The Red, White & Blue

Happy 4th of July!

My Sister's Big Fat Italian Wedding

Tons of food, tons of family and tons of fun. Pictures and details to follow...

A Song for my Stressed Out Soul

One more mile 'til I lay rest
I have put myself through this rigid test
But the mile has never ended no distance has been gained
I do not see greatness I wanted to obtain
Where is my embrace from the race that I have run?
I have kept a steady pace but still I have not won

Rest easy
Have no fear
I love you perfectly and love drives out fear
I'll take your burden
You take My grace
Rest easy
In My embrace

I am such a sinner I fear my evil ways
I fear my imperfection I fear my final days
I just want to take control and snap this rusty chain
Drop my heavy burden it seems to be in vain

Rest easy
Have no fear
I love you perfectly and love drives out fear
I'll take your burden
You take My grace
Rest easy
In My embrace

I am not a bold man even though I want to be
I am just a dreamer with a timid history
Scared of confrontations I fume all through the night
The world has it's hold on me and I just want to fly
The sky, the sky is open wide
But I can't fly 'til I step aside

Rest easy
Have no fear
I love you perfectly
And perfect love drives out fear
I'll take your burden
You take My grace
Rest easy
In My embrace
Rest easy, rest easy
Rest easy, in My embrace
Rest easy
-Audio Adrenaline

I've Learned

...that when you say goodbye to someone you love you don't just say it once, you say it everyday.

...that real friends are the ones that know your strengths and weaknesses, what makes you laugh and who makes you cry, they've seen you at best and helped you at your absolute worst, they are the ones that know you inside and out and still love you unconditionally.

...that family is very important.

...that no matter how hard your try and how capable you are you can't always help someone and sometimes they won't let you.

...that sometimes you have to make the same mistake more then once before you really learn your lesson.

To be continued...

TGIF

Instead of writing about my week I'll let the following do my talking...

'Well it's a strange old game you learn it slow One step forward and it's back you go You're standing on the throttle You're standing on the brake In the groove 'til you make a mistake Sometimes you're the windshield Sometimes you're the bug' -The Bug, Mary Chapin Carpenter

'Oh look at how she listens She says nothing of what she thinks She just goes stumbling through her memories Staring out on to Grey Street She thinks, “Hey, How did I come to this? I dream myself a thousand times around the world, But I can’t get out of this place”' -Grey Street, Dave Matthews Band

'I'm not here for your entertainment You don't really want to mess with me tonight Just stop and take a second I was fine before you walked into my life' -U + UR Hand, Pink

'This is your life, are you who you want to be This is your life, are you who you want to be This is your life, is it everything you dreamed it would be When the world was younger and you had everything to lose'
-This Is Your Life, Switchfoot

...you get the point.

Sweet Home Alabama

After a last minute change of plans I found myself in Birmingham for a long weekend and it was, needless to say, absolutely wonderful. This weekend I was blessed to see my family and be a part of their lives. From an awesome young adult church service called 'One' to sitting on hill with Buddy as Emily Rose rode Chick in their first horse show together; there was always something going on. Tyler was around briefly before he went jet setting (literally) to the beach with a friend and his family on Friday. Saturday night I watched Peary get all dressed up for the City Lights Ball and witnessed Gina's reaction as her first born baby left in his tux to go pick up his date. Later that night Gina and I attempted to wait up for his return, which didn't happen until 215am... we did pretty well if I do say so myself!

Sunday's service at Church of the Highlands was nothing short of amazing. It probably wasn't a coincidence that Pastor Chris was speaking on something I desperately needed to hear. My weekend concluded with a 'birds eye view' of the Chesapeake Bay, the bridge and downtown Annapolis (something I haven't seen before because I always fly at night) and a few minutes with my sister once I got home.

It was another one of those weekends that I didn't want to end.

This Weekend...

... was wonderful! There was good food (I ate too much!), great weather(spring finally arrived in Maryland... let's hope it stays!) and even better company (family and friends I hadn't seen a long time). Even church this morning was awesome! It's Sunday night now - I'm exhausted, full, sunburned and find myself wishing the weekend didn't have to end.

"I have been blessed With so much more than I deserve To be here with the ones that love me To love them so much it hurts I have been blessed" – Martina McBride

The Holiday

"I understand feeling as small and as insignificant as humanly possible. How it can actually ache in places that you don’t know you had inside you. It doesn’t matter how many new haircuts you get … or gyms you join … or how many glasses of chardonnay you drink with your girlfriends. You still go to bed every night going over every detail… and wonder what you did wrong or how you could have misunderstood. And how in the hell, for that brief moment… you could think that you were that happy? And sometimes you can even convince yourself that he’ll see the light and show up at your door. And after all that … however long “all that” may be … you’ll go somewhere new. And you’ll meet people who make you feel worthwhile again. And little pieces of your soul will finally come back. And all that fuzzy stuff… those years of your life that you wasted … that will eventually begin to fade."
-Iris, The Holiday


Amen.

Settling

There comes a moment in our life when we realize the things we’ve done, choices we've made and ways we've gotten used to just don’t work anymore. Sometimes these moments are brought on by monumental events and others by subtle annoying signs that won't go away. I’ve been lucky, I guess, to experience both. The big, bold in your face wake up calls and the subtle small annoying signs that almost seem routine. I’ve tried to ignore both, I mean after all who really likes change? This past week all those little signs that I’ve gotten used to suddenly weren’t so subtle and I realized that it’s time for change in my life. It seems I’ve been settling. I’ve settled for things, moments, emotions, and experiences. I’ve been settling for too long and I’m done settling.

"I ain't settlin' For just getting by I've had enough so-so For the rest of my life Tired of shooting too low So raise the bar high "Just enough," ain't enough this time I ain't settlin' for anything less than everything … Find what it means to be the girl Who changed her mind And changed the world" – Sugarland