All Grown Up

This may seem like an odd title but it is relevant in two ways.  The first is that two of the girls from my small group graduated from high school this weekend.  They fought through all the drama and studying and came out on the other side as young women ready to head off to college.  To say that I am proud of them is a gigantic understatement; I have grown to love them more than I could have ever imagined when I started out volunteering as a leader at our church.  I hope that we continue to stay close so I can continue to help them through all their adventures now that they are heading off to the “real world.”  Thankfully I have a strong feeling that we will! 

The second reason is that it has been four years since I graduated college.  At times I can’t believe it has been that long since so many memories are still fresh but I also feel like an entirely different person and it is also hard to imagine that so much change took place in four short years.  Here are some of my favorite events that have happened in the last four years:

·         I married my best friend

·         We graduated and got jobs

·         We become pet owners and homeowners

·         We became volunteer youth leaders

·         We have attended 15 weddings

·         We had 4 sets of friends have their first baby

·         We had 2 nephews born

·         I got 2 Promotions and made 1 Job Change

·         I bought a new car

·         I started dancing again

SYTYCD

I absolutely love this show!  I had a really rough week last week and so I was so excited about the show starting again.  I invited over a few friends and even created a specialty drink for the event.  The icing on the cake was that the first episode was Atlanta.  I absolutely loved one of the first auditions, she is an art student from Marietta and she is definitely an early favorite of mine.  I laughed completely mortified but also amused as the dancer whose grandmother came up and served as an honorary judge and ended up getting way too playful with Lil C.  The Bay Area has some crazies and I cannot tell the difference between Turfing and every other kind of hip hop.  I cannot wait to watch as the show progresses and the competition heats up.  It was so much fun to watch some really amazing and really terrible dancing and laughing with friends.  Thank goodness it is Friday, only 5 or 6 more hours until the 3 day weekend. 

Specialty Drink Recipe: Summer Citrus Sparkler

·         Equal Parts of Simply Raspberry Lemonade & Champagne

·         Garnish with Frozen Blueberries

A Symbol of our Love

It is wedding season and we have several friends preparing for their wedding days.  I am so excited for them and I cannot believe that we are coming up on our 3^rd anniversary.  The other day I was riding in the car with Kyle and I looked over and he playing with his wedding ring.  As I looked at his ring finger I saw a distinct tan line from his wedding ring.  We laughed about it first but then I got really sentimental.  I remember when we first got married and it felt weird to wear rings since we weren’t used to them.  Now we have grown up and settled into being married and now we can’t imagine life without being married.  We are so happy and settled that the ring really is just a symbol because we no longer need them as reminders of our promise; our promise to one another has become a part of everything we do.  The tan line was just a reminder of how much we have grown over the last three years. 

Summer Loving

I have decided that I am Facebook friends with way too many teachers.  Ordinarily I absolutely love this fact because teachers always have really crazy and funny stories.  Teaching is incredibly important, admirable, fulfilling, and extremely difficult.  But it is this time of year that being Facebook friends with teachers is almost unbearable.  If I have to read one more countdown to summer I really might cry.  It is exacerbated by the fact that my husband is a teacher.  Kyle is probably cringing as he reads this so let me preface this by saying that I know that teachers work over the summer and put in a lot of extra beyond just what goes on in your classroom.  But it is so hard to read statuses that say “4 more days until no more alarm clocks for 2 months,” “4 days until the beach,” and “the countdown is on- 4 more days until summer.” 

One of the girls in my small group asked a great question the other day.  She asked me “how do you stand working all the time knowing that there are no summer and winter breaks.”  Starting as kids we are trained that you work hard for several months and then are rewarded with a break.  It starts with pre-school and continues through college.  Then you get a “grown-up” job and realize that the cycle that you are used to has just screeched to a halt.  At first your excitement propels you through your first missed winter or summer break but over time it starts to set in that your life has a whole new pattern.  At first you are like a panicked hamster in a wheel and question how you will ever adjust but eventually your will power subsides and you settle into running the same circle over and over again.  Vacations days help but since your job responsibilities don’t stop you have to find people to cover you, pray that they don’t mess up while you are gone, and then catch back up when you return which can be exhausting.  I wish that all jobs had a way of having something like a summer or winter break but since business never stops neither do we.  Thanks for reading my rant and please know that I have lots of love for teachers (especially my amazing husband) but for right now I am just super jealous of their work schedules!

Spinning

It has been a crazy week at work and everything in my life has been super busy lately so I decided to write a poem about it.

Spinning

Spinning, Spinning, Always Spinning
A million thoughts crash and collide
Some are organized and some are chaos
All within the confines of my mind

Always churning, never resting
Always pondering what is and could be
Always seeking, questioning, reflecting
answers sought are not always easy to find

Determination and desire for perfection
Create a race that will never be won
but while the journey may be tiring
the imperfect results are still far beyond

Then at times a calmness settles
slowing subsiding the crashing tide
and then it is finally peaceful
these are some of my favorite times

The Campbell Family

We had the opportunity to meet with a wonderful family this weekend.  They are at the beginning of a long journey grieving the lost of their son/brother.  About 6 weeks ago they lost JJ in a car accident; his sister was driving the car.  My heart is so full of sadness for them and their loss, we remember the feeling all too well.  I’m also full of hope that they can come through the other side of this stronger, hopeful, and ready to embrace the new path for their lives.   There is no doubt that they are changed forever, just as our whole family was forever changed by the loss of Mike.  The beauty in all of the tragedy is that you can use your experience and your new perspective to help transform the lives of the people around you, most importantly your own.  It will be a long road but I am hopeful that they will find as many unexpected blessings in this whole journey as we did.  It was an amazing reminder of how far we have come over the last five and a half years and how many wonderful blessings we have had in our lives since then.  When it first happened it felt like we would never feel truly happy again and while we still miss him all the time it is no longer a weight that we carry but is instead a series of wonderful memories that we cherish.  Please pray for their family as they fight through the shock, anger, and sadness.  Pray that they will not be afraid to experience each of those emotions fully so that they can start to find peace and begin to move forward with their lives. 

My first batch of Lip Balm

I did it; I made my first batch of all natural homemade lip balm!  I got all my materials from majestic mountain sage in the mail on Friday and of course I couldn’t wait so I made my first batch that night.  It was a lot of fun and I was able to remember all of the nuances of the process from my notes from the class.  It made the house smell delicious and they turned out really well.  Even Kyle likes it since the scent isn’t too strong or too girly.  My labels should get here within the next week or so and then they will look even more legit, I’m so excited.  I also made a batch of body splash and fizzy bath crystals.  I’ll bottle them once my order from Specialty Bottles arrives tomorrow.  It was a lot of fun and I’m hoping people will really enjoy it.  Now it is back to Monday again and we have a release this weekend so I’m bracing myself for a roller coaster week.  Wish me luck!

Turning Tables

It is no secret that I love Adele’s album 21.  I was so excited for her when her song was used on Glee because it helped her beautiful music get the recognition it deserves.  It is so refreshing and such a joy to listen to something soulful and beautiful in a world where trashy pop music dominates so heavily.  While I love Ke$ha and B*Spears their music is junk food while Adele is soul food.  We learned a piece to the song Turning Tables in Rachel’s Jazz class on Saturday and it was so beautiful that I simply had to share it.  The piece captures the desire we have to control our emotions.  We try and pick ourselves up and push ourselves forward down the path we have chosen even if it is contradicts our heart.  And despite our best efforts there are emotional outbursts that happen as we try and separate ourselves from our feelings.

Mother's Day

I am so thankful that I have such a wonderful mother!  We had such a relaxing and fun day yesterday. 

·         Craft Time: Creating Glass Sculptures using glass pieces from the thrift store

·         Lunch: Chinese Food

·         Jewelry and Gemstone Convention: We found gorgeous dichoric glass pendants for $5 each as well as some reasonably priced beads

·         Dragonberry Lemonade and Fudge Break

·         Mandalas: Creating a picture in a circle that reflects the inner workings of your thoughts/mind; it is supposed to reflect what God would see at that moment if he looked down into your mind.  All of the symbols and colors that are used in the mandalas have specific meanings.  I named my kaleidoscope sun.  (more details on the meaning of my mandala to come in a later post)

·         Nap Time

·         Jewelry Making: I used the beads I bought at the convention to make 2 pairs of earrings

Here are a few pictures of our crafts and activities:

Domestic Goddess

Well that may be a bit of an overstatement but I did have a very productive day yesterday.  I worked a full day at the office and we are making steady progress for our release although we still have a long ways to go.  I purchased a gigantic tub sea salt for my bath salts and exfoliants.   I bought and planted fresh rosemary for my hair rinse recipe.  After those two errands I got home and cleaned our kitchen and bathroom which was long overdue and I felt really good about it after I was done.  Then I slacked a little and enjoyed part of an episode of fabulous cakes on TLC.  Then I was back to work making spaghetti for Kyle since this is his crazy week for spring football.   We had a nice dinner and then ended the night with watching Dancing with the Stars.  It was a boring night but I really enjoyed it, sometimes it is the simple things in life that bring us the greatest joy like doing something nice for someone you love.  I hope everyone has a great Tuesday!

My New Venture

For my birthday my mom was so thoughtful and let me choose a class that I wanted to take at the Hudgens Center.  I initially thought I would take a pottery or acrylic painting class but none of those fit with my schedule so I happened upon a toiletry making class.  It piqued my interest so I signed up.  I wasn’t sure what to expect but once I got there I was in love with it.  I was amazed at how easy and how much fun it was to make these products.  It really inspired and invigorated me so when I got home I order the materials to start making these at home.  All of the items I’m going to make will be all natural with no chemicals or preservatives.  I’m hoping people will love these products as much as I do, I’ll be creating a Facebook group for anyone who is interested and I promise to post pictures here once my first batch of products are ready.  I haven’t been this excited in a long time, I came up with the perfect name but I won’t reveal it until my group page is ready.  I’m going to focus on the following items first:

·         Lip Balm

·         Body Splash

·         Salt Glow Exfoliant

·         Lavender Bath Salts

·         Fizzy Bath Crystals

·         Rosemary Hair Rinse

·         TLC Cream

Dance Photography

So at some point this year I’m planning on doing a dance photo shoot with our close friend Alex.  I helped him book a wedding so I get a free session and I have always wanted to have some really cool dance photos.  I have countless albums full of cheesy ones in ridiculous costumes which bring back wonderful memories but none of them seem like art.  In thinking about what I would want them to look like I have been on the hunt for amazing and inspiring pictures.  During that pursuit a friend of mine told me about Richard Calmes.  His work is absolutely incredible so I of course wanted to share some of my favorites.

He seems to capture the essence of the dancer and the emotion in the movement.  His pictures absolutely jump off the screen at you and I was entranced while looking through his albums.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Shrek the Musical

. . . . was HILARIOUS!!!!  I got us season tickets for Broadway across America last year for Kyle’s birthday; yes my husband is that awesome that he enjoys theater almost as much as I do!  The main reason was because he heard Shrek was coming to Atlanta and let me know that we had to see it, as if I would ever argue with seeing a musical. 

After waiting all season, including several wonderful musicals like Burn the Floor and Dreamgirls, Shrek finally arrived.  I laughed until my eyes started watering and my cheeks hurt from smiling.  It captured all the adult humor and then some from the animated film.  It was witty, charming, and so much fun to watch.  It was such a fun show and a great date night.  If you are ever in New York or it comes back to Atlanta and you want to see a feel good show then it is a must see! 

Water for Elephants

Water for Elephants (the movie) was surprisingly really well done. I always question whether or not to see a movie if I love the book but this one did not disappoint. I strongly encourage you guys to go see it! The film managed to stay very true to the story including the parts that are hard to stomach.  Of course I still found little details that they cut out that I missed but they captured the essence and the emotion of the story which is the most important part.  Rosie, the elephant, was absolutely beautiful!  I wanted every single outfit that Marlena (Reese) wore in the film. The acting was very good particularly Reese and the actor who played August and while I am not normally a fan of Robert Pattinson’s acting he was very believable in this role.  I would recommend this book to anyone and then once you had read it you should definitely see the movie.