Friendly Reminder

Just in case you'd forgotten how cool I was, I thought I'd share something to jog your memory.   Yes, after work yesterday, I walked to my designated voting location (of course I forgot my list of candidates and had to wing it in the booth).  And because it was uber hot outside and I needed to carry my voter registration card, ID, key, and cell phone, I wore this.  My Camelbak!  It also kept me very hydrated.  

Courtney gave me my Camelbak for my 23rd birthday.  Not gunna lie, I used to just wear it around the house.  Its perfect for walks in the humid heat.  Mine looks just like this one, but its green, instead of blue.  I recommend them for anyone who likes to keep hydrated and look really cool.

PS.  Around certain colleges, certain people fill up their Camelbaks with "brown water" aka whiskey, bourbon, scotch.  I am proud to say I have never done that.  Lets be honest, if I did, I'd probably be dead in a ditch somewhere.

SC Primaries

On the way to work this morning I realized tha today is the SC primary.  I'm so glad I realized it was today!  While I've been hearing about lots of the candidates and seeing lots of signs, I only knew about some of the people running.  Luckily this morning I was able to do some research.  I've made my list and am thankful the poles are open until 7 pm so I can do my civic duty.  AND as a bonus, I can walk to my designated voting location -- built in exercise!  Two birds.  One stone.

Reunited...and it felt so good!

B5 Weekend was a blast!  I think I might be going through withdrawls today...

Margaritas

Sangria

Black Crown candle Tiki torch passing

Folly Beach

Eating
Eating
Eating

Diet Coke Cake

Bowens

Laughing

Catching up & being together.  Ladies, it was a blast!  Can't wait to see you most of you again SOON!

Brownie/Frownie

While its still early, I'm pretty sure I already know the high (brownie) and low (frownie) parts of my day today.

Low = Waking up at 5 am to an unfamiliar noise.  At first I thought it was part of a dream...then I realized it wasn't.  I couldn't figure out what it was so I went looking for it in the house.  It was in the kitchen.  My roommate just bought a BlackBerry and for some reason an alarm went off at 5 this morning.  Ugh!  I couldn't figure out how to dismantle the alarm, so I turned off the phone.  Apparently I didn't turn it off or it has some crazy alarm gizmo because a few minutes after I'd returned to bed, the damn thing went off again!  This time I woke up roommate to hand her said BlackBerry to turn off or destroy it.  Either would have worked for me.

High = B5 reunion starts today!  Once a year, my college roommates from senior year get together.  I can't believe this is our 6th reunion!  We've gathered in Atltanta, Charlotte, Greenville...and this year they're all coming to stay with me in Charleston!  We always have SO much fun together.  Catching up, eating a lot, being silly, enjoying an adult beverage or two, and trying to catch some sun.  We're heading to the beach tomorrow and I can't wait! 

I really am so thankful for each of these girls and the friends that they are to me.  Individually and as a group, I love them.  We're all funny, unique, and have lots of personality.  Its fun to see how the Lord put us in a group...so many years ago Courtney and I laid in our bunk beds trying to plan who we could live with the next year.  Our plan was awesome!  I'm so excited for them to arrive and to have fun all weekend with these lovely ladies.

How's your marriage?

The other day I noticed that I'd written this in my Bible: how's my marriage to the Lord?

Hmmm...
I have no idea what sermon I heard that made me jot that down, but it really got me thinking. First, I love that all believers are married to the Lord. So that relationship is/should be our priority. Second, I think God is beyond gender, so if you're a man, you are still married to the Lord. Third, (ok, I actually read this somewhere) people are not called to be single. We are all born single and some are called to get married. So even if you are single (like this awesome curly-haired short girl I know), you are able to grasp and experience, marriage.

I've been thinking a LOT lately about what it means to be in a relationship with the Lord.  He's your spouse, your best friend, your sister/brother, parent, coach, mentor, all in one.  He's the God of the universe.  He created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them.  Think about that for a second.  Wow!  AND he wants to be in a relationship with me...the only problem I've run into is: what does that look like?  So I've been trying to think about God&I as a marriage.  And since I'm not married, the best way for me to grasp marriage is to look at the marriages around me and draw from my other relationships.  I'm pretty sure that if I get married, I'll have to thank my best friends for preparing me.

We love each other, serve each other, fight, press on, make each other laugh, tell each other the truth, spend lots of time together (when we are able), and eat good food together.  But I think it is more challenging when you are the only one walking around in flesh (currently). 

I read this and think it says what I want to understand/live out: The abiding awareness of the Christian life is to be God Himself, not just thoughts about Him. The total being of our life inside and out is to be absolutely obsessed by the presence of God. A child’s awareness is so absorbed in his mother that although he is not consciously thinking of her, when a problem arises, the abiding relationship is that with the mother. In that same way, we are to “live and move and have our being” in God.   http://utmost.org/are-you-obsessed-by-something/

So I'm not sure how my marriage with the Lord is going.  I think we're still feeling things out.  It seems funny to say that since I've been a Christian for almost 11 years.  But I think about my parents.  They'll celebrate their 30th wedding annivsary this month and they're still learning things about the other person and how to live together, etc.  I know that I know the Lord more today than I did a decade ago and I think that means I'm moving in the right direction.  And sometimes that's all I can ask for...

De-licious!

Chick-fil-A, how I love thee!

Yesterday was a day of anticipation for supper.  I tried my FREE spicy chicken sandwich yesterday at CFA and LOVED every bite!  It was spicy, but not too spicy.  The pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, and pickle really worked with the spice.  I don't even eat the pickles on the regular sandwich (chick no pick!), but it really worked here.  The only thing that would make this sandwich better would be washing it down with a peach milkshake. 

Vacation Hangover

I deemed last weekend a mini vacation.  And it was!  Friday night, Courtney and I ate with my parents at Supper Club at the pool.  It was margarita night and pretty fun...its always interesting to see people I haven't seen in years.  Then we headed to meet some PC friends for a beer.

Saturday was the first of three beach days.  It felt great: a steady breeze so it wasn't hot and the water was warm enough to enjoy a swim.  Surprisingly, the beach wasn't too crowded, especially considering it was a holiday weekend.  Sadly, Courtney burned that day, but she was a trooper and made it out the other two days as well.  We enjoyed some homemade Asian cuisine (thanks for the recommendation Maggie!) and made some cookie dough.  We forced ourselves to stay up and then retrieve Festa from the airport.  It was so fun to see her and catch up!

Sunday and Monday provided much of the sun: good time with Courtney and Festa on the beach.  Sunday night Courtney and I ate with my parents.  Dad fried some fish he'd caught earlier in the season and it was awesome.  We headed back to the beach for a glass of wine on Festa's beach house porch.  Who doesn't love a rocking chair at night when you can see and smell the ocean?!?! 

Monday provided extra entertainment at the beach when we realized that the beach house had about 10 boogie boards.  While Festa rocked the surf board, Courtney and I boogie boarded.  It was awesome.  Awesome until my body couldn't take it anymore.  The waves tore me up; they forced my body to flip, twist, and turn, as well as be drug along the bottom of the ocean (sand) into the shore.  There's only so much my skin could take! 

While walking into the ocean:
Me: that girl looks a lot like Lauren Edmonds.
Courtney: maybe it is?
Me: (continuing to walk forward) Lauren
It was her!  It was fun to catch up with her and her husband.  I'm sure she wasn't too shocked to see Courtney and I together.  Haha!

Monday night we tried to eat at Bowen's.  Because it is the best.  Sadly, they are only open Tuesday - Saturday.  Not sadly,  we ended up eating with Festa's family.  Her Uncle Stu made homemade pizza.  He's Italian and it was AMAZING.  I wolfed down 4 pieces and had to force myself from getting a 5th.

It was such a fun Memorial Day weekend.  So thankful for it!

Also...throughout the weekend Courtney and I watched episodes of Friends.  One.  I forgot how funny that show is.  So good!  Two.  Its awesome to watch it now that we are actually their ages and experiencing (some of the) things that they are...even the theme song makes more sense now because I feel like off and on it is my life. 

Your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's DOA...

And I am thankful to have my best friends to live life alongside me just like Monica, Joey, Rachel, Chadler, Ross, and Phoebe. 

And...one night we watched MTV's True Life: of a Polyamorous person.  That is not something I will be trying. 

BUT now I have a vacation hangover...work, bills to pay, real life.  It was worth it though!