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