Discontentment

Often times, my 'nonblogging friends' ask me what I blog about. They ask me how do I even come up with strories to blog about.

I explain to them that I basically just blog about my life, whether is important things such as my love for Ryan Seacrest or my obsession with chocolate chip cookies, or weekend memories that I want to look back on and remember, or a funny story from the newly married life of Luke and Megan, its just my life.

However, lately it seems that the blog words just aren't really flowing.

My mind has been distracted, and I can't really even pinpoint why it is distracted.

I'm at a point in my life where I feel constantly 'lost' and it is incrediably frustrating.

"Show us Your direction for our lives."

This is something that I pray every. single. day.

Asking God, pleading with God, begging God to show Luke and I his direction for our lives.

Every night when Luke and I lay down from our busy days, we stop and pray together, and I can guarantee 6 out of 7 prayers a week we ask request this of God.

His will.

His direction.

We are at a transitional time in our lives. We are young, newly married, no kids, our lives could go in any direction at this point.

And we have no idea where it is going.

For the past couple of months I have been battling some pretty heavy discontentment in an area of my life.

I have been fighting it and I am ready to be rid of it.

Discontentment robs me from my life right now. Robs from the season that I am currently living in.

I have blogged about discontentment in my life in the past, and vowed to not let it affect me.

And then I would find contentment in that particular area I was struggling with.

Then discontentment would rear its ugly head in another area, an area that I was perfectly content in and never once would have thought I could have been discontent in it.

It sneaks in, it steals joy, it steals relationships, it steals peace.

And once again, I find myself fighting it.

Sometimes I feel like I can beat it.

Other times I feel like it is suffocating me and I will never know the feeling of contentment again.

Its exhausting.

But strangely enough it keeps me alive.

It keeps me searching for more.

God has so much for my life. For Luke’s life. For our lives together

And when discontentment comes it shows me how ugly the other side is.

How I don’t want to live one day, one moment without God.

Without his direction and his purpose.

It keeps me going.

So I will continue to push through the discontentment fighting it and learning from it.

I had intended to write about our first Shred experience (and oh was it an experience) but this is all my mind has for now.

And perhaps this is someone out there who can relate.

So until tomorrow this is all I have.

Wish me luck as I attempt to lift my arms today, Jillian was dead-set on making sure they felt like noodles for the next couple of days.

I am in pain just typing. Seriously. And blow drying my hair? I wanted to chop my arms off.

A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. John 10:10 (The Message)

Time to Shred

Today I logged into my google reader and saw that a new recipe had been added to Mimi's Making Meals.

I mention this blog often, and I am probably scaring Miss Mimi with how many times I mention it, but every recipe I have ever tried is simply amazing!

So when she posted Spinach and Chicken Enchiladas I knew I HAD to try it TONIGHT.

But I had a problem: I had a hair appointment after work and I wouldn't get home until around 6:30 and I don't like to start cooking that late.

So I emailed the recipe to my cute hubby and asked if he would please, pretty please cook the enchiladas.

After a bit of begging he agreed to cook the meal.

So when I got home from getting my hair done there was a wonderful meal being in the oven.

I have a GREAT husband!

While we ate dinner we watched American Idol, and my favorite Idol Kris completely rocked it.

I don't think he is going to win - I think it will be Adam or Danny, but I still stand by the fact that Kris is my favorite.

After dinner we headed to Target to purchase materials to completely revolutionize our bodies.

I have heard rave reviews of The 30 Day Shred, and by rave I mean people say that they can't move and basically want to die after doing it for just one day.

Well Luke and I have both gained some weight after marriage, so we are determined to get back into shape.

So we got the video and the dumbbells.

Then we came home.

Luke is on the computer.

I am eating chocolate chip cookies, drinking diet coke, typing to all of you fine people.

We are still searching for the motivation.

Hours earlier I had the motivation and was ready. to go.

As you can tell from our clothing we went jogging earlier, so at least we had motivation to do that!

In our effort to get back in shape we didn't buy any cookies when we went grocery shopping.

Yesterday I was craving cookies like you wouldn't believe.

I found some cookie dough in our refrigerator that I forgot was in there.

How do you forget about cookie dough?

I took it as a little gift from God.

However they are gone (yes only a day later) and it is time to get to shredding.

This should be interesting. Jillian scares me. But not as much as Luke does when we go jogging together.

It Was a Short Break

And I’m back.

I know, it was the shortest blogging break in the history of blogging breaks.

However I found that if I wasn’t blogging I distracted myself in other ways.

Blogging is not the problem.

My horrible time management is the problem.

So I am working on my time management.

I do spend too much time reading my google reader, so I am learning how to manage that time.

Why is there no manual for life?

O yeah the bible....

However google reader is never mentioned, so I am stumped.

Well I am back, and anytime I feel like my blogging obsession is getting out of hand I will take a little break, I probably won't always announce it, but a day off here and there is good for the soul!

Before I took my blogging break and during my blogging break I was tagged a couple of times to do this fun little 8 things thingy. (thingy is a technical term). Most recently by Tara

I think you all have done it now, And I am always one to follow the crowd, so here is mine:

8 Things I am Looking Forward To:

1. Buying a house
2. Having a baby (I’m not preggo, nor do I want to be right now, we are talking the future here people)
3. Watching Luke as a dad
4. Our vacation in October (forever away)
5. SUMMER (flip flops, tank tops, snow cones, it’s all just so beautiful)
6. Getting my hair colored today
7. Seeing my family this weekend, so excited to see Maxton!
8. Having lunch with a great group of bloggy friends this weekend!

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Walked 2 miles
2. Cooked Dinner
3. Drank 2 bottles of Diet Coke, my drug of choice
4. Took a break from my blogging break and read all the blogs of the Compassion bloggers who are currently in India. Some amazing stuff already.
5. Talked to my mom on the phone
6. Put chocolate chip cookies in the oven
7. Ate chocolate chip cookies
8. Got mad at myself for eating so many dang cookies

8 Things I Wish:

1. I could sing
2. That our families, church, and best friends were all in the same town
3. God had an email and you could email him questions and he would respond, or even a Twitter account would be fine with me
4. That I could relive my wedding day once a year. Not a new wedding day, just the same one every time. It was such a great day! And I planned hard enough to relive it several times, not just once!
5. I wish I knew what my dream job was
6. That my metabolism would speed back up. Where did you go friend? This is no time to be slowing down, please maintain your pace.
7. That Luke and I could travel around the entire world and see everything we want to see – For FREE
8. That I could find the motivation to go back to school and get my Master’s (because that would be FREE)

8 TV Shows I Watch:

1. Lost
2. Desperate Housewives
3. Grey’s Anatomy
4. Dancing With The Stars
5. How I Met Your Mother
6. The Amazing Race
7. The Hill’s
8. American Idol

I’m not tagging 8 people because I have no idea who has and hasn’t done this. So if you want to do it go ahead!

Thanks to everybody who left encouraging words on my last post and understood my reason for taking a teensy tiny little break. You all are so wonderful!

If you are thinking about or feeling like you need to take a break, go for it, even if its for just one day. Mine was 4 days and it was nice and refreshing and I was ready to come back! It is always good to show that nothing has control over you.

One day I will fast diet coke.

And then you can all visit me in the crazy home.

The Comb Revelation

A couple of months ago I wrote a post about how I was going to read my One Year Bible everyday and use his time as my 'quiet time' with God.

I have been really good about it, there have been days where I have not done it, but the next day I caught up and got on track.

Then I got into this 'moody rut' and I haven't opened it in a couple of days; give or take 12 days.

I also haven't been able to find my favorite comb which has been very irritating each morning as I brush though my tangled hair with a harsh hard brush knowing that my favorite soft comb would be so much better if only I could find it.

Tonight I told Luke I hadn't done my quiet time in a long time, but yet I took time to blog and read blogs numerous times throughout the day. He encouraged me to go spend time with God.

I opened my bible and right there was my STINKING COMB. 

Imagine if I had taken the time to open up my bible and spend a little time with Him I would have found my treasured comb.

How many other treasures am I missing out on because I'm simply not taking the 'time' to open up my bible and spend some one on one time with Him?

What is He trying to show me that I am missing out on?  

Why do I invest so much time in the internet and so little time with God?

So friends, I need to take a couple of days off.

I'm not going to give this time off a number because I don't know how long it will last. It could last 2 days, it could last 7, but I have some major catching up to do, and I feel like God is calling me to give my blogging a little break.

Why am I telling you this instead of just taking time off without telling anybody? Because I don't think I would stick to it if I didn't tell you. Weird, but its how I work.

This will be SO hard for me. I LOVE reading your blogs daily and catching up on your lives, even if  it is your new favorite outfit, or your review on a TV show, I LOVE reading it all.

But I know I need to spend some time with The Big Man Upstairs. 

Also sometimes I neglect spending time with the hubby because I am blogging, so I know I need to spend some more time with him.

Just letting you know. Heck I could be back Monday. Who knows.

If you  haven't done it yet read my blog below, Its a special birthday shout out to my dad and sister and I don't want them to get covered up by this post.

See you soon! And don't blog too much! I don't want to miss out :-)

Moody and Happy Birthday

Do you ever have hours, days, weeks where you feel like you are so moody?

I feel like I have been in a moody rut for about the past week and it has not been a good moody week.

My sweet, innocent husband can testify to this. I have been very irritable and not exactly fun.

We went jogging yesterday and I ended up asking Luke to just jog ahead of me and not talk to me.

In other words. Don't mess with me.

I have realized I have been in this 'mood' so I have been working on getting out of it.

I can't even blame it on 'that time of the month'. Its just all me.

Anyways.....

I realized while I was on our mini vaca I missed my Dad and Sister's birthday.

I gave them their gifts before we left, but I didn't give them a special blog shout out. Which I know would just make their day!

So happy birthday to my dad and sister! They share the same birthday.

I was 4 when Kati was born and I can remember it very clearly. I remember going to the hospital late at night, and I remember my grandparents coming and sitting with me in the waiting room while my mom was in labor. And I remember going in an seeing her for the first time. I don't remember any emotions such as excitment, etc, but I am thinking I was excited. I mean look how excited I look in this picture below.

Here we are when she was a couple of days old: A couple of years later:

And Now:Kati is such a good sister and as I have mentioned before, so giving! Plus she is such a sweet and good little mama to Maxton, I love watching her with him. Happy Birthday Kati! I love you!

And my dad: I don't remember when he was born, but I do remember him being a great and fun dad throughout my life.

And he still is, he still helps me through life, for instance explaining to me that I HAVE to buy a new tag for my car, its not optional like I thought it was. Who would have known?

Here is a picture of us at my wedding about to walk down the aisle: Mere moments before this I told my dad I had 'nervous pee' and I really had to use the restroom. He was insistent that I use the bathroom before we walked down the aisle.

I didn't have time to explain to him that there really was no time for me to go to the bathroom because there was a sanctuary FULL of people waiting for me. I ended up not using the restroom the rest of the night. My favorite pic of us doing the father/daughter dance.
I had to use pictures from the wedding because my dad has a camera phobia and closes his eyes every time his picture is taken. He says the flash hurts his eyes, which is why I never really have good pictures of him. Me, my mom and sisters find this very strange. But we still love him! Happy birthday dad! I love you!

The birthday peeps with sweet Maxton: (notice my dad's eyes)

Washington DC Recap

I have a warning.

The following post is filled with lots of pictures of Luke and I.

We have no kids, so we only have pictures of ourselves.

Like I said in my previous post, I had been to DC once before and completely fell in love. It is such an amazing city, filled with such awesome history and tradition.

Wow. I just sounded like a nerd. But I truly love it!

We arrived in DC on Friday afternoon. We checked into our hotel and then headed out on a night tour of all the monuments. SO beautiful!

About to get on our bus to hit the monuments:Cute Luke in front of the Capitol:The next day we woke up and went to the beautiful Mount Vernon, George Washington's home. It was so weird for me to think that he really lived here, but its true:Reading the map trying to find our way around Mount Vernon:George's backyard:I would LOVE for this to be my backyard!That afternoon we went to a Garden show at The White House. To be honest we didn't really care about the Garden Show, we just wanted to see The White House up close and personal. However I'm pretty sure this is where the fateful pick-pocketing occurred.

We were this close to the big house!The beautiful Tulips. I think I have decided Tulips are my favorite flower. I was on the fence before, but I think I am for sure now.In the following picture I look very stiff and weird. It is because this is the exact moment I realized that the credit card I was carrying in the front pocket of my purse was gone. The kicker to the story: It was my in-laws credit card.

I have been in the Tree family for less than a year and I already lost the parental units credit card. It was horrible and it cost me many tears. They of course, were really great about it. And were not upset at all. I however was very upset and felt s-t-u-p-i-d. What kind of person loses their in-laws credit card? I wish it had been my own!

At one point I sat on a bench and cried and told Luke I was not going back to the hotel I could never look at his parents again. He of course told me I was being ridiculous and to get up off the bench. By the time we met back up with his parents they had everything taken care of!The next morning we took a subway to Arlington Cemetery where I watched The Changing of the Guards for the very first time. So neat. At Arlington Cemetery:Monday I got to meet a bloggy friend. This was my first time to meet an out of state bloggy friend. I was so excited to meet Joelle and she was so super sweet and beautiful! She works at the Capitol and she set us up with a private tour! She was so great! I definitely made a new 'real life' friend and I know we will keep in touch!And just in case you are wondering what we look like we aren't cheesin' it for the camera:

Notice how my purse is slung low over my shoulder and resting on my back? I am guessing this is how somebody reached so easily into it. I was not prepared for the big city! I'm just glad my iPhone wasn't taken. That. Would. Have. Been. Horrible.

All in all it was a great trip! If you ever have a chance to go to DC, GO! I think everybody should go at least once!

Back Home!

Hello friends! We are back from our ‘mini- vaca’ and I have my usual post vacation blues.

I get to sad when it is time to come home!

We ventured up to our Nation’s Capital (said with my best Forest Gump voice, which is bad).

Both Luke and I had been to DC once before, but never together. So when his parents had meetings to go to and invited us to go with them, we jumped on the opportunity.

We were there for 4 days and we crammed A LOT into those days.

My feet and back will never be the same.

When I asked myself should I bring walking shoes? My answer should have been YES YES YES.

Believe me black flats and flip flops DO NOT work when walking 15 miles a day.

I will put together a post with pictures of our trip tonight, because aren’t posts just so much better with pics?!?!

On our trip I experienced a couple of firsts…..
· My first time to meet an out of state bloggy friend
· My first time to see a secret service person
· My first time to get pick-pocketed
· My first time to shop at H&M
· My first time to ride a subway

It was such a great time! (minus the awful pick pocketing)

I am thankful for opportunities to be able to go on great trips!

Recap coming soon, I know you are on the edge of your seat!

Hope you all had a great week. I haven’t been commenting but I have kept up with everyone.

A special thanks goes out to Google Reader and my iPhone. Without these two I would be lost.

Packing

Yesterday I planned on doing a post with my wedding pictures that I mentioned in the previous post.

However, I never had time, so it will have to wait.

Luke and I are headed out on a little trip, and there were lots of things to take care of before leaving.

Actually there are still a lot of things to take care of before leaving, but let's not talk about that.

Why are preparing for trips so stressful?

Probably because I never know what to pack.

Last night as I was attempting to get my clothes together for the trip, the following thoughts were going through my mind:

Do I need dressy clothes?
Is it going to be cold or warm?
Rainy?
Should I bring walking shoes?
Should I bring heels?
Do I need jewelry?
Do I want to wear my hair curly while I'm there?
Do I need sweatpants to wear at night?
Or shorts?
Did I pack enough layering tanks?
Should I go buy new walking shoes?

My mind was spinning.

After MANY trips back and forth from my closet to the living room, I had assembled several piles of clothes.

Each pile contained one outfit: A shirt, a layering tank, a jewelry option, and pants (several pants doubled for different outfits)

I had 12 piles for a 4 day trip.

My OCD was out and kickin.

I told Luke to start getting his clothes together for the trip.

He brought me:

One pair of jeans.
Two T-shirts.
One Jacket.
and
One button up shirt.

I couldn't believe it. I wanted to throw the clothes back at him and tell him to get his head in the game.

Packing for a trip is a serious deal and requires a lot of thinking and contemplating.

It requires a whole heck of a lot more than just two t-shirts.

When I asked him if he wanted to bring another pair of jeans he told me he would have 2 jeans because he would have the pair he wore on the plane

So I calmly asked him what he planned to do if a bird pooped on one pair of jeans, and his backup jeans were already dirty.

He calmly explained that he would just wash off the bird poop.

This is when I chose to stop talking.

What kind of person packs like that?

A boy.

And I'm still getting used to boys.

I finally got done packing after calling 3 different friends to get their opinion on what to pack, and also emailing a friend some outfit options.

Chances are I over-packed.

Chances are I will end up thinking, Why didn't I just pack more T-shirts like Luke did?

But at least I know I have backup options if I bird poops on me.

I will not be around the blog world this weekend so I hope you have a great one!

I have a feeling my google reader is going to be really full when I get back!

Finally!

I'm not very good at math, but I am fairly certain this is my 9th month of being married, well on the 26th it will be.

And I finally ordered our wedding pictures.

I really don't know why I have waited so long, but I am glad I finally have them!

However, ordering them was a lengthy process.

In preparation for my wedding I made sure to get a top notch photographer. Which I am so thankful I did. But I had over a thousand pictures to go through and figure out which ones I wanted to order.

This is not as easy as it sounds.

But 400 photos later I narrowed it down and placed my order.

Yes, 400.

Yes, I know the average person doesn't want to sit and look through 400 pictures, but I would. So I went ahead and ordered them.

Plus I found this great photo album, that I thought matched our guest book perfectly. It only holds 200 pics so I need to find another book to coordinate with these two.

It was so weird looking at our wedding pictures. Up until this point I had only seen them on the computer.

While holding them in my hands, so many emotions of the day came back to me. And some memories that I had forgotten.

I remembered what is was like getting ready, anticipating the day.

I remember having no appetite but my bridesmaids were yelling at me that I need to eat (love you girls)

In one picture you can see my sister coughing in the background, and then I remembered that she woke up sick that day, with a red eye that was almost swollen shut. Surprisingly I was pretty calm about this.

Looking at the pictures of Luke and I together, I remember having a slight panic attack right before the ceremony that he wasn't going to show up. I never shared this secret with anybody until months after the wedding. My friends laughed at me when I told them.

He never had any intention of leaving me alone at the altar, I'm just crazy, and apparently have watched too many movies.

I had no idea that my dress showed so much dang cleavage. I sort of feel a little skanky.

I forgot that one of my bridesmaids necklace broke mere minutes before the ceremony.

And yet somehow in the pictures it is on her neck perfectly in place.

I have no idea how she fixed it back there in that bride room, I need to ask her about that.

And I love that the photographer captured the moment it broke.

I forgot that my shoes were cutting off the circulation to my entire body (can that happen?) and I walked around the majority of the ceremony barefoot.

I am so thankful for so many wonderful pictures to remember this entire day by.

In one picture I am waiting for my dad to come get me to walk me down the aisle, and there is a church bulletin board behind me that says: "Circle of Life". I felt that this was a completely appropriate way to wrap up the day.

I just now realized this post would have been better if I would have shown you the picture that triggered each memory.

Its 11:00 and I am tired. Maybe another time.

By the way I ordered all of my pictures from Mpix and I am VERY pleased with them!

Chicken and Jeans

So I joined the blogging world in 2007 and I have yet to post a great recipe for you all to try.

This could be because I have only been cooking for about the past 8 months.

But I feel it is time to share one of our favorite recipes.

I got this recipe from a friend at church, and it was one of the first meals I prepared for Luke and I after we first got married. We love it and it is SUPER easy.

Italian Chicken:
1/2 Cup Italian Seasoned Breadcrumbs
1/4 Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/8 Tsp Salt
4 Chicken Breasts (boneless and skinless)
1/4 cup Italian Dressing
Vegetable Cooking Spray

I added Italian Seasoning in my picture because I started adding it to my chicken. I'm a big fan of Italian seasoning.

- Preheat Oven to 375

- Combine Breadcrumbs, Parmesan Cheese, and Salt

- Dip chicken in Italian dressing and then cover with the breadcrumb concoction- When the chicken is fully covered place in a lightly sprayed pan and bake in the oven for 30 minutes (or until you chicken is no longer PINK)
There are only two chicken breasts because I just make enough for me and Luke. We are horrible at eating leftovers and I hate to waste food. So if at all possible I try to make just enough for us

- Take chicken out of the oven and spray with vegetable cooking spray and bake for an additional 5 minutes or until done (I always thought this was a bit weird, but I just went with it, I'm not sure what the purpose is, just do it)

I forgot to take a picture of the final project (because I was famished) but we served ours with red potatoes.

Usually we serve this with either potatoes, or some type of pasta. You can do so much with it!

My cute little tester: By the way those were his hands in the pictures. I did not want to get yucky poultry juice on my camera so I asked for his assistance. I do not have man hands.After dinner we headed to the mall because I realized my Express coupon expired today and I wanted to get some new jeans.

Express is my absolute favorite store, but I refuse to buy anything full price. They constantly have sales and I am always getting coupons in the mail.

I got two pair of jeans for $85!! I was excited about that!!

Yay for a great night of chicken and new jeans!

Weekly Weekend Update - Easter Edition!

Easter weekend was a whirlwind weekend - but a great one!

First the weekend started off with me coming home from work on Friday to clean, clean, clean to get ready for my family to come into town.

I really don't know why I clean before my family comes, because I know they could careless how our apartment looks, but still I do it.

I must have OCD. Probably old news.

Luke had to work all weekend to prepare for our Easter service so he was up at the church Friday night.

But I was able to meet up with him and the rest of the church staff for a good dinner at Red Robin, which was lots of fun!

Saturday my whole family headed into our town to help clean up around my grandparents newly built cabin. The construction workers left lots of junk so we helped clean it up.

If you have been around this blog for more than a day you know that manual labor is not my cup of tea, but I try my best to work hard when its for a good cause.

With our work gloves on:

My youngest sister Haley working hard:

While we were working hard, Maxton became friends with a baby goat. He loved playing with the goat!So cute:Sometime during all the hard work, I had to leave to take my sister Kati to get her hair done (that is how good my hair girl is, people drive in from out of town to go to her).

I also had to drop Luke off at the church to do more work. But before I dropped him off we stopped at a store to find a new shirt for him to wear on Sunday.
Every worship leader needs to look good!

He didn't find anything at the store, but I was able to capture this cute pic.

Anytime Luke is around, Maxton wants nothing to do with me, he only wants his Uncle LuLu (this is the name I made up for Maxton to call Luke and he H-A-T-E-S it, but I love it).Saturday night my family spent the night and went to church with us the next morning.

I absolutely loved having them at our church. I wish they lived close enough to go every Sunday.

My fam, minus 2 people (Maxton was sleeping and Luke had to take the pic)

Me and baby Maxton at church:
Luke and I after church service: (this picture was originally of us with my grandparents, but my grandpa was blinking and I don't think he would appreciate me putting it up for everyone to see)

It was such a great Easter weekend and I am so thankful for such a great husband and a great family.

Today (Sunday) was a dreary rainy day which was a perfect way to end the weekend. Luke and I have just hung out laying around watching our favorite TV shows. It has been a great day before the work week.

I absolutely love rainy days. Last year we had like 18 rainy days in a row and while everybody was complaining I was LOVING it!

I hope you all had a great Easter weekend!

Jesus Skateboards?

Throughout my college years from sophomore to senior year, I would volunteer in our Kid’s Church every Sunday. (Equivalent to Sunday School)

Honestly, some days I looked forward to this, and other days I wished I could just be upstairs in church service with everybody else.

I am still working on having a better servant’s heart.

But in all my time of teaching this class there is one Sunday, that I carry with me and think back on often.

At that time our church was just 2 years old and was pretty small. I only had about 5-8 kids in my class, so I knew each one of them pretty well and I knew their families.

One Sunday after I taught the lesson, I told the kids to draw a picture of what it would be like if Jesus came to spend a day with them.

One child drew a picture of Jesus feeding the poor with him.

One child drew a picture of Jesus and her picking up trash.

And then one child drew a picture of himself on a skateboard, and Jesus was right there skateboarding with him.

When I first saw his picture I was a bit confused, seeing two people riding skateboards I figured he had dismissed the assignment and just decided to draw what he wanted.

When I asked him what the picture was he said: “Oh this is me and Jesus skateboarding together, because I think that he loves me so much he would want to hang out with me for the day and see what I like to do for fun”

And right there I was taught something by one of my kids.

No matter how long I spent preparing for what I was going to teach that Sunday, I was taught.

How many times do I forget that God is right here with me when I go through my day?

He has given me a passion in life, and whether that is teaching, working on computers, or simply skateboarding, he has give me this passion and wants me to live my life for Him, serving Him through my passion.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I think the pictures of Jesus picking up trash, feeding the poor, etc were great, but so many times that is our ONLY picture of who He is.

So many times we limit Him to these things that the world sees as ‘good things’.

We often forget who He really is, that He wants to live our life with us. Our everyday, ordinary, routine, day to day tasks.

He wants us to include Him.

And that small child reminded me of this that Sunday.

So this Easter season, if you have no yet given Him a chance to join you in your everyday tasks, I encourage you to give Him a chance.

He will not disappoint you.

We encounter God in the ordinariness of life, not in search for spiritual highs and extraordinary mystical experiences but in our simple presence in life ~ Brennan Manning

Keepin' It Real

Two posts from me today. Woo Hoo!

So I was tagged by Lindsey at Sweet Simplicity for Keepin' it Real, and I had to play RIGHT NOW for it to be real, hence, Keepin' it real.

Rules:
Take a picture of yourself right now.
No primping or preparing.
Just snap a picture.
Load the picture onto your blog.
Tag some people to play.

People, I have to explain:
I had just walked across campus and the wind was blowing like Oklahoma wind does. If you have never been to Oklahoma then you have no idea what I am talking about, but my Okie friends can testify: Oklahoma wind is just plain ole bad.
Think of a tornado. Its wind. Thats what we deal with.

SO I put my hair back cause it was blowing all around in my face, and its 5:00 PM so that means, any makeup I put on at 7:00 AM is looooooooooooooong gone. And my face is all red from the ferocious wind.
But its me. So here ya go! (taken from my phone, so the quality isn't the best)

And because I couldn't leave you with just that gross picture of me I had to leave you with something a little sweet.

My cute nephew getting ready for the Easter bunny.

I get to see him this week and I am ecstatic about it!!!! It has been a month since I have seen him and that is too long!!

I tag:

Emily at Living our own Fairytale

Megs at Perfectly Imperfect

and

Lauren at Walk with me on this journey called life

And of course, anybody else who wants to play along. Play at your own risk! :-)