Todd, Isabel and I have time together in the morning before we go our separate ways. It’s even in my posture. NO JOKE! I walk around work feeling like a million bucks sometimes because of the realization that faithfulness in times of change makes all the difference.

So whether subtle or rather abrupt, change is manageable with Jesus Christ. Hahaha, does that sound info-mercial enough for you?? ….. Anything is possible, if you just believe…..

Ok, ok! But the message there is true! God can navigate change far better than we could ever begin to, so why wait? Like I have said before, change is constant and can hide itself in many other life altering things. Why wait until you’re in the midst of challenges and trials to believe in the one thing that has been the same forever? God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.

XOXO

Ballet, Babies and Family Dinners :))

So, it has officially begun. We have entered the season of Princess Ballet!! Or I guess I should say that Isabel has, I just get the privilege of watching :) We started yesterday and she did GREAT. She has a new instructor this season and I actually know her from my CNA class at MedPrep, what a small world.

Anywho, Isabel wore her new dance leotard, purple tights and white ballet slippers. When she got there, she put on her tiara and tutu and off she went!

Doesn't she look GREAAAATTTT!!

Here are some more pictures from the first class :)

In other news, I RE TEST TOMORROW!! AHHHHH!

I have been studying for what seems like forever, and I still feel pretty nervous. I just have to keep thinking that I know the steps, I just have to get out there and do them! Most people I know have faith that I will pass,  I just need to get there and pass it!! Ahhhh!

Oh! And my oldest sister Sophie is pregnant!! I am sooo excited and was able to go to an ultrasound appointment with her last week. Now presenting..... Little B-Rizzle (b-rizz for short)!!

Sophie is just over nine weeks along now and the doctor says she is now in the less than 1% range for miscarriage. Praise be to God!

Family dinner at Red Robin :) 

They are getting so big!

I have just recently (today) purchased some new make up products and will be letting you know how they go over. I haven't cracked into them just yet, but as soon as I do... I know I will have a ton to say about them. Mostly Make Up Forever products, but a few MAC products as well.

XOXO