Pictures

Just thought I'd share these two pictures with you guys. These are two of my recent favorite edited photos. Enjoy!

Monday, Monday

Hello blogging friends! 'Tis a dreary and rainy and cool Monday here in Boston, but as we get ready to hit the month of May, I know that spring is coming soon! Yes, spring, not summer. I am very excited about the weather in the coming months. And while I type this blog, I am sitting at a desk where the view out of my window is of the ocean. Can't complain about that!

Anyway, it's amazing how just having little tiny green leaves on trees can lift the depression that comes from a long winter. It's like there is proof before your eyes that life does return, and it makes it easier to believe in the promise that spring is coming. There have been a lot of life parallels in the seasons for me this past year. It's been a long road, and there have often been times where I wondered if life would ever return to my heart again. As time continues to pass, there are signs that God is indeed bringing my heart back to life, and however small it sometimes seems, those signs make it easier to believe that He is not finished with me yet - this is not the end. I am more thankful than ever before for His love and grace and mercy and for knowing that this world and whatever may or may not happen is not the end....I can't wait to spend eternity with Him!

An update for you guys who might now know all that is happening here.... First of all, I received a promotion at work. I am going to be moving from Office Manager to HR Coordinator. I'm pretty excited about it, as it will be a new challenge and a good learning experience. I love the people I work with, and I think this is a good step for now. We are going to be moving offices in July, and when we do, I will have my own office that I can decorate! I'll be sure and take pictures to post once that happens! I have decided to stay here for at least another year, and Michael and I are in the process of finding out if we are going to stay at our current place or have to move. I'll keep you posted on that.

I would appreciate your continued prayers in the coming weeks and months. God has brought me through so much in the last 15 months or so, and He continues to heal deeper layers of my heart and bring to light things that need to be dealt with. I would appreciate prayer for wisdom as I seek to truly live life fully and also have the courage to follow my heart, no matter where that might lead, in jobs, location, friendships, relationships, or whatever God has on my path. I am deeply grateful for all of you and the support that I know is there.

And to end this blog on a smiley note, here are two cute pictures of my cat who thinks she is a human. Hope you guys have a great week, and know that you are loved and held close to my heart!

Spring Is Springing

Spring is arriving! Slowly....but it is coming! Flowers are starting to pop out, tiny leaves are appearing on trees... Michael and I have been sleeping with a couple of windows open the last few nights. Today was stunningly beautiful. I went for a walk when I got home from work and took a few pictures. Here is just a bit of proof that life is beginning to return to the North Shore.



And here's a lovely picture of tonight's sunset.

It's been a long winter, folks, and I'm not just talking about the weather. But spring is coming, and I plan to enjoy every minute of it!

Ballparks

Greetings on this beautiful Sunday afternoon in April! It's the perfect day - sun shining, some flowers starting to bloom on trees, a restful afternoon, baseball....a wonderful Sabbath!

I wanted to share our ballpark pictures from our trip last weekend. It was a lot of fun to see new ballparks, and I learned a few things about myself on this trip. First of all, I love old ballparks. The Nationals park was beautiful - of course brand new, with all of the latest amenities, but I didn't actually like it all that much. It was so modern looking, while I prefer the more old fashioned brick parks. The cool part about it is that when you get off the subway stop and exit the station, you are staring into the park, which was neat. Here are some pictures from our time there...




Now onto Camden Yards, which was more like it in terms of the structure of a park. I really liked this park a lot. On the night of the game, it was really cold, hardly any fans were there, and we didn't really care that much about either team. So we ended up leaving after 3 innings. :) But I got pictures and a new park experience, and it was cool. Here are the pictures from that evening.







So there you have it! Michael and I went to Fenway last night to watch the Red Sox, and out of all the parks I have been to so far, that is definitely my favorite. But the tour of ballparks is fun and will continue next month with Yankee Stadium!

Hope you all have a nice restful evening and a great week!

Washington, D.C.

Okay, as promised, here are pictures from our day in D.C. What a fun day it was! The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and I especially enjoyed the promise that spring really does exist! Here in Boston, everything is still brown and our trees have nothing on them, so to see green leaves and blooming flowers did my soul wonders. Here are some specific spring pictures just because they made my heart smile.



Now here are some of my favorite pictures of the various things that we saw throughout the day....






And now a story...I always thought it would be cool to have a pet squirrel. This is probably the closest I will ever come... My mom and I were walking towards the Lincoln Memorial and took a detour to see the Vietnam Memorial. On our way there, we stopped to get an ice cream bar because they looked yummy. So we're walking along, and these two squirrels come near us. I say, "Hey buddy, how's it going?" Apparently the squirrels in D.C. are brilliant and understand humans (or maybe I speak animal) because this squirrel comes running up to me just like a dog, with the other one fast on its heels. Now I'm slightly freaked out because I have a sudden image in my head of a squirrel running up my leg to get to my ice cream. My mom decides to see if it will come to her, so she squats down and holds out her ice cream wrapper. The following picture resulted....

And have you ever seen a black squirrel?

So those are some of the snapshots of our day. Hope you enjoyed seeing them! Keep an eye out for more entries in the next couple of days with pictures from the ballparks and such. Have a good night!

Baltimore Part 1

Greetings dear friends! Well, I am back safe and sound at home in Boston and my mom is safely back in Atlanta. We had a GREAT time seeing some new cities, two ballparks and just hanging out together. I took lots of pictures and want to share our experiences with you guys, so I plan to post a few blogs over the next couple of days to give you a better idea of our time.

First, a story. When we arrived in Baltimore (which has one of the highest crime rates of any city in the country), we had instructions on how to catch a train from the airport to a particular stop where we could then catch a cab to where we were staying. Well, we got off at the wrong stop and found ourselves in the middle of the ghetto of Baltimore. We asked an old lady with a cane (she seemed safe!) where we should go to find a cab, and when she pointed us in the direction, she told us to be careful. That set the nerves on even further edge than they already were, but as it was midnight in Baltimore, we didn't have much of a choice. We went up a couple of blocks, and I'm trying to call a cab, but they want an address, not just an intersection, so the lady hangs up on me when I can't give her one. As we get to the corner, there is a massive crowd of people, and a fight between two girls breaks out. They end up on top of each other in the middle of the road, and lots of people are watching them. We're trying to look as invisible as possible, but we have suitcases, and we're the only people of our color on the street. Suffice it to say, there were some tense moments as we waited for a cab. Our guardian angels were on overtime, and I don't think I want to know how much danger we were really in. Our cabbie told us he almost didn't come and get us when he heard the address. But thankfully he did, we ended up at the house we stayed at, and after about 45 minutes, my heartrate went back to normal. After the scary start, things went much better! :)

We went into DC to sightsee on Saturday and had a gorgeous day to do so. Tomorrow, I will post an entry on DC with lots of pictures of all the sights. Then I will post an entry later with pictures and stories from the two ballparks. For now, here is a fun preview.



Thank you for all of your prayers for us on this trip! I look forward to sharing more of it with you soon...

Weekend Getaway

Hi everyone! I am sitting at my desk at work, and I have a ton of stuff to do, so this will have to be short and sweet. As soon as my work day is over today, I'll be heading down to the airport so I can fly to Baltimore for the weekend. I'm really looking forward to seeing my mom and a new city and baseball and just getting a much needed break.

I promise to take many pictures, but I will not be able to post them until I get back on Tuesday. I'm not sure that we are going to have computer access while we are there. If we do, I'll be able to put up a few updates with no pictures, but if we don't, you'll have to wait until Tuesday for everything.

Please pray for nice weather, safe travels and such, and a great, relaxing and refreshing weekend! Have a great weekend, and I look forward to sharing awesome pictures and stories with you soon!

Random

Hello dear blogging friends.....I am writing to you from New England where it is cold. Still. Every now and then the sun comes out and it makes it appear that it's a gorgeous spring day outside. Then you walk outside, and yep...still cold. Ahh, well, I'll be enjoying the weather much more than you in the next couple of months, so we'll keep hanging in there.

I've been a terrible blogger lately, and I do apologize. I will have many blogs to share with you soon though because this weekend is my first baseball weekend! Meeting the Mum in Baltimore to take in DC and Baltimore, so it should be a lot of fun. I'm really looking forward to the break and hanging out with mom and getting some cool pictures to share with all of you. And it's supposed to be warmer down there!

As is always the case when it's too cold to go outside and take pictures, I resort to taking pictures of Ellie. Here she is with all her toys.


Hahaha... So here is an interesting phenomenon. Last night and tonight are the highest tide points for the month of April. Combined with a system that is bringing in winds from off the coast, it has created extremely large waves, and at high tide, the water is about a foot from the flooding level of washing over onto streets and people's yards and such. It actually looks pretty cool.

Well, I have no creativity tonight, so I think I'll end this blog for now.... Gotta do a little reading, watch a little baseball, a bit of the basketball championship and get some good rest. Have a great week, and keep an eye out for more posts soon!