Day 1 - God

So, I've decided to make a very bold move...I'm going to blog everyday for the month of November. 

Shouldn't be too hard right?

I say that only because I'm going to blog about 1 thing (well, there may be a day or two that I throw in a few things) that I'm thankful for.

So...here we go!

Day 1 - God

I am extremely thankful that I have a loving God.

I can tell you that I've been a believer all of my life...

HOWEVER,

I've been a Christ Follower for really only about 6 years.

There truly is a difference.

You see before, I believed in God, and I believed the Bible, and I knew what God was asking of me to follow Him...but I didn't really live out my life in a way that was pleasing to God (well, if I was God, which thank God I'm not, I wouldn't have been too terribly pleased).

That's not to say I don't screw up sometimes still.  There are still things I do that make me fall back and I'm pretty sure he's up there in heaven looking at me shaking his head at those moments.

But the great thing about it is...he loves me anyway (cue the Sidewalk Prophets).

He forgives me for all my past sins and all the mistakes I make now.

He knows I'm not perfect.

But He won't turn his back on me.

He won't stop loving me just because I screw up.



We've been doing a journey with our Church...the Strong Journey.

There are multiple other churches around the nation doing this journey right now with us.

Some 50,000 people...

And during this journey we have challenges that last about 15-20 minutes daily.

I was working on some of mine this week. 

I was challenged to read John 14:1-7.

Jesus is comforting his disciples and he tells them, "Do not let your hearts be troubled.  You believe in God; believe also in me.  My father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  You know that way to the place where I am going."

"...I am going there to prepare a place for you..."

"I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."

Oh...it's so comforting. 

It's so awesome to know that because I know Him, and because of his UNCONDITIONAL love for me...he's preparing a place for me.

He's going to come back and take me there so that I can be with Him.

Sometimes that's SO hard to wrap around my brain.

The fact that He will stop what he's doing, will leave his whole group of followers, just to come find me. 

Me - the one lost sheep.

*Yep, I just called myself a sheep.

I am so Thankful and blessed to be a Christ Follower and to have Him in my life.

Awakened

Have you ever been "awakened" by new information, when you're ENTIRE life you've believed something else?

You've spend your whole existence believing one way and all of a sudden..WHAM...you get hit with information that goes completely against what you've thought for all this time?

This recently happened to me. 

I've lived my life knowing that there are certain things that I can or cannot do.

Certain things that would or would not effect me.

Certain things that have shaped me.

Certain things that have shaped my life up to this point.

Certain things that have shaped the plans I had for myself...for my future...for the rest of my life.


And in an instant...

in one conversation...

it was all changed!


I don't really know yet what to do with this information!

I mean...

I understand it.

It came from a VERY reliable source.

A person I respect and appreciate and believe has my best interest at heart ALWAYS!


But oh my goodness...


I still don't really know what to do with this informaton!

I've spent so long believing that the path my future was headed on was the best plan...

and it's a good plan!

A great plan!

I have no qualms with continuing down this path...

But now I've been put at a crossroads. 

I have another path I could take.

Is it the best for me?

Is it a better option than the great plan that I already had?

I don't know!!!!!!

It's different...really different.


Chris was shocked too.


So now there are things to think about...

Things we've never thought about before.

Things we've never seriously considered because of where our mindsets were at prior to this coming about.

When I found out I didn't really know what to say.

I was so...shocked, flabberghasted, knocked off  my stable block...whatever you want to call it. 

The expectation of what I thought was a cut and dry issue, was so NOT what was presented to me. 

There's some excitement in it!

I'm not unhappy with having this news.

It's not like I believed one way about it for so long that to be told otherwise made me upset to think I had been lied to for 31 years.

It's good news.

It's great news...in some peoples eyes I'm sure.

But I still don't know quite what to do with it.

There are a lot of questions that still float to the surface of my mind.

There are a lot of things that are unanswered.

There are definitely new experiences that would come from it.

Experiences I never thought I'd be a part of and now I'm realizing I could be.

 I know God never puts us through anything we can't handle. 

He never gives us more than we can carry...

He opens doors that we never thought would open...

I'm not saying I'm "all in" with this possible new path. 

I'm still standing at the fork in the road, holding Chris' hand...waiting to hear what God has to say to us both about which way we should turn.

Left field?  My entire life it's been so far out there...so far out of reach...

and now?

It's not that far from the right!

Hilton Head

I never really blogged about our summer vacation, did I?
I guess sometimes life is just so busy and crazy...and then other things are stuck on my mind (and the best way to get them out are to blog about them) that I just moved right on past vacay.

So sorry if you were all salivating at the thought of seeing our vacation photos.

So for you photo crazy blog readers...here is a blog full of pics.

In mid July Chris and I, along with our fabulous friends, Dan and Kristin, headed down to Hilton Head. 

We left LATE Friday evening so that we would arrive around 12 the next day.  *There are no pictures of the drive down because I slept most of the time ;0) 

 But you will all be very jealous (I'm sure) of the fact that WE got to sit at the Cracker Barrel round table (you know, the one that you and your 7 closest family and/or friends always hope to get when you arrive after church, but never can get seated at because it's ALWAYS filled...yep, that one). 

Why you ask did a party of 4 get to sit at the exclusive round table??????  That would be because we OPENED the Cracker Barrel.  We arrived before the rooster crowed, right when they opened their doors.  We were the first customers in and got our pick of the tables.  And let me tell you, it was everything we dreamed it could be and more.  YUM!

We rented a condo with a 5 minute walk to the beach.

Where we spent a majority of our time...

Dan and Kristin

Yours truly

The HOT hubby..."DINO TIME" with the sand scoops

Beth (my ducky tattoo), she enjoyed the water running over her ;0)

If we were'nt at the beach, we were most likely eating...

This was the first night after we took naps ;0)

This was our dressy night.

*Please ignore the fact that it appears as though I have nothing covering my chest but a large hot pink flower!

See, I wasn't inappropriate.

The White Reese Cup donut from Flamingo's Donut Cafe

YUMMY!

We took a day trip to Savannah and visited Paula Deen's restaurant.
Best meal we had all week!

Dan and Kristin after the amazing yumminess that was Lady and Son's Restaurant

Gooey Butter Cake...it was a party in my mouth and I could have had 15 more pieces except my belly already appeared as though I was having triplets after the mass amounts of food I had eaten prior to this...*I bought the recipe though ;0)

Some other exciting things we did while in Savannah:

We went to an Antique Mall...

This 1918 US Navy Diving Helmet was priced at $9,800.00

We visited a Plantation...

But the drive was as far as we got, they were closing for the day :0(

We visited Old Fort Jackson...

But they were closing too...so we got a few pics of the outside.

We walked around Forsyth Park and saw some GORGEOUS historic Savannah Homes...

My Favorite!

Other exciting vacay visions and experiences:

Tandem Bikes ;0)  Though I never got a picture of us on them ;0( BOO!

Shiv's..located in the heart of Savannah...hahaha

"Shark Bite, Ooh Ooh Ah"

Yes, I was attacked by a shark...listen, I'm part of an elite group! 

GHETTO Turbi-twist

I move my body like a Cyclone

Rum Covered Pineapple

Red Black

The Sunrise

I miss it!

Wish you were here!

It's interesting...the things your mind perseverates on.

Have you every been laying in bed at night, trying to fall asleep, but for some reason your mind won't stop.  You think about an upcoming meeting or situation and how the conversation will go.

"If he says this, how do I respond?" 

"If she brings this up, will she be mad if I tell her EXACTLY how I feel about it?"

I can't turn my brain off.

And then, it's almost worse after the encounter.

"I can't believe that I didn't speak up." 

"I did it again, I didn't say how I felt."

"That irritates me so much when they do that."

"Why does it seem that I'm the only one who can't say what I want?"

"Why didn't I think to respond with that right then, instead of now."

"When everyone else is hurting me, why don't I stop it?"


I blew up a month ago...at some people that I dearly, dearly love.

I don't regret the things that I said, because I needed to say them.

I needed to get them out.

I didn't lie.

I wasn't mean.

I said how I felt.

But I haven't been able to since...

and I think part of it is because I feel like putting myself out there did nothing.

Was it really worth it to say all of those things?

When I'm in such distress and pouring my heart out, with blank eyes looking back at me.

Then to hear the same things over and over again...the things that have been said so many times before I even spoke out.

It's hard...and it makes it difficult to put myself out there again.

I don't want change for my sake. 

I didn't do it for me...I didn't do it because I wanted what I had to say to make my life better.  That's not why!

I couldn't take it anymore.

And I thought what I had to say may have opened some eyes...because they're words that no one has spoken.  Maybe hearing something new would make a difference.

Keeping it inside was eating at me...and honestly, now that it's out, I still think about it.

But in a different way.

I think about the words I said, and how they may have hurt the people I said them too.

And while I know everything I said was truthful, and the way I feel...I still don't want them to hurt those people I love.

They're hurting enough as it is.

Did they even hear them?

No, that's not what I mean.  I really meant to ask, "Did they even listen to what I said?"

Hearing and listening are two very different things.

Did the words sink down inside their brains?

Did they take them to heart?

Do they think about them...even now, more than a month after Hurricane Holly hit?

Or did what I have to say breeze in one ear and out the other...never to be given a second glance?

Some days I feel that way.  Like the things I say and do have absolutely no weight to them at all. 

I want them to have listened to what I said.

I want them to think about the words.

I want them to understand that I didn't say them to hurt them...but that it's how I felt and feel.

I hope that they know I love them.

I hope they know that watching their hurt hurts me more than anything else.

I hope that somewhere deep inside they'll understand that the things I said aren't just how I feel, but most likely, how others are feeling too.

And that the hurt they're feeling...others are feeling it too.  Maybe not as immediate as they are.  Maybe not on the same level.  Maybe it's not as personal to me and to others as it is to them...but the pain is still being felt.

I grieve for what once was.

I want change for their sake.

I want change for others that I love.

I want relationships rebuilt and hurts to break away.

I need to pray more...not just about this, but about so many other things.

I need to thank God more, for all the blessings he's given me...even in the rough patches.

I need to tell others how much I love them.


...and that I will, no matter what!

Just Drama

It's been rough around here lately.

School started back up last week and the first day with kids was the day from the Devil.  Today wasn't a whole lot better. 

Just drama.

Don't get me wrong...I LOVE my job and my freshmen.  But there are some things that are really frustrating about working at a school. 

And some of those things are issues that are only things the nurse has to deal with.

I guess I shouldn't say only...I know other people have a hand in them...but some days, being the only medical professional, and being the only person with a closet full of clothes, and being the only person doing whatever it is I'm doing in the building, makes you feel like you are the only person dealing with those specific issues.

Anywho...needless to say, it's been kind of rough the past few days.

Plus, there's other stuff going on in my life that is truly ALL DRAMA!

Things that we get caught up in without meaning to be or wanting to be.

Things that can't be avoided, no matter how much we desperately want to put them aside and pretend like they don't exist.

I'm trying really hard not to let this drama effect me in a way that it shouldn't...especially because it's not my drama to really be dealing with to begin with.  But it still does.

So say a prayer for me...

That some day soon I'll be completely drama free!

A Week Ago Today

A long awaited day came to the Elliott's last Wednesday!



We're Homeowners...well, we're homebuyers!



Chris and I are excited to finally have purchased our first home.

Many of you may remember that the house we are living in was my Grandparents.  Chris and I were blessed to be able to purchase the house and make it our home. 

Here we are, signing our lives away ;0)

With Mom and Dad after all the paperwork was done.

It's officially ours!

Right now, at this moment...

It's obviously been a while since I've blogged...and it's almost been equally as long since I've caught up on the blogs I follow.

I was looking over some of them just now, and saw an old post on one that was about what that person was thinking, doing, feeling, etc, right at that moment.  I thought it seemed quite interesting, and decided that since I didn't really have a specific blog post in mind, but knew that I hadn't blogged in a while (so of course the probably 2 people who regularly read my blog ;0) are most likely super annoyed) so I need to, I will blog about my "right now" happenings.

Right now...

~ I am waiting on my super awesome husband to get home from work, or to call me and let me know if we're participating in Thirsty Thursday!

~ I'm missing my Grandma W.  In one of my old posts I had mentioned how last Christmas was the first one without her...it made my heart ache :0(

~ I'm hungry... ;0)  Sheila, the fat girl inside me (in case you weren't aware that she now has a name), has not been fed in quite a few hours!

~ I'm excited about our upcoming vacation with D & K!  We'll soon be on a beach, visiting wineries (hopefully), relaxing, eating yummy food, and no doubt laughing often.

~ I am happy that summer school is over at Hamilton Heights.

~ I'm a little nervous about second session at Noblesville tomorrow.

~ I am sad that it took me so long to update my blog...it's a little odd too, since I've had more time at home since school got out.

~ I am stoked that after reading over my 2011 Hopes post I have stuck to many of my hopes for the year, and am moving right along.

~ I should be unloading the dishawasher and folding laundry...but that's not fun ;0)

~ I wish that we were going to the lake this weekend...

~ I want to water ski!

~ I don't want to replace Tiki!  I love her and will cry if we do.

~ I LOVE my husband! ...

~ I hope he didn't spend a ton of money on fireworks.

~ Just got off the phone with him...

~ I'm pretty sure he spent a ton of money on fireworks.

...Game over