Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Yum!






Liberty Steakhouse & Brewery's Tommy's Texas Cheese Fries.



They were a happy hour half price apps staple senior year of college.



A bit over a month ago, I was in W-S and met my college roomie at Liberty and this was the only thing we ordered. SO GOOD! SO bad for you but SO GOOD! And the Ranch dressing...oh my stars!

Monday, June 20, 2011

I miss you dawg!

My Mom came to visit a bit over a month ago. While she was here, we were doing something and ended up watching the first round of the NFL Draft. We found it humorous that the gentleman drafted 12th to play for the New Orleans Saints, after listening to a letter his father wrote him, began to cry and say "I miss you dawg!" We weren't really sure what that was all about, and really, where's the respect when you refer to your parent as "dawg" (yes, it must be spelled dawg because that's what it sounded like, not dog) but apparently the draft picks father wrote the letter from jail.


Moving on!




It was so nice to have my Mom here! We pretty much just hung out by the pool, did a little shopping, ate dinner outside while listening to a concert, walked to Chick fil a for ice dream cones, went to church and had a cookout with some friends from eGroup. It was great! And, mother proudly told everyone that she has a lot of vacation days so I'm sure she'll be back soon for more fun!!! :)


Thanks for the ceiling fan & lots of laughs!!!


I miss you dawg! :)

Friday, June 17, 2011

Christen & Jimmy's Wedding!

On Sunday, May 29, 2011 at 6:00pm I had the honor of attending Christen & Jimmy's gorgeous, amazingly HOT outdoor wedding! :) Despite the heat, it was a BEAUTIFUL wedding! I am SO HAPPY for these two amazing people to begin their life together as one!




I really liked the lanterns that were hanging in the huge "shade" tree!

The cutest flower girl enjoying some jelly beans after placing the flowers down the aisle!


It was a beautiful, very hot, ceremony that lead to a cocktail party in the backyard and then the reception in the tent....with a candy bar!


I LOVED the decorations! It was so simple yet fun and elegant and just awesome! This was the first outdoor wedding I've attended and it was stunning!




I kind of want a big tree branch in my apartment to hang pictures off of now!


The cakes! The cake was soooo yummy!!!!!!!!




The bridesmaids serenaded Christen with "It's raining men" it was cute! Oh and the father daughter dance was the best father daughter dance I've seen in person!!!!! This was such a fun wedding!




Congratulations you two! I am SO excited to watch you start your life together! You are such a blessing!!!!

Monday, June 13, 2011

I'm back!

Hello no longer devote readers of "...grace like rain..."! :)

It's been a long time...almost 2 months since we last exchanged stories regarding this thing called life. My Mom must be really bored because she keeps mentioning that I haven't updated the old blog...or if I tell her a story about something I did/something that happened she tends to say it would make a great post. So, where have I been you may or may not ask?! Grab a sweet tea and get comfy because it's quite the story!

My last post was April 17, 2011. You can find it here if you haven't already read it Sunday Snapshot

April 17 was an intense day. I went to church that morning to help with an Orientation event, went to work as I was scheduled, had a little break in between and was headed back to church to greet for the evening service. As I was headed to church, I received an e-mail that I no longer had a job. Yep, via e-mail. It was rather devastating and out of the blue and the first thing I did (as I was walking up the sidewalk to the church doors) was start to sob silently. I was so hurt and blindsided. So, you can only imagine how powerful that Sunday sermon was for me. But if your entire world is going to turn upside down, the best place to be is in church, right?!

However, I woke up Monday morning with a sense of freedom and new life! I knew it was going to be an adjustment but I knew that God had a much better plan and that everything would be ok. Though unemployment is never fun, I got to really focus on areas of my life that I neglected because I worked anywhere from 45-75 hours a week and only had 1 day off a week, that day being Sunday. I used Monday as a day to not wake up to an alarm, a bajillion emails/texts/phone calls or run around for others like a chicken with my head cut off. Though I still woke up at 6:00am, it was nice to lay in bed for 5 minutes, eat breakfast and get back in bed just because for the first time ever, I could. While Monday was the first day that I really had nothing to do, it was the start of something great. It was the first day of the rest of my life!

Rather than put you to sleep with all of the details, from April 17-May 17 I did the following:
interview with an awesome company
pray
clean and organize my apartment
pray
be a part of a words will not do it justice 3D Easter Experience @ Elevation (my favorite being the 6:00 Sunday service, but the entire day/weekend was just amazing!)
pray
go out with friends!-this includes lunch, dinner, nightlife, movies...everything I hadn't done!
pray
spend 5 full days with my Mom
pray
volunteer at the church office
pray
listen to podcasts from Pastors Steven Furtick & Andy Stanley
pray
get my life in order
pray
really get to know those in my eGroup and benefit from what a family an eGroup really is
participate in the Race for the Cure again
just enjoy life

It was a long month but it was a great break. I've started a job that I love and I know it's only going to get better! I am blessed to have a fantastic church family, Godly friends and overall blessed to have a supportive family. I concentrated on new and existing relationships with friends and really got to know people because I had the time and my mind wasn't in 1,000 different directions. It was so great to form this friendships and bonds that I know I'll have for quite some time. Most of all, I know how blessed I am to have only been unemployed for an entire month and to have started a new career journey with promise and opportunity!

I thank you for reading this far! Now that I've got somewhat of a hang of things at my new job, I strive to blog more! I did post all of the Sunday Snapshots that I missed during my random blogging hiatus, so be sure to read those!

Happy Monday!

Thanks for reading!

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Sunday Snapshot

Week 2 of the SUmmer Concert Series brought guest speaker Bishop Dale Bronner.

He preached on Acts 1:4


Revolution leads to revelations


God creates the PLACE before the PERSON.

WHen you're in the right place, you'll bloom where planted


Power to the people-you can't export what isn't homegrown. YOur JErusalem is the place where you are


ONE word from God can change your life forever.

Judge your day by the seeds you sow not the harvest that you reap.


Faith is seeking as God sees.

Heard-->Saw-->Felt-->Did


The real ear is in the heart because God speaks to your heart


You don't get what you want, you get what you prepare for


Road map to heaven: turn right and keep straight

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Sunday Snapshot

It's summertime! And with the blazing hot temperatures and afternoons spent at the pool comes the Summer Concert Series at Elevation! I'm pumped for the month of June!

This weekend Pastor Steven preached from a boat onstage. It was pretty awesome! His sermon was based on Acts 27:9-44.


Gods way is always the wise way even when it seems foolish to some people


Acts 27:23-The ship might go down but God is able to preserve you! Every person matters and we are all His


Jonah 1

boat =family, work,, relationships, church


Is the boat you're on better off because you're on board?


If you're a believer in Jesus every boat you're on is better off because God is in you and you have a purpose!


Bring life to the boat not death.


Make the boat God put you in better! When you make the boat better, look to the Lord


Some people are life savers

Some people are boat sinkers