Life Change, New Menus and Home Projects

My life change is that I have left working for the state (MS Department of Transportation)and will now be full time at Pinelake Church.  I cannot even express the humbleness and honor that is on me as I take the position of Copywriter in the Communication Department at Pinelake.  This job came unexpectedly and only from the Lord.  A large part of what I will be doing at Pinelake is interviewing people within the church about life change that has happened with them.  What an amazing honor it is to talk to people about what the Lord has done or what He is teaching them and put that into words to share with others.  I am incredibly honored for the Lord to have put me in this position...and also feel completely unworthy or able.  

Thankfully, 1 Thessalonians 5:24 says, 

"He who has called you in faithful, He will surely do it."  

I can only cling to that promise as I move forward in this new position.  This can be nothing of me, only the Lord.  I start my first day tomorrow, July 16.  I am beyond excited, nervous, humbled and the list could go on.  All prayers are appreciated.  I can't wait for people to go on this journey with me.  I know that Lord has so much in store.  I'm looking forward to seeing all He does.

Now to address the fact that once again, I am a blog failure.  I must apologize.  Honestly, I wish I had more time to do this, but I'm trying to make time.  And I haven't forgotten about my list!  I just need to find time to do all those things as well!  

I took off a few days last week, during my last week at MDOT, to stay home a few home repairs.  I said this year that I wanted to do more projects around the home.  I really meant more crafty projects....that I haven't really done.  But I have always tried to do some do it yourself projects since I bought my house 3 years ago.  A few things to mention: I remodeled the master and guest bathroom, ripped up the carpet in the main area of the house and stained the concrete floors, put fixtures up, things like that.  I want to go ahead and admit I am not the best painter.  So when I remodeled my master bath and painted the walls brown, I managed to get brown paint on the ceiling as well, oops.  So I  FINALLY fixed those brown spots.  I also did some home repair to the kitchen.  Minor ceiling leak thanks to the air conditioner.  I like being able to do handy stuff myself, but don't let me fool you; there are many times I would love to have a handy man on speed dial.

Enjoy these few pictures of me being my own handy man!

Taking all the necessary safety precautions

I also decided to act like I was an electrician.  

These off-white switches really bother me.  So I went to the store and got dark brown to compliment the furniture and new fan in the guest room.  Even the small details make a difference!

I think it adds a little to the room.

I wasn't worried about setting the house on fire until I called my dad and he said, "don't burn your house down."  Thanks for the confidence, haha.  So I had this, JUST in case.

I also needed to go back and paint a small section in front of the entry ways to the bedroom where I had new carpet put in.  There was a small section of floor that wasn't stained.  I'd say I was pretty productive on my days off.

The ceiling without the brown paint!

Before my last days at MDOT, my faithful lunch friends and I went out to a few new places in the Jackson area....Jacos Tacos and The Cosmopolitan Grill (in Fondren).  Both get two big thumbs up.  Delicious!  Jacos Tacos isn't the traditional mexican place, but the food is cooked with incredible flavor.  I say try it for sure.

 

The Cosmopolitan Grill was an unexpected delight.  I believe they cater as well, which based on the dine-in experience, would have to be fantastic.  The food was so yummy.  The menu is limited, which is perfect for lunch, but everything was rich in flavor and delicious to the last bite.  We had a few different options from the table and we of course shared.  We wanted to try everyone's.  Each bite, rather it was from my own plate or someone else's was yummy.  If you have some time or are in the Fondren area, definitely give this place a try.  I will miss my lunch date girls from MDOT, but I know we will get together again soon!  Now I'll have to try all the places out in the Flowood area!

So fresh and yummy

I will definitely miss seeing all these ladies!

Turning 30

I'm 30!!  

I cannot even express the joy my heart felt on my 30th birthday.  My grandfather said it best at my birthday party, "the best present you could have is all the people here who love you."  That is so completely true.  I loved having all the people I love together.  God has blessed me with incredible family and friends and I am so thankful to all of y'all who were there to celebrate my birthday and missed all those who couldn't make it (especially you, BethAnne)!  Love you all!  


My wonderful friends Dana, Kyle, and Michael threw me a 30th birthday party and it was absolutely amazing.  I'm definitely a planner...birthdays, holidays, special occasions, beach trips...I love to plan.  So I gave up the reigns of my Type A personality and let them take it.  I will have to admit it was actually quite nice to have others handling the details.  

And they definitely paid close attention to all of them.  They had balloons on the mailbox and they had my name on them.....

Table decorations.

Everything was so wonderfully coordinated.  I mean, I might have said something about the cake colors coordinating with the plates, napkins, and decorations....maybe.  But really, they did more than I could have asked for.  This came after, of course, Michael and Kyle made fun of me at my 29th birthday for sending out my own invitations to my birthday party, that I planned.  They may recall this differently, but, and I quote, they said, "we are planning your 30th birthday."  I don't think they really thought I would hold them to it. I did.  And luckily Dana stepped in and made it happen!  

My sweet, sweet sister-in-law made my cake!  She does an amazing job on all the cakes she does.
I was sad she, my bro, and the kids weren't able to make it, but everyone loved the cake!

I also have the most wonderful parents.....the best mom and dad I got!  They came down the weekend before, they live about 3 hours north of me, and helped me get flowers planted, limbs cut, gutters cleaned and so much more.  Then drove back the next weekend for the party.  Dad got up early Saturday morning and smoked ribs, amazing ribs!  Mom took me to get a manicure and pedicure, it was a fun day of preparing for the party.  She even put a slide show of pictures together of me from the last 30 years.  Those of you who know me have no doubt that I loved it!  I can't thank them enough for all they did.  Your baby does turn 30 only once, right.  That is unless next year I decide I want to start going backwards when I can't bare to face 31, ha.  

Like my parents, everyone else in my family lives around the Memphis area so they don't get to come down much.  It was such a blessing that both sets of my grandparents came down for my birthday, to see my home, go to church with me and take me out to lunch.  I do not take for granted the time I get to spend with them.  I know how blessed I am to have them here, so for them to be at my birthday party and celebrate with me meant so much.

Papaw (dad's dad) and Pa (mom's dad)

Granny (dad's mom) and Gran (mom's mom)

Not only family came but my best friend from home Renee and her husband and parents came too!  We have been friends for well over 10 years.  She's more like a little sister to me and her parents are definitely like my 2nd mom and dad.  I can remember years of going to their house for dinner, spending time over there for special occasions (like every time Renee was on homecoming court), and her mom even packing lunch for me when we were in high school.  Love that family.  Renee got there and stepped right in helping with everything.  

Mr. Johnny and Mrs. Teresa (Renee's parents)

Renee!  Not sure how, but I didn't get a pic of  Renee
me and Tommy.  :(

And there is of course my roommate from college.  We lived together 3 years in college and a year after.  I like to claim her as the person who could live with me for four years and still love me, ha.  She and her husband drove from Chattanooga, TN.  They get the award for driving the furthest!  I definitely love these two and hate they are 5 hours away.  Not for long though :).  They will moving closer to me soon!  

The soon-to-be Boiko's made it from the MS Coast!  So glad these two came and I was able to spend some time with them.  They will be getting married in September and couldn't be happier for them!  Now if we can only get that last beach trip scheduled before y'all get married!  
















A lot of people turning 30 freak out.  I was just excited.  Excited because I have had 30 years of incredible life.  Not because of anything I have done but because of Jesus.  He saved me years ago and everyday I can look at my life and know exactly where I would be without Him.  His grace and mercy that He has extended to me is beyond my understanding because I know I'm completely undeserving.  But He loves me.  


"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heave for you..."  1 Peter 1:3-9


I have had a lot of incredible experiences over the last 30 years and continue to look forward to the 30 things I'll be doing throughout this year.  Thanks for going on this journey of 30 with me!  



Here are a few pictures from the party

New Places, Midnight Graces, & Warrior Faces

I don't know why I find it necessary to try and rhyme all my post titles but I do, so there.  Once again, I've been a blogger failure so now I have a lot to blog about.  And will soon have more after we celebrate my 30th birthday Saturday!


I haven't been doing as good with eating at new restaurants as I had hoped, but we have made a few appearances at some new places.  One was the Copper Iris in downtown Jackson.  We went for Leslie's birthday, and let me just go ahead and have a side note here that every time we try a new place, especially to celebrate a birthday, it always turns into an hour and half long ordeal.  We go into the Copper Iris, not another soul there except the workers.  We figured that's either a good thing, we'll get our food fast, or a not so good thing, no one eats here.  We order our food, they were very nice and gave Leslie a free treat for her birthday.  However, after about 30 minutes of waiting to get our food we were getting a little antsy.  We finally do get our food, which seeing as how we were the only ones there it seemed to take a while, but the food was really good.  I ordered the steak sandwich, which they replaced the steak with roast beef, not thinking a girl would notice I suppose.  But nonetheless it was very good.  Leslie and I did have the task of once again having to get our food to go and eating in our office. I think we should make a change in the 1 hour lunch break, ha.  This place does catering as well, which I assume is how they maintain their business from what we experienced it's not from the lunch crowd.  We probably won't be going to eat during our lunch hour, however, I would recommend calling ahead of time and picking the food up.  The food was very good so it would be worth it to try it out!

        

                   

Parlor Market

Parlor Market is a really neat place to eat in downtown Jackson.  I had never been there so Leslie, Dana, Bethany, and I went to try it out at lunch one day.  The environment is very cool, the staff was attentive, and the food was good.  I would like to go back and try their dinner menu.  I think this would be a good date place.  It has a cozy atmosphere.  The lunch menu was a little bit more expensive than what I would typically like to spend on lunch, but every once in a while it's nice to splurge.  Leslie and I shared the pimento cheese appetizer, the chicken blt sandwich and a dessert.  Everything was good and even for sharing was a good amount of food.  If you get a chance, definitely try out Parlor Market.  

Fun lunch dates! 

The only thing that could get
me through the night

You want me to go watch a movie at midnight?!  That's usually what my response would be if someone asked me to go to a midnight showing, not just a showing but a premiere.  However, this changed when it came to the Hunger Games.  Yes, I jumped on the bandwagon and I am okay with that.  One of my goals this year is to read 12 books.  That may not seem like a lofty goal to all you readers out there but for this girl it is.  An easy way to accomplish this goal is to read series.  I am not big on fantasy style books or movies, just ask any of my friends who make fun of me for not having an imagination...can a girl help it if she is a realist.  But when I read the first two chapters of the Hunger Games, I was pretty much hooked.  Let me just go ahead and say my twist on the books stems from a combination of Freud's theory of survival of the fittest and how the Greeks held their olympics.  So this book is a little less far fetched than originally thought.  So yes, I read all the books and WAS NOT planning on going to the midnight showing....I go to bed at 10:00 and I am okay with that.  My friends and I were trying to plan a time when everyone can go and as you know, people are busy so it was almost impossible.  Until the idea of going at midnight came up.  Michael called and said, "I have 4 words for you....Hunger Games Midnight Showing!"  And then proceeded to tell me they were all going, so yes, I went.  Then I thought about the old saying, "if your friends jumped offa bridge would you?"  And to be honest I just might....oh wait, I actually have before!  Bunjee jumped that is.

Troopers

WARRIOR DASH!!!!!  We did it!
April 21, 2011- Warrior Dash.  If you are unfamiliar with Warrior Dash, then go now and check out the website.....www.warriordash.com.  It is awesome!  3+ mile run with 14 obstacles.  And when I say run, I mean uphill, in the mud, through water....so yes, mine ended up being more of a run, walk, run, walk, slide through the mud, try and run and repeat.  Ha.  Obstacles were awesome.  Just to describe a few....you had a rock wall to master and then had to slide down a pole, 10+ foot wall you had to climb with a rope and then climb down the back, jump in the water and climb over logs, army crawl in the mud under barbed wire, and jump over fire......yes, those are just a few.  I did this with 5 other girls and we had a blast.  It is great to be able to say, yes, I did that!  The obstacles were a thrill to conquer, now if only they would take out the running it would be better. I am not a runner so that was the least fun part for me.  But the other girls were great and waited on me when needed and we finished in 1 hour and 6 minutes.  Now we have a  higher goal for next year!

Our name was up for debate, ha, but we were the Pink Ladies!

See what I mean by trying to run
through the mud

WARRIORS!

By the way, it was unusually cold that day and we had
just been sprayed with cold water to rinse off all the mud

Leslie and Kristi who I work with.  Love these girls
and so glad to do this with them

 Thanks for checking out my blog.  There will be more to come soon!!