Time To Party!

I'm sitting here at work, where I should be working, but I thought I'd post one quick entry. I get to leave a little early today to catch my plane to come home for the weekend. Yay! I am very excited to have a birthday party and get to see lots of people that I have missed seeing. And yes, I am feeling better...so thank you for the get well prayers.

For those of you who see me this weekend and wonder why I (the girl who was ALWAYS cold!) might be wearing more spring-like clothes than the rest of you, here is the reason: When I left to come to work this morning, the windchill was ZERO. Yes, zero. Give me the high 50's and 60 degree weather that is in Georgia this weekend, and it's going to feel like summertime to this northern girl!

Can't wait to see you soon! Much love...

Baseball Begins

Hi everyone! I am home sick today - battling the flu that has been spreading around my office, so I'm propped up in bed, alternating between sleeping, reading, watching movies.... Aside from the fever and such, not a bad way to spend a day.

Anyway, the first game of Spring Training is today! Hooray!!! I love baseball!!!! :) As a birthday present to myself, I just paid for a subscription to MLB TV so that I can watch all of the Braves games this season. And for an added perk, they show spring training games as well, and if they aren't on TV, you can listen to them on the radio. So today at 1pm, I shall be listening to my beloved Braves play their first game of 2008. Life is good.

I think a lot of you know that I want to see a game in every major league ballpark. Last summer I made it to Shea Stadium, the Phillies new ballpark, and Fenway. This summer, my plans are to go to Yankee Stadium, Baltimore, Washington, and possibly Toronto. Fun times!

Pray that this sickness leaves quickly, as I want to be well when I come home this weekend. Looking forward to seeing you guys soon!

Snow On The Beach

That title sounds like a drink, doesn't it?? :) Anyway, greetings to you from the North Shore! We got a large amount of snowfall on Friday, which has made for quite the beautiful world. For those wondering, I still love the snow. I am, however, tired of the cold. I am ready for warmth, but the snow does make the cold more bearable.

Today after church, I went with a friend to one of the beaches here to take pictures. I have been wanting to take pictures of snow on the beach for awhile now, and this was the first opportunity that I had. There is another beach that I want to go to because it has so many dunes, but I got some pretty decent pictures today. Enjoy!




Today at church, we talked about how God reveals Himself in the midst of the storms of life and shows His glory to us in those times. That has certainly been the case in this last year of my life. As we hit the year mark, I want to say a very public thank you to my God, who has sustained me, carried me, loved me, bound up my broken heart, brought healing to my life, given His peace, renewed His joy in my life, filled me with hope, and much, much more. And a very public thank you to all of you who have walked this journey with me and been tangible expressions of God's love. To God be all glory, for great things He has done, does each day, and will do for all eternity!

Birthday Party

Hello, family and friends! If you read my blog and it's appropriate for you to join us, you are hereby invited to a joint 30th birthday party for me and Nikki! As you know, I recently turned 30 and Nikki will be joining the club in a couple of weeks. The party info is below...

Date: Saturday, March 1st
Time: 1-4 (Drop in!)
Where: West Hampton Subdivision Clubhouse (near the intersection of Dallas Hwy. & Due West Road - very near the Avenues - this intersection is almost
directly across from them)

I know many of you have already received notice of this through word of mouth, emails, or invitations, but I want to make sure no one gets missed. Hope to see many of you there!

In the meantime, here in the great white north, I drove to work today in the beginning stages of a winter storm, where we could get up to 9 inches of snow today. I'll be sure and take pictures and post them later in the weekend. Hopefully I will be able to get home later today after it snows heavily all day long! Happy Friday!

Sister Nikki

This weekend, my sister Nikki came to Boston for a visit! We had a fantastic time, even though it was really cold. On Saturday, when Nikki arrived, we walked around downtown Boston in the 20 degree weather. So much for trying to convince her to move here with me.... :)

We got to see the North Shore and Rockport. Here is a picture of Nikki in Rockport..


I'll post more pictures soon, but the best ones are on Nikki's camera, and once she emails them to me, I'll add some. Thanks, sister for coming to visit. I had a great time and enjoyed hanging out with you! You're awesome, and I love you!

I have a very important blog coming soon regarding our 30th birthday party, so keep your eyes peeled! In the meantime, Ellie says hello to everyone!

Fun With Photos

Okay, who knew you could have so much fun and added creativity with photo software?? I am really enjoying trying to figure out how to use this photo editing software that I received for my birthday. The coolest part is that you can do awesome stuff, but I have figured out that I have NO idea what any of it means! Perhaps I should take a class or something. I am just having fun being creative and experimenting and seeing what I like in editing a photo, even if I don't know what all of the technical terms mean. So I thought I'd share some of my attempts. I won't do this with all of them, but just to show you what you can do with a picture, here is the original of a picture I took from this summer that I really liked...

Now, here is my edited version.

How cool is that? It's neat too because you could make it look a hundred different ways depending on how you edit it. I think I'm going to like this!

Here are 2 more pictures I just edited. I plan on blowing some of these up and framing them to hang on my walls.



Well, I'll keep sharing pictures as I create some. For now, I am going to go. Hope you all have a very Happy Valentine's Day! Much love to you all!

A Grateful Heart

Hi everyone! This is my first blog that I am writing as a 30 year old - how exciting!! :) To begin this blog, I just want to offer a big "THANK YOU" to all of you - family, friends (both new and old) - for making my 30th birthday such a special day. I enjoyed the celebration of turning 30 very much, and I appreciate all of the thoughtful ways it was remembered by each of you.

I began my 30th birthday by going to work, and my co-workers went all out to celebrate. I received flowers, we had thai food for lunch, we had an ice cream cake... It was really nice of them to make me feel so special! Here is a picture of my desk that was decorated upon my arrival..


After work, I got to go to the airport and pick up my mom, who flew in for the weekend. More on that in a moment. We then went to the community group that Michael and I attend, where we had cupcakes and everyone sang happy birthday. All in all, it was a fantastic day, even if it was a different sort of birthday being so far way from home. Despite that, it was awesome to see all of the people God has brought into my life that I didn't even know 6 months ago and how the celebration of that day would not have been complete without all of them as a part of it. And in a few weeks, I get to have a GA birthday party with many of you!

So speaking of my mom visiting.....we had a really nice visit. Before her arrival, I had asked God if He would let it snow for my birthday weekend so she could enjoy the sights and because I love snow. I didn't specifically ask for it on my actual birthday because I didn't want her to have trouble getting in. Who says God doesn't answer prayers?? Not only was my mom able to safely land, but it snowed on my birthday AND every single day after it until today! How awesome is that? I got some great pictures of things that I am going to try to share with you now.





My parents gave me photo editing software for my birthday, which I am really excited about. I can't wait to experiment with it and share photos with you guys. There will be many appearing on the blog in days to come!

Thanks, Mom for coming to visit. I'm very thankful for the time we got to share! Thanks again to all of you for being reminders that life goes on and is good, and thanks God, for blessing me with incredible family and friends and an awesome birthday! Hope you guys have a great week!

The End Of A Decade

Psalm 139:13-16
"For You formed my inward parts; You weaved me together in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth. Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them."

As I sit here on the evening of my last day of being in my 20's, I am filled with thanksgiving that the God of the universe who has created such magnificent displays took the same care in creating me. Nothing that has happened in this last year - or ever - has surprised Him. He knows the days I have on this earth, and my heart's desire is for those days to reflect Christ to a world who desperately needs Him as He writes whatever story He has for me. May my story tell His story, no matter what the future holds.

Because my life has been shaped and formed and is held in the hands of so great a God....I can't wait to turn 30! I have great anticipation and joy and expectation at what He has in store for this next decade. And I am thankful to share this journey with all of you. So happy birthday to me! :) And thanks, God, for life, love, family, friends, and celebration!

Super Bowl

And it's the Monday after the Super Bowl in New England, with lots and lots of people in mourning over the fact that the Patriots blew their chance for an undefeated season and a Super Bowl victory. I have a confession to make. I am not one of those people in mourning. Can't say that out loud around here right now, but I'm not much of a Patriots fan. I was excited for the Giants and for a good football game and well.....mostly excited because this signals that baseball is right around the corner!!!!!

Anyway, Michael invited some of his friends from school over. We crammed 7 people in our tiny little area, and it was a lot of fun. We ate chili and s'mores and screamed loudly when appropriate. Here is everyone hanging out - minus me since I'm behind the camera.


This promises to be a fun week as the birthday week has begun and the countdown to turning 30 is on! I'll be sure to keep you all posted. Have a fantastic week!

PS...Happy birthday (one day late by this blog) to my dear friend Jenny. I hope your day was a special one. Know that you were thought of, even from the great North! And while my timing isn't the best, keep your eyes open for fun mail later in the week! Love you!

Sunshine

Today was a really beautiful day outside. Although it was really windy, the sun was out, and it was a great reminder that it won't stay cold forever. I went down to the ocean and sat on the rocks for awhile. I had fun listening to the waves and taking some pictures and just being reminded of the bigness of God. I thought I'd share a few pictures with you.

This first picture shows a seagull playing. I tried to capture him as he was floating in the wind, but I thought this was cool too.


These pictures are just God showing off. He has made a beautiful creation, has He not??



I took lots of pictures, and I'll try to post more soon. But for now, here is a picture of me and my cat. She wasn't really in the mood to take a picture, but I tried. Michael and I are hosting a Super Bowl party tomorrow evening. I'll be sure to take pictures of the people crammed in our 400 square feet. Have a great weekend!