Like a Sweet Sunset in Georgia, Let it Go...

If you don't get everything you want, think of the things you don't get that you don't want.  ~Oscar Wilde

"You keep your heart above your head and your eyes wide open
So this world can't find a way to leave you cold
And know you're not the only ship out on the ocean
Save your strength for things that you can change
Forgive the ones you can't...
You gotta let it go.
Like a sweet sunset in Georgia, let it go.
Like the fear that grabs ahold ya, let it go.
Let it go." -- Zac Brown Band

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I Timothy 6:6-8, 11
But godliness with contentment is great gain.
For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.
But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 
But you, man of God [...] pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.
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Mononucleosis

I am thirty-three years old, and yesterday I was diagnosed with The Kissing Disease of college students.  Sigh.  It is going to be a rough two weeks to six months.  Pray for me, please :)

Southern Ladies

There is a group of ladies who have taken over my favorite little Starbucks.

For the second time this week, they were here when I arrived.  Taking up an entire side of the small coffee shop, they laugh loudly, exchange gasps of purse-admiration and offer delight in each others' earrrings or "cute workout skirt" or new reeboks.  Apparently, fitness has brought them together; they vary in age but all are dressed for exercise.  The young women wear contemporary workout gear, and the older ladies supplement their ensembles with beautiful pearl earrings and bright necklaces.  Despite being in workout gear, all hair styles are perfectly coiffed and all have what I presume are considered "sassy" purses sitting prettily beside their crossed legs.  The laughter from this group is loud and continuous, although the ladies exchange stories while keeping their hands busy -- cross-stitch, coffee, and the clackity-clack of knitting needles.

Adidas.  Pearls.  Black yoga pants.  Snakeskin.  Shabby cotton.  Shiny gold.

I watch them over my raspberry latte and I think,

"This is how Southern ladies do Starbucks."

 And I'm lovin' it.

One Pair of Eyes

The Luckiest

-- Ben Folds

I don't get many things right the first time

In fact, I am told that a lot

Now I know all the wrong turns, the stumbles and falls

Brought me here

And where was I before the day

That I first saw your lovely face?

Now I see it everyday

And I know

That I am

The luckiest

What if I'd been born fifty years before you

In a house on a street where you lived?

Maybe I'd be outside as you passed on your bike

Would I know?

And in a white sea of eyes

I see one pair that I recognize

And I know

That I am

The luckiest

I love you more than I have ever found a way to say to you

Next door there's an old man who lived to his nineties

And one day passed away in his sleep

And his wife; she stayed for a couple of days

And passed away

I'm sorry, I know that's a strange way to tell you that I know we belong

That I know

That I am

The luckiest

Looks Yummy

I don't usually post recipes, but I just found this one on pinterest and it looks easy and yummy.  I'm not sure about the blue cheese part, because I'm not a huge blue cheese-er; I might try feta instead.

Enjoy :)

http://www.tasteandtellblog.com/2012/01/buffalo-chicken-pizza-rolls/

"The Dark Lord" Gets It Right.

#undernocircumstances shud sum1 feel its ok 2 tlk lik this. You have 140 characters. Use them and stop typing like you're illiterate.  ~@Lord_Voldemort7



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PS.  Mom, don't take this personally.  You can do no wrong with me :)

In Love with Sunshine

I am in love with sunshine.
In cold weather, in warm weather, with daffodils or slowly falling leaves... sunshine makes every season beautiful.

A light wind swept over the corn, and all nature laughed in the sunshine.

Anne Bronte

A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.

Steve Martin

Pretty Little Lies

The other night, I was doing the dishes and found myself singing this song from Pinocchio -- do you remember it?  So pretty and so sweet... and so full of ridiculousness. Here are the oh-so-pretty lyrics, for your grown-up cynical enjoyment.

When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you...


If your heart is in your dreams
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
 As dreamers do...


Fate is kind;
She brings to those who love
The sweet fulfillment of 
Their secret longing...


Like a bolt out of the blue
Fate steps in and sees you through
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true.


Oh, Jiminy Cricket.  You told us such pretty little lies.  :)

And because I can't help myself, here is the great Louis Armstrong singing "When You Wish Upon a Star."  Because although the idea of wishing something into existence might be ludicrous, the beauty and magic of childhood dreams are not.  I hope 2012 is a year when many, many of your dreams come true :)

Shoppy McShopperson

Today, I convinced sister G to come with me to do fun shopping errands.  This was our afternoon:

Brown boots.  50% off.
Auntie Anne's pretzel.  Delish.
New workout pants.  On sale. (choosing not to include a link to non-exciting workout pants)
Lipliner that doesn't make me look like death?  Priceless ;)

Sister time and good deals and checking things off of my "need to take the time to buy" list = good afternoon.

The Secret Life

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. -- Luke 2:19

I'm not a very private person. Much of my life has been spent sharing -- even the random minutiae of my day get shared sometimes because of places like facebook and, well, this blog.  People don't usually spend much time wondering what I'm thinking.  But very lately, I've been encouraged by the way that God is answering some very specific prayers in ways I didn't foresee -- and I'm keeping it to myself.  Weeeell, if blogging about God's faithfulness in prayer is keeping it to myself.  Haha.

I like to think that I'm a rational, intelligent human being who can be decently persuasive when she wants to be; but God is showing me that change in people's hearts is not really not about me being persuasive... it's about Him.  So I'm bringing people to the Lord in prayer and I'm asking Him to show me how to pray for them.

He's doing things I couldn't have foreseen and it's growing my faith immensely.


Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. -- John 6:68


Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. -- Psalm 73:25-6

New Pillows

Last night, I was at Walmart buying something.  I can't remember what it was, now.  Oh! Diet Coke.  I was buying a lot of diet coke. (I forgot the limes, though, and that's my favorite part to diet coke at home -- the fresh squeezed lime. But now I'm really rabbit-trailing from the post's purpose.  Apologies.)

So I was at Walmart and I saw pillows on sale.  And by "sale," I mean super-ridiculously cheap pillows on sale for something like $3.48 each.  And I realized in front of the display that I honestly could NOT remember the last time I purchased pillows -- AND -- that the pillows on my bed resembled pancakes, while these cheap-ola pillows looked like piles of fluffy down... So, I bought two.  It cost me almost seven bucks.

I came home.

I pillow-cased them and put them on my bed.

I went to sleep, eventually.

SEVEN HOURS LATER, I woke up and realized I slept through the night.  No tossing and turning.  No bathroom visits.  Just Me, my new cheap pillows and my old expensive blankets.

So, I am completely crushing on my new cheap pillows.  They are Huge and they are Perfect for Side Sleepers and they are Quality Assured.

Apparently, they are also full of integrity.  Because they were exactly who they said they'd be :)  And don't we all want a crush like that?

Yes

Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; your purpose when you are confused. -- Christina Whitehouse-Suggs