love

^" Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."  1 Corinthians 13:4-7

^{It should not come as a surprise to anyone that I am not celebrating Valentine's Day this year.  Honestly, it makes me sad.  And I know, I know, it's "just another day."  I have been told that by so many well-meaning people.  But, the only people who actually say that are the people who have someone in their life to celebrate with.} 

^{That is my dose of BITTER for the day.  I'm done.}

^{Now, what I really want to say is this...   1 Corinthians 13 is one of my all time favorite passages in the Bible.  I do not have enough space on this blog to chronicle all of my faults and imperfections.  There are WAY TOO MANY.  Trust me.  I am not a perfect mother, daughter, employee or friend.  As a whole, I am very imperfect.  I have learned the hard way that love can hurt you.  And a lot of times it will.  Having said that, I am thankful today that, despite all that I do wrong,  when I lay my head down on my pillow each night, I am at peace with knowing that in my life I have sacrificed for love.} 

^{I have loved deeply.}

And at the end of the day, that cannot be taken away from me.

Guess what?!  I have another Facebook hacker!!  I am getting really TIRED of this!  Now, rather than sending my friends messages, they are deleting my friends.  And it is really frustrating, because the people who are being deleted are the people I correspond with most frequently.  Has anyone had this problem before?  This is the THIRD time I've been hacked.

UGH!

Well, that's really all I have time to say today...  Of course, I am looking forward to the weekend.  It's a LONG one!  Hooray! 

HAPPY HUMP DAY EVERYBODY!!

sunday afternoon

I have been feeling pretty sad over the past few days.  I never know when the wave is going to hit me.  It seems to come out of nowhere at times.  I can probably chalk up this stream of emotions to Valentines Day this coming week..... UGH!  And I know that it's really just another day,  but this year it just STINKS. 

Alright.  That's all I am going to say about that.  Despite my feelings, I have had a really nice weekend.  Church was great this morning, as always.  This afternoon I took the boys to Furman. Being outside is ALWAYS just what I need to lift my spirits!

And now my heart feels better.

 

Last night I went over to Megan and Hal's to hang out.  We ate frozen pizza and watched a movie and, of course, LAUGHED!  (Above)  For those of you who do not know me, this is Megan's son, Colton.  He turned 14 years old Thursday... I cannot believe he is so grown!  I have been friends with Megan for MANY YEARS.  When Colton was a baby, his dad traveled all week.  I was not married at the time, so we spent a lot of time together.  Colton was my little buddy... and always will be.  His dad, Brian, passed away five years ago after battling brain cancer for three years.  Brian would be SO PROUD of Colton and the man that he is becoming.  I know I am.  He is so kind-hearted, sweet spirited and as you can see, handsome.  Watch out, ladies!  And lock your doors, Megan! 

 

 

Megan has since remarried to a WONDERFUL man, Hal.  This is his son, Jackson.  Lots of SPUNK in this little package. 

 

 

 

Megan will kill me for posting this picture.  I didn't give her a chance to put her hat back on...as you can see, I do not care.  Love her!

 

This is Hal....an awesome guy, brother, and friend to me!  He and Megan are meant for one another.  I am SO happy God brought them together. 

 

And this is beautiful Erin AKA Honey (and Preston's love interest!)  A beautiful girl, inside and out.  Just like her mommy.

 

 

Okay, well as I mentioned in a previous post, I am going to spend more time thanking God for my friends and showing my appreciation for them.  So, that's what I decided to do here.  This is my life.  My friends.  My family.  These (along with countless others) are the people who take care of me.  Encourage me.  Support me.  Love me.

 

Well, it's Saturday and it's GORGEOUS outside.  I am going out for a run.  Tonight I have a date with another one of my best girls.  I will post about her later on.  I hope everyone has an amazing Saturday!!!

 

 





the weekend

Megan and I on our way to meet the other girls at the lake!  We LAUGHED all the way to Keowee...seriously, it was so healing!  At one point neither of us could breathe.  FUN TIMES!!!

 

On our way to dinner at the Lighthouse!!  Yummy!!!



 

After dinner, we came back to the house and CHILLED!  It was so relaxing... of course, Alexis made brownies, so we gorged ourselves with those first!!

 

 A few of my favorite girls!

 

We spent a lot of our time laughing at videos on YouTube....I'd rather not share, publicly what those videos were!  LOL  Afterwards, we carried our party downstairs to watch the movie, Pitch Perfect.  Hilarious!

 

Our Oasis for the night... thank you, Alexis!  You are a wonderful host and an even more wonderful friend!

 

 

Sunday night, after church, JP and I went to Pastor Mike and Gail's house for dinner and football.  It was a lot of fun!

 

 

On Facebook, I titled this picture "Babysitter's Club."  I babysat Megan (right) from the time she was a baby until she was about JP's age.  Now, on Sunday afternoons, she babysits JP for me to go to choir practice.  We've come full circle! Ha!  Seriously, I LOVE this girl...but, not quite as much as JP! 

 

 

We were there way past JP's bedtime.  Can you tell?! 

 

 

JP and Mrs. Gail.  They have become fast friends! 

 

And this little piece of sweetness is my friend Megan's daughter, Erin.  JP named her Honey when he was younger.  She met Preston for the first time Sunday afternoon and fell in love with him.... Of course, as you can tell, he was doing his fair share of flirting!

 

 

 

Well, that's about it for this past weekend.  Are you bored to death?!  We had a great time.  As always.  I have found myself LIVING for the weekends.  Even more so than before.  In light of our present trials, I THRIVE on spending time with family and some of my very BEST friends.  I've said it before, and I will say it again...

 

 

I am blessed.

officer cash

Below is JP with his friend, Cash.  Cash is my good friend's dog.  He is a police officer and Cash was his partner.  JP and I dog-sat this weekend and we felt very safe knowing that Officer C was guarding (literally) the door!  He loves JP.



Sunday, I took both boys over to visit.  To my surprise, Preston wasn't afraid.  I thought that because he is so small he would be intimidated.  But, NOPE!  He, too, loved him.  They were so sweet...

 

 



There is SO MUCH that I want to write about. Unfortunately though, when you have an online journal such as this one, there is a very fine line when it comes to sharing everything that is on your heart. For obvious reasons, you just can't. What I will tell you is that JP continues to have trouble dealing with some of the recent changes that are taking place in our home.  And, as a mother, watching him upset LITERALLY breaks my heart.  It actually aches.  And the worst part is, there is not a lot I can do for him.  I am carrying him to a doctor/therapist for him to talk to, I am trying to keep our routine structured (trying being the operative word!), and we stay relatively busy during the week right now with friends and family.  Anyway, please continue to pray for him.  Pray for God to allow him to experience His peace.  The kind that "passes all understanding..." 

On a lighter note,  I have developed pretty severe shin splints.  VERY happy about that!!  NOT!  It took me FIFTY EIGHT MINUTES to go three miles on the treadmill last night.  If you know anything about walking/running, you know that, that is RIDICULOUS!  I have to slow down and stop so often because I feel like my legs are going to blow up.  It's awful.  But, I have several things I am going to try.  I have a friend, Anne, that I am going to run with this week and she is going to make sure I am running the "proper" way.  My friend, Stephanie, has given me a few different types of running shoes to try out to see if that makes a difference.  Running shoes are SO EXPENSIVE!  Before I pay for my own, I want to make sure I buy the right pair.  We'll see. 

Tonight I will just have to do the best I can.  If nothing else, the 90's Rap radio on Pandora puts me in a cheerful mood!! 


That's about it for tonight.  I promise to post pics from the weekend later.  I hope everyone had a GREAT Monday. 



happy friday, friends!!

I hope you guys have an amazing weekend!!  I am off to spend the night with friends at Lake Keowee.  I am eating at one of my FAVORITE restaurants on the water tonight!  Mmmm, my mouth waters just thinking about it!

I will post pictures from the weekend later!