Anniversary!

Our 1st Anniversary was this past Sunday, the 21st! Woo hoo! We didn't have any big plans. I only had one thing in mind that I wanted to do....I wanted to have cake and punch. I know that sounds dumb, but that is what I wanted! Haha! First of all, you must understand that I LOVE punch. Not like Mexican fruit punch, Hawaiian punch, or even Stoby's punch (which I do also love)...no no, I love party punch! :) The different kinds of punch that are served at birthday parties, showers, weddings....yuuuummmmm! AND we didn't even get to have any of our punch at our wedding...which I heard was delicious... :( Yep...I needed cake and punch for sure.

Well...we decided to have some folks from our small group over on Saturday night for a (rainy) cookout and some games. So our good friends--the Linkers, Nick, and Kati--all came over for some food and fun. Nick had asked me what he could bring. I told him what we were having and said if he wanted anything else he could bring it. Well, that didn't work. He asked again. So after MUCH more prying (or one more text asking me what he could bring), I finally gave in and told him my secret anniversary wish. He laughed at me...via text. But he told me he wanted to bring the stuff to make the punch. Yea!! I was very excited.

I told Kati the story, and she too thought it was funny. But I didn't think much else about it until a couple hours before she was supposed to be there. The text said "Hope you like chocolate cake" She had made a cake! So sweet!

We had such a great time with everyone that night. And I will say that I was not the only one that loved the punch that night. There were 6 of us there...I think only 5 of us were drinking punch...it was almost gone at the end of the night. Yeah, I'm probably going to have to do this every year! Also, congrats to Kati for setting a Farkle record...I've never seen anyone take sooo long to get on the board! Haha! We even gave her a sympathy roll to try to help her. And it was her first time playing....bummer! I really really hope she'll play with us again sometime!

Blessed by...

I was talking with a friend at work this week. His name is Ryan Johnson and he's a member of my church family. I have known him for awhile. He is good friends with Justin, although they don't get to hang out as much as they would like.

Ryan is a very godly man. I've had the opportunity to have some pretty good conversations with him. I was able to talk with him earlier this week at lunch one day. I started talking to him about how weird I thought it was that I felt busier and more overwhelmed with life since I've gotten married. I mean, come on...obvioulsy I should feel less stressed since I've gained a partner in life! :) Justin helps me with everything I need him to. And he is happy to do it. He will gladly pick up Drue if I need him to. He helps her with homework or AWANA verses. He'll even run to Wal-mart for the smallest thing we need without complaining. :) He is such a helpful husband. Why, then, do I seem to feel so much more overwhelmed these days?

See, when I was single, I felt I could do it all. I did everything I had to. I worked 40 hours a week, helped Drue with AWANA, did my Bible Study, helped with homework, stayed on top of what Drue needed for school (including costumes, stuff for parties, etc), paid the bills, spent lots of time with Drue, spent lots of time with my parents and my brother's family....the list goes on and on. So, WHY is it now that I feel like we're always in a rat race? Why is there never enough time anymore? I mean, I know everyone is very busy...but how is it that I had time to do all of these things before, but now there is no way I could possibly get everything done alone (sometimes we can't even get it done together)?

While discussing this with Ryan, he said something that has just blessed me all week long. He said "Isn't it cool how God gives us strength when we need it?" What? I had never even thought of it that way. He was absolutely right! I'm not "supposed" to be able to do it all. I haven't lost any of my ability or drive. I'm not a failure...haha! God gave me strength when I needed it! How AWESOME is that?! Wow! Even as I sit here, I am so humbled by God and how much He loves me.

Thank you, Lord, for loving me and providing for me. Thank you for giving me the strength and courage to do what I needed to do during that difficult time in my life. And thank you for allowing Ryan to bless me by reminding me of your love! "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1

Blessed by...

Today I have been blessed by one of our students! I won't put her name on here because I don't know if she would want me to. But this girl is just a little ray of sunshine! She seems to always be positive and always smiling. So for this post, we'll just call her Sunshine. :)

I was on the phone this morning with a parent when I saw Sunshine walking around in the offices, but I didn't pay much attention. But then she came into our office with roses and cards for us! Little Miss Sunshine had brought roses and cards for all of us!

Wow!! And she had written in the card. And not just like "Have a nice day. Love, Sunshine" She actually took the time to write how she thanks God for me. How I am a bright, beautifully made woman of God. And that she hopes she brightened my day just a little. Just a little?! Sunshine just blessed my socks off! What a precious girl. Thank you, Lord, for wonderful, encouraging people like Sunshine! Help me to show your love through encouragement like Sunshine has done!

OUCH!!

Well, the time has come....to get my butt back into shape (not literally just my butt, although it is included)! 25 years people! 25 years I ate whatever I wanted, exercised as little as I wanted, and stayed as thin as I wanted. Well, NO MORE! Around the time I turned 25, I started gaining a little weight. I'm still not sure what happened to me because my eating habits really haven't changed...they are equally as bad now as they always have been. Since the time I turned 25 (about 20 months ago), I have slowly, but increasingly, been gaining. Well, it's time to put a STOP to that!

I have joined a "Biggest Loser" weight-loss challenge at work recently...and I'm going to win! ;) It's from March 5 to May 7 (i think). To aid me in my weight-loss attempt, I have joined the Women Can Run clinic in Conway. I'm loving it so far. I really would love to become a runner! Really! I used to love to run when I was young. I was pretty fast, too. I mean, so what if the 5th grade track meet was the highlight of my running career?! I was the best female 5th grade runner for the 100 meter dash (or is it yard? clearly this was important to me) that year! Haha! I would love to think there's still a little runner in there somewhere just dying to be let loose.

Also, some friends and I decided to do like a mini boot camp at the fitness center...I'm not actually sure what the official name of our little 4-person class is. Anyway, yesterday was our first day. I had my reservations about participating. First of all, we meet at 5:30...in the morning! What? Ok, maybe to some of you that's not a big deal, but I can probably count the number of times I've gotten up that early on my fingers. And if you take away surgeries, Race for the Cures, and church trips, I'm not sure there would be anything left! So...apparently I was on edge all night Tuesday night because I woke up easily at 3:00 and thought it was 5:00. I sat on the edge of the bed stretching, trying to wake up and start my day. Luckily, I quickly realized my mistake. When 5:00 finally came, I got up, got dressed, and got to the fitness center...a huge accomplishment in itself. When I left 30 minutes later, my arms were jello. J-E-L-L-O! It was almost funny. I had trouble controlling them a little bit. Man, I'm gonna be sore tomorrow, I thought dismissively.

OH...MY...GOODNESS!!! Sore doesn't even begin to describe what I am feeling today. Literally, my husband had to PULL me out of bed this morning because I couldn't move. You name it, it's sore...for the most part anyway. My legs and butt are a little sore, but my upper body is RIDICULOUS! It's been almost funny at times, but man does it HURT! The best part is...I'm usually more sore the 2nd day. Can't wait to see what tomorrow holds... :)

I know it will get better and I'm going to stick with it. I don't know how many of you guys know my mom, but I just KNOW there are some "Kathy Cate" genes inside me just dying to get out!! And I'm going to unleash them! I just have to find my motivation and stay focused....no matter how painful it may be at first.

AND if I happen to do horribly or quit the running clinic or boot camp and don't win the Biggest Loser challenge and you never hear about it again...just disregard this post! ;)