Non Thanksgiving Thanksgiving

In the beginning of November, my mom came to visit for a few days. Since I was unable to go home for Thanksgiving, we decided to have "It's Not Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Dinner"
It was a lot of fun and we laughed A LOT!
Here is Mom carving the turkey breast (because really, we did NOT need an entire turkey!)

You'll notice the BEAUTIFUL card table I borrowed from A & J in May 2010 that I'm still using as a table. Well, I don't really ever use the table but it's nice to have. Since mother and I were having a "real" dinner which should not be enjoyed on the couch, I used the "chair in a bag" chairs as table chairs. Great idea until ya sit down and the chair is way shorter than the table. :)

Part of our feast! As soon as we sat down we realized we forgot the broccoli (thanks to steamfresh bags it was ready in under 5 minutes!)

We also had this AWESOME cake for dessert! Oh my stars it was AMAZING! It's called William Tell Apple Cake and you MUST make it! The icing on the top is divine! But with ingredients of butter and brown sugar it has to be good, right?!?!?!

Overall, "it's not thanksgiving thanksgiving" was a lot of fun. I'm thankful my mom spent 18 hours in a car to come visit for a few days and create new memories!

*since I'm writing/posting this in December, I'll let ya know that Santa brought me a BEAUTIFUL table & chairs for Christmas so now I have a lovely place to eat meals!*

Beach!

I LOVE the beach!

And I LOVE the beach in October when it's empty. So peaceful. So fun.

I also LOVE going to the beach with my favorite people.....

My Mom

and my Grandparents!

Being Held Hostage

I'm a horrible blogger.
I'm so bad at blogging that I just informed my Mom (who constantly sends me e-mails or texts or leaves me voicemails counting the days since my last post, putting August 23 in the subject line and/or talking about single cheese) that I was going to delete my blog. Oh the horror! If I had a camera at the exact moment I told her this, the photo would win awards cause wow did she look like a sweet puppy from those ASPCA commercials! :)
Really, the 5 followers that I have have most likely forgotten that Grace Like Rain even exists! However, I'm home for a few days and there are things I want to do, but I'm being forced to sit at this computer desk and update my blog before I am allowed to go out and play. My 26 year old self feels like a 6 year old again being told I can't go play with my friends until I finish my homework or clean my room. Goodness!
Anyway, I don't have a reason for not blogging. I'm pretty into Twitter these days. Falling off the whole Facebook thing. I'm not against change, but I usually just read the updates on my phone but sometimes even that is "confusing" and forget logging into Facebook on a 'real' computer...that's just crazy talk!
Well blog world, hope you enjoyed this hostage post. I'm off to go sort through some boxes of "used to be treasures but have most likely transitioned to trash" that mother has been collecting in the attic/my room so that I can go out and play.
Happy Sunday!

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! :)

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 Snapshots

This weekend started a new sermon series titled

"Mr. and Mrs. Betterhalf"

it's all about relationships and I am SO excited to hear what Pastor Steven has to preach these next 5 weeks! I'm also excited because this was the first Elevation Experience for my Mom as she came to visit and didn't leave until early this morning so she was able to attend last nights service!

Just for the purpose of documentation, Prince William & Kate displayed a lovely Royal Wedding on Friday, April 29, 2011 and this new sermon series began Saturday, April 30.

Keeping with the times, the sermon was aptly titled The Royal Marriage.

Based on 1 Samuel 25:1b-42 and a lovely quote of "you are surely and mean in your dealings" as well as a bit of a preview into Proverbs 18:21, I could already tell that this sermon series is going to be epic! Pastor Steven did a great job of informing everyone that we are not going to have a royal wedding, but we can have a royal marriage.

Eat the salmon!

basically, this boils down to the fact that so many people in a relationship think that engagement/marriage is the next step. everyone wants the wedding (the planning & preparation, the dress, the reception, the cake) but not many really think about the marriage itself. it's like a great salmon dish at a restaurant, you love all of the side items and garnish but if you don't like salmon, you're not going to be ordering the dish.

Where life is spoken, humility must be present

The tongue has the power of life of death, speak life.

i think this is true for many occasions. words can be hurtful, so always speak life into your significant other, into your career, into your family.

Don't wait for the prince, crown the king!

this was a great one too! don't wait for the dashing prince charming and his white horse to find you, crown the king that's inside your significant other. speak life into them and they will be king!

What you fail to celebrate will eventually leave your life.

There's No Place Like Home!

Hello 2011!

Before I begin my 2011 "New Year, New Goals" posts, I must recap Christmas!

I am SO FAR BEHIND when it comes to blogging!

I went home for a week for Christmas and it was glorious! I was so glad to be home and after a very hectic November and December, it was so nice to not wake up, shower, eat and work for 14 hours a day, 6 days a week, rise and repeat. I literally stayed in my pjs for 12+ hours one day watching a NCIS marathon, eating cheese balls and Christmas cookies with not a care in the world and I felt like a new person.

Anyway, it started snowing Christmas Day before dinner/after lunch and by Sunday, it was intense! I was getting a bit stir crazy being in the house for almost a full day so I went outside to join mother in the snow removal process! Doesn't she look thrilled?!?

We realized that I was not properly equipped for snow removal as I do not own any snowy weather head gear...aka a beanie. So, I threw on a fashionable baseball hat and my jacket hood wouldn't stay on...it was a mess, but made for a great laugh!

Mother and I took a break from the snow....I mean really, it just kept snowing! It was so pretty! I decided we needed to get out of the house and that a declared "State of Emergency" wasn't going to stop us.


Since I hadn't seen the kiddos in almost an entire day (which is unheard of when I'm home because I usually spend breakfast to afternoon nap time at their house or after nap to dinner) we loaded up the kids gifts from Mom, put them in trash bags so they wouldn't get snowy/wet and walked through our development, down a "main" road and through the next development to get to the kiddos house. It was quite the trek!

Here's mom holding the goods....

And my bag of goods.
But it was worth it!

The kiddos (including the 3 neighbor kids) LOVED Lite Brite...but really, can you blame them? I LOVED Lite Brite! We hung out for a bit and then decided to be rebels and the kiddos dad drove us home in his "manly I can drive through anything" truck.

More to come.....

Happy Fall!

I LOVE Fall

I LOVE Candy Apples

(the candy part, not so much the apple. I mean I love apples alone, not with candy coating)

I LOVE Pumpkins and Pumpkin things

Well, it's certainly not fall like weather outside and that kind of makes me sad

But....

my Mom ROCKS!

Mother found Candy Apple Mix (which I still can't find in stores)

and

Pumpkin Spice ice cream topping

(which I've looked for and not found, but only looked for because Mom found it)

I am SO excited!!!!

I can't wait for it to be a bit cooler so I can make Candy Apples

(with a hint of cinnamon before dipping....yum!)

As for now, I just want to have a Pumpkin Carving Party where everyone can drink Hot Apple Cider, eat Candy Apples, have a great time and hand out candy to the Trick or Treaters!

Happy Birthday Poppy!!!

Today is Poppy's 80th birthday!

I wish I was home celebrating with him but I'm in a wedding this weekend. But, Mom planned a surprise party for him today that even my Gramma doesn't know about! And Mom and bro decorated Poppy and Gramma's lawn with balloons and banners at midnight so when they woke up, they'd have a birthday surprise to start the day!

Love you Poppy!

Happy Birthday!!

Sunshine on a cloudy day...

I've been having a rough few days/weeks.

So "rough" to the point that I cry.

Me.

The one without tear ducts (I have them, I just don't use them).

The one that never cries.

Yep.

I've been really sad.

So imagine my surprise when I came to work today and saw these on the counter for ME!

My amazing Mom knows that I've been down in the dumps so decided she would brighten my day with these GORGEOUS flowers!

The ironic thing is they made me cry. :)

I know things will get better.

I know God has a plan.

I know everyone says "If He brings you to it, He'll help you through it."

and everyone also says

"God gives you want you can handle"

Frankly, I'm handling a lot more than I'd like too. :)

Hope everyone is having a great Wednesday.

HOME is where the HEART is

Yesterday, I left work around lunchtime, headed to the airport and flew HOME!!!!

I'm home for a super quick trip, hence the flying not driving.

I left Charlotte, flew to Cleveland, Ohio since I was unable to find a direct flight (I only booked my ticket early Tuesday morning) had a 37 minute layover (which looking back was a bit crazy since I had to switch planes and gates but luckily we landed 15 minutes early so it all worked out) and was off to the Philadelphia airport.

It's only about an hour and a half from the Philly airport to my Mom's house, so really, with all of the flying and driving I still made it home quicker by air!

However, the BEST part of the trip was landing in Philly and walking to meet my Mom. We were on the phone trying to find one another since I wasn't exactly sure where she was and I was just following the massive group of people assuming they were all headed to the parking lot. I thought she was alone because based on our calls/texts throughout the day, she was alone.

But....

I was wrong! She brought T, K and their Mom, C!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As you can see in the first picture, I was VERY excited/surprised/happy!

After we rode on the "moving sidewalk" and found the car, we headed to a super fancy dinner at Applebees.

We happened to sit in a large round booth and we were talking about all of the pictures by us. T was really excited about the Superman photo to the right of my head.

After much discussing, T decided he wanted to MEET Superman. So we looked up his address because it was VERY important to know where Superman lives.

As of 9:00 this morning, T has already written his letter to Superman. We are going to put it in the mail and hope that Superman writes back! They are coming over to swim in a little bit (with little J who is only 21 months old and just a bit too little for the airport craziness) and it's off to mail that letter to Superman!

Hope everyone has a GREAT Friday!!! I know I will!!!!!

The Home of the Free and the Brave

I lived a blessed life.

I love America.

July 4th has always been my favorite holiday.

However this year was a bit different. And I was sad.

I started the day kind of bummed because I'm wasn't home with my friends and family. I wasn't headed to the beach with the crew for fireworks. I didn't eat a cheeseburger with the crew or my family. I was in the living room of my apartment, by myself, washing my carpets...glamorous I know!

For the first time ever, I had no plans to celebrate Americas birthday with those I love.

ABC and her hubby are in Charleston, Steph and Marcus went to the lake, and my friend Theresa had to work until 9.

While I could've gone to the baseball game for the fireworks, I didn't want to go alone. But I didn't want to miss fireworks.

Being a child of so much technology, I set my DVR to record the Boston Pops.
That made me sad.

So I went out to grab a copy of the paper and started to realize that now I was angry.

The "major chains" were all open. I could go almost anywhere I wanted to and that made me mad!

Its July 4.

Americas birthday.

And for that reason alone every shopping establishment should be closed! Yes gas stations and emergency service places and probably hotels should be open but that's it. In my opinion.

I think it's a day when we, as American citizens, should spend time reflecting on our freedom and thanking those brave soldiers that fought for our freedoms and continue to fight for our freedoms. It's not a day we should take for granted. I think too many people these days are too "comfortable". They look to this as a 3 or 4 day weekend forgetting why they receive an extra holiday. (maybe I'm bitter since my place of employment only views thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter as holidays) But as I was sulking in my "aloneness" I realized that I needed to grow up and continue to love July 4th like I always have. Because even though they weren't around at the time, I have the freedom to visit my friends whenever I want. And I can call home whenever I want. And I can drive the many hours home when work will allow. I don't have to wait for the government to tell my troop/platoon/team/base/ship/any other military when I am allowed to come HOME.

I'm blessed.

I'm not off fighting on enemy grounds. I'm not separated from my family by a large body of water for 6 months to a year or more. And for those reasons and many others, I thank our soldiers past, present and future.

sidenote: I did hear lots of fireworks from my apartment and did walk around the complex for over an hour enjoying all of the neighborhood "shows". It was GREAT!

"America needs God more than God needs America. If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a Nation gone under."

-Ronald Reagan

blueberries

I LOVE Blueberries. I love blueberry waffles (specifically Kellog's Nutri Grain Blueberry....which I haven't been able to find in FOREVER). Blueberry bagels. Blueberry muffins. Love it all.

So my mother sent me a recipe for "Blueberry Dump Cake"

I made it yesterday. I "ruined" it. She never told me I needed to use FRESH Blueberries. I used FROZEN Blueberries (they were much cheaper). Yea, not smart. Frozen blueberries are really juicy.

Any, it's a GREAT recipe and one I think you should try. I reminds me of that recipe that Graham Crakas posted in the Fall for that Pumpkin thing....don't remember what it's official name was!

BLUEBERRY DUMP CAKE
1 box yellow cake mix
4 cups FRESH Blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350*

Mix berries, sugar and cinnamon together
Put in a 9 X 13 inch pan
Cover berries with dry cake mix
Pour melted butter over cake mix
DO NOT STIR

Bake for 30 minutes or until light brown

Serve warm or cold. With or without vanilla ice cream

Despite "ruining" mine...it was good!

life

if only life could be this easy....

...just wear a seersucker dress and ride a fancy bike with colorful flowers from the garden placed in the basket!

this photo was taken when i went home a few weeks ago. i went to go visit the kids and the neighbors were also outside with their kiddos so it was so cute to see everyone! 6 kids sitting on a blanket under an easy up tent having a picnic lunch with their parents! E, the neighbor mom had just purchased a fancy bike with a basket so naturally i had to look like a southern belle and "ride" it. E's parents and siblings live 15 mins from me in the QC.

Gramma's Treasures

Aside from the wicker chair, my grandmother also decided that I needed to take the following:

Candlestick holders that my Uncle made...apparently they are too "modern" and my grandmother doesn't have a need for anything modern!

A cheese tray......which has potential if I could switch out the middle of it....or paint it....

And an ice bucket..."for all of the entertaining I'll be doing"

I really do love my grandparents!

Graduation.

We woke up EARLY.

Got in the car.

Drove.

Arrived.

FROZE.

And took pictures.

Mother and Brother

Gramma and Poppy and Brother

I don't think Poppy was ready for this photo!

Brother and I
Did I mention it was WINDY too?

FAMILY

HAPPY GRADUATION!

Brother, TV and Jeep

My brother came home for 30 seconds to drop off his first load of stuff from his college living arrangement.
He happened to acquire a massive TV from the kiddos that I watched at home for a few years (yep, those same 3 adorable kiddos that I miss terribly!)
His roommate helped him put the TV into his Jeep but no one was around to help him take it OUT of his Jeep. Clearly I was unable to help because someone had to take pictures!

He pulled the Jeep up to the kitchen door.....

Grabbed some boards from the shed and made a ramp.....

Mom came home for lunch and had a hard time entering the kitchen....brother's face is priceless in the corner of this picture...

And wa-la, with my Brawny man like strength, I moved the TV into the house but let brother stand behind it like he did it! I'm such an nice sister!


Needless to say, my mother's house went from clean to "destroyed" in a matter of 12 hours between me coming home and brother unloading all of this stuff! It's ok...she loves it!

The Chair

I went home to Delaware for a few days. Before I arrived, I knew that my grandparents wanted to give me the wicker chair that they "have no use for" and since I have my own apartment, they decided that "I NEEDED" it!

The chair was a natural wicker but that was quickly changed to black. Really though, my Gramma really wanted to have it painted and ready for my pick up before I got home but I suppose I wasn't cooperating!

Gramma and I went to Walmart on Thursday and purchased 2 cans of black spray paint. Apparently that wasn't enough and we had to go back Friday and purchase 2 more cans!

I forgot to take a before picture (mainly because my grandparents were so excited about this project they started painting at probably 6am!)But here is a general idea of what the chair looked like:



And once it was decided that more paint was needed or this is what the chair would look like:


Friday we also went to JoAnn Fabrics and ACMoore to look for fabric to cover the existing cushion. The selection was amazingly sparse and I really wish I purchased fabric in NC at Hobby Lobby or somewhere else equally exciting but I wasn't thinking!

This is the fabric that was on the cushion:


And this is the fabric I picked:
I have an after photo of the chair in my room in NC but I forgot it at home. I'll have to add that soon!

HAPPY late MOTHER'S DAY!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

to my Gramma and my Mom!

So excited to see you lovely ladies in a few days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*this picture was taken January 2009 in the back of my grandparents car on our way to the Bowling Alley! We got the grandparentals a Wii for Christmas that year and they were a bit obsessed with Wii Bowling so we had to take them to the lanes!

Komen Race for the Cure

The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is quite the experience.

for me, it was

moving. fun. awesome. somber. amazing.

but most importantly, it was definitely something I can't wait to do again!

I'll post all the details from Saturday soon, but realized I haven't posted anything in quite some time and wanted to. Anyway, I want to give the race the time and energy it deserves and it's too late for that at the moment. Sorry!