Welcome To The Sunshine State

Hello friends and family from sunny (although not so much the last two days) Florida! I am so sorry for just now getting a post up about my new home, but I have been in the madness of unpacking AND we finally got wireless internet today! Yay for modern technology!! So now I am sitting on my bed IN MY OWN ROOM THAT HAS A DOOR typing this post. There is much to tell you about, so here goes!

First of all, we have safely made it to Florida, all trucks are unpacked, most boxes are unpacked, and we are slowly getting settled into our new home. Here are a couple of pictures from the last day of our journey down here. We were all very ready to get here by this point!



My mom drove down with us and was so helpful in getting us unpacked and set up. Thanks, Mum - you're the best! She left today to drive back to GA and then to Baltimore, and she will be missed very much. But I do want to show you pictures of our apartment so you can see some of what she helped with. For starters, here is our very cute welcome mat!

When you enter our apartment, there is a little foyer. The door you see on the left is a door into my bathroom, which is what our guests will use. And by the way, please ignore all of the crap all over the place - we're still trying to get everything organized and put away, but I wanted to go ahead and post pictures!

When you walk into the apartment, our living room/dining area is in front of you. The dining area may or may not end up with a table, and it will eventually have a piano there. We also have a really nice sized balcony off the living room, where we will be able to spend much time!

We have a very nice sized kitchen, with my favorite feature highlighted in the second photo.


We also have a laundry room, and I am still getting used to the fact that I can just walk down the hall and use the washer and dryer and don't have to put on my puffy and snow boots to do laundry!

Here are pictures of my bedroom. The first one is looking into my bathroom - I have my own entrance, which is cool. The lamp you see will not be there as soon as my ceiling fan/light gets put up tomorrow!





A few really cool things to pass on....first of all, I got my e-pass yesterday, which lets me drive on any toll road without having to stop and go through tolls. I feel so official! Now I just have to get my license so that I can get a season pass to Disney, and that will be awesome!

Speaking of Disney, we are only 10 minutes away. Each night from our apartment, we are able to see the Magic Kingdom fireworks show! Not gonna lie - it is really really cool!!!! We watched it last night and I have a feeling we'll be watching it often! This is a view from our balcony. The fireworks go off to the right of the buildings, and we have a perfect view of them.

I will post more pictures soon. I need to take some of our general complex. There are a couple of cool features that I want to share with you. I love our area and where we are. We are so close to everything we need - Publix about 3 minutes away and everything else you could want or need about 10 minutes away. But we're out in the middle of nowhere - there are fields with cows in them right before our complex, and everything is very peaceful. I have no idea what is in store in this new adventure, but I am excited to find out! Many more posts and pictures to come very soon. Have a great day!

Welcome To The South

So I'm definitely not in the Great White North anymore. I know I chose to move south in the middle of the summer, so I'm not necessarily complaining about the heat - just pointing it out. I took this picture of the temperature that my car registered today while we were out driving...

Today was a crazy but fun day. My mom and I went and got our hair highlighted today. I've been going to the same ladies for haircuts and such since I was 8, so when I'm in town, I always try to see them. Here is a picture of most of them from today.

After our hair fun, we went down to Newnan to meet my grandparents for lunch at Sprayberry's BBQ. This is seriously the best BBQ I have ever had, and their brunswick stew is fabulous. So here is a picture of my plate of food, along with some sauce and my mom's plate. We also had strawberry cobbler for dessert. Oh my gosh, I love food in the south!! :) And yes, I know brunswick stew looks like dog food, but it tastes really yummy!




After Newnan, we drove back to see my mom's mom, meeting her at Dairy Queen to hang out for awhile. I so do not need to eat any time soon!

Now I am home and exhausted and full, but it was very nice to see the grandparents today and catch up some. I love them all! I saw Nikki tonight, and we are getting everything ready to move to Orlando. We pick up the truck tomorrow, load on Sat. morning, head out Saturday and move in on Sunday! Many more posts and pictures to come in the next few days....

Just Keep Drivin'

Greetings! This blog is being written from a hotel room in Gastonia, NC, where Mum and I arrived this evening after deciding we could drive no more. In the last two days I have driven in the following states: Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington D.C., Virginia, and North Carolina. Tomorrow we will finish up in North Carolina, hit South Carolina, and arrive at brother's house in Georgia where we will have a few days to be out of the car before driving down to Orlando. Whose idea was this again???

Anyway, things are going well so far. Ellie is behaving very well in the car, even though she is most definitely not happy to be in the car. She is surviving though and when we stop for the night, it takes her only a few moments to bounce back into her happy self. She is going to be so excited to have more than 400 square feet to run around in that I think she will forgive me for keeping her in a car for 28 or so hours. This is her right before we left when she was stressed about all that was happening. I'll post a new pic of her from Florida when she is relaxing in the sun.


I'm trying to use the driving time to start processing the fact that I am moving, but let's be honest - at this point, I hate driving, I hate the road, I hate being in a car, and I just want to arrive somewhere! I'm thinking that I might not process everything until I'm actually living in Florida and realize I'm not there just for a vacation.

God was good tonight though - we went to Cracker Barrel for dinner, and I was reminded of one of the reasons I love the south....fried okra. And on that note, I must go to bed. More driving to commence in the morning....and more posts to come soon!

Zany Madness

Hi everyone! I'm sorry I haven't updated my blog in awhile. It's been a little nutty around here! I went to Baltimore for a week to hang with the parents, now I'm back in Boston, packing and saying goodbyes....

I have lots of pictures to post, thoughts and reflections that I need to write about, but it might not happen until I get on the road and have a chance to breathe. Nikki and I do have an apartment in Orlando now - only 10 minutes from Disney World!! Progress is being made, and I'm excited about what is upcoming. First though, I have to finish things up here.

SO....this post is just to let you know that I'm still here, I have lots to share, and it will all get posted soon. Keep checking my blog, and I'll get some posts up just as soon as I can! Thanks for your patience! :)

Introducing....

So for those of you who are my faithful blog readers, I figure I've kept you in suspense long enough from the end of my last post. And as chapters end and begin and the adventure continues moving forward, I would like to tell you about an amazing way that God has blessed my life in the last 6 weeks.

It all started randomly enough, as these sorts of things usually do. Since I began going to my church here, I have been pretty heavily involved with the worship team, which I have really enjoyed. (And, as a side note, I am seriously going to miss all of those people!) Anyway, I run the sound sometimes on Sunday mornings, and we had made the announcement that we needed more sound people to help fill out the team. So on this particular Thursday, a new person was supposed to show up to rehearsal so that I could help train them to run the sound for the upcoming Sunday.

As circumstances would have it, the guy that showed up to be "trained" knows far more about sound than I do, so there wasn't much I could show him. Plus, we had a really small team that week, and so instead of them using the equipment for us to practice running sound, they all gathered around the piano and rehearsed that way. Being the good southern girl that I am, when all else fails, begin conversation! Ask questions, get to know a person, try to pass the time since clearly no sound training is going to happen.....and in this process, we had a really nice conversation.

This guy is also an amazing photographer, and through conversation it was discovered that we both had plans to head to Boston that weekend to take pictures, so we ended up going together and had a fantastic time. And as time went on, we continued "hanging out" and getting to know each other, and almost before I realized it, six weeks have passed!

As you all know, it's been a long journey over the last 2 1/2 years of life. This is the first guy that I have hung out with since Jeff. And I'm not gonna lie - it's been A LOT harder than I thought it would be! I think I knew it would be difficult, but I didn't realize how difficult or the areas in which I would struggle. Through it all though, God has been faithful, and the healing process continues. And one of the ways He has been faithful is through this guy. These last 6 weeks have not been the easiest - I went through detox, I have had moments of freaking out, I ended my job, I found out some really disturbing news, and through it all, this guy hasn't been scared off by me or by life. Instead, he has spoken truth, he has been an encouragement to me, he has been consistent, he has been honest, he has laughed....in short, he has been Jesus to me. And no matter what happens, that has blessed my life and helped be a source of healing.

So without further ado, let me introduce to you.....a guy named Steve!

Cute, huh? :) And folks, be careful if you leave comments - he reads my blog too!! :)

Anyway, I have no idea what God has in store. I'm leaving soon to move to Orlando. He is leaving in August to go to Israel for a semester. Time and distance don't scare me at this point because I think it's a good thing in this journey of healing for things to move slowly. For now, we plan to stay in touch and continue getting to know each other. God will take care of the rest. In the meantime, I plan to enjoy every step along the way. I will certainly keep you posted and would ask for your prayers as we navigate through the upcoming weeks. There is never a dull moment in God's story, is there? And I don't think I'd have it any other way!!

Wednesday Wonderings

Greetings from the Great White North! As I just typed that sentence, I realized I won't be able to say that for much longer. I'll have to come up with a name for Florida once I am there! Anyway, it's been a little while since I gave a good update on my blog, so I thought I'd do that today. As a new chapter is on the verge of beginning, that means a chapter of life has to close, and it's been a time of reflection and insanity and everything in between these last few days.

First of all, I am done with work! My last day at my job was this past Friday. I will miss my coworkers dearly, but can I just say that it is awesome to have a bit of a break from working!!! This is day 3 of my "vacation", and I am loving every minute of it. My body is enjoying the break as well - slowly catching up on rest and continuing to recover from all it has been through these last months.

My coworkers were awesome and gave me a great send-off. For starters, we had a going away party where we went bowling. They made me wear blue hair and sunglasses in honor of moving to Florida. Not everyone was able to attend, but here are those of us who were there....

On Friday, we had ice cream cake, and then they gave me an awesome gift - a picture of Fenway Park, and they all signed the mat! It's a little hard to see in this picture, but you get the general idea.

Now that I am finished with work, I am trying to get stuff done that has needed to be done for awhile, enjoy the weather, hang out with some folks..... This weekend I am going to the Cape with my friend Jen, and we are going to go to Martha's Vineyard on Saturday. Pictures to come from that when I get back! Then on Monday, Michael and I are going to Baltimore to spend a week with the parents. That should be much fun and many pictures will also come from that adventure. Then I'll have one week left here to pack and get everything finished up before hitting the road for the south!

I'm hoping Ellie will be as cooperative on this trip down as she was on the drive up here. Here she is watching birds - she has no idea what is in store for her!

Here is Ellie on the final day of driving when we moved up here. Something tells me I may see this look again before this is all over!

I'm sure as time here continues to wind down, there will be reflections and such that I will post. I'll keep you updated on all of the happenings as a new adventure gets set to begin. And stay tuned - I might even share a post soon telling you about a special person God brought into my life about 6 weeks ago! :) Much love to you all....

It Is Well With My Soul

"It Is Well" has always been one of my favorite hymns to sing. The lyrics are so powerful and whenever I hear them sung by a crowd of people, it's almost as if you get just a tiny glimpse into heaven. I don't know if you know the story of how the hymn came to be written, but Brother recently wrote a paper that talked about this song, and I have been reading one of the books he had about it.

Horatio Gates Spafford was a businessman who lived in Chicago. During the great Chicago fire, he lost everything - his business, his real estate investments - it all went up in flames. After the fire and dealing with all that came with that, he had the opportunity to take his family on a vacation over to Europe. At the very last minute, a business opportunity came up, so he sent his wife and 4 daughters ahead on the boat without him, planning to join them shortly after they arrived. On the way across the ocean, their boat was hit by another ship, and it sank in 12 minutes, leaving little time for people to be rescued. Not long after word of the accident reached him, Horatio received a telegram from his wife that said, "Saved. Alone." It was on the boat on the way to meet her over in Paris where she had been taken after her rescue, not long after the captain of the ship showed him the place where the boat had gone down, that he wrote the words to "It Is Well".

The book I have been reading is called, "Finding Anna" by Christine Schaub, and it is a novel - historical fiction - about the events that led to the writing of this hymn. There is a conversation towards the end of the book that Horatio has with an older woman who lost her husband years ago in a tragedy that has stuck in my head since I read it. I share part of it here....It begins with her sharing about her pastor coming to see her after her husband first died.

"He sat by my bed, opened his old Bible, and quoted promise after promise. And I believed not a word of it." She leaned forward, forcing Spafford to look her full in the face. "But then he said something I will never forget. He closed the Bible and looked at me with those piercing eyes and said, 'Even despair will run its course. What will you do, Carrie? What will you do with your life when you are ready again to live it?' He didn't wait for an answer, and I didn't have one. But the question rattled around and around in my head for days afterward. And when despair had run its course, just as he said, I had a plan. It was a small plan. And God took care of the rest." The bill arrived and Spafford paid it....He'd gone just a few steps when he heard Carrie call out, "Mr. Spafford-" He turned, and she looked at him with eyes that were both old with wisdom and bright with promise. "I know you can hardly imagine it. But one day - not tomorrow, maybe not for a full year - but one day, you will be able to look up without the weight of rage and guilt and declare, 'It is well....it is well with my soul.'"

Can I just say that I have found this to be true? The journey of healing is a funny thing. But if I've learned nothing in these last few years, I have learned that God is faithful, He does redeem and restore, He makes all things beautiful in His time, and His healing.....it is deep, it is powerful, it is painful, it is glorious, and in time, it does allow us to declare, with complete and transparent honesty, "It is well. It is well with my soul." And as I stand on the precipice of yet more change, of a new adventure, of new things happening in life even now, in the midst of uncertainty and not having all of the answers, I mean that with all that I am. As the hymn declares, "Even so, it is well with my soul."

We will all have at least one "dark night of the soul"....some may be for a night only. Some dark nights may last for years. But it is my prayer that in our dark nights, we will remember that joy comes in the morning, and that even when we can't imagine how, we will cling to our Savior, believing He will bring us to a place where we can declare the words of this hymn and mean them.

I close this post with the lyrics of the hymn that Horatio Spafford penned out of a broken heart and confused soul, trusting God to make it so.

When peace like a river attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea-billows roll
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say
It is well, it is well with my soul

Tho' Satan should buffet, tho' trials should come
Let this blest assurance control
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate
And hath shed His own blood for my soul

My sin - oh the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin - not in part but the whole
Is nailed to His cross and I bear it no more
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul

And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend
Even so - it is well with my soul

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live
If Jordan above me shall roll
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou shalt whisper Thy peace to my soul

God Is Great, Beer Is Good, & People Are Crazy

Greetings to you all from the glorious south! I have been here for the weekend for the wedding of a very close family friend. More on that in a moment. First, to explain the title of this blog...on Friday morning, Michael and I were on the way to the airport, and we were listening to country music on the radio. A song came on, and the chorus said, "God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy." We laughed for about 5 minutes about it, and now after a weekend back here, I have decided that most country music has been written in the south - or at least inspired by the south! :)

So the wedding.... My parents' best friends are Bob and Karen Freeman. They met each other when my mom was pregnant with me, so I've known them for my entire life. The Freeman family had 3 kids that are me and my brothers' ages, and then they kept going and had 3 more. When we were growing up, we were always together, and my mom and Aunt Karen were frequently seen in public toting 9 kids with them! The Freemans are as close to family as you can be, and they are a part of so many of my favorite memories growing up. It was an honor to be here to celebrate as their 4th child, Nathan, got married this weekend. Here are some pictures and stories from our time.

Here are the 3 Freeman sisters and me. Hannah's holding her son Grant, who will appear in other photos!

Mother of the groom (AUNTIE K!!) on the right, with friend Laura as they were dressed alike.

The cute little Pa

Here are Nathan and Whitni as they were being prayed over at the rehearsal dinner.

Now some pictures of the brothers and cousin and a couple of us holding the cute baby!



Here are some pictures from the wedding. This is Nathan as his bride was walking towards him, Jack watching Nathan, and the three sisters as bridesmaids.



During the wedding, all of the parents gathered around the bride and groom and prayed over them. It was really cool!

The beautiful bride and groom

After the wedding, we took lots of pictures with lots of people. Here are me and Nikki, the family, and then the next picture is my parents with Rich and Judy. They were missionaries for many years and are very dear friends of our family.



We grew up going to the same church for many years, and the people in this photo were all a part of that church. We've known them all for 20 plus years!

Here is a picture of all of the Freeman/Jones kids, plus our cousin Joey, minus 2 of the Freeman kids!

Going back to the title of my blog, God is great, as evidenced by the miracle of joining a man and woman in marriage. Beer (or other alcohol) is good, as evidenced by....well, fill in the blank with your own stories....and people are most definitely crazy. Being around old friends and family has been so much fun - we've shared laughter and stories and many fun times. If you need a little proof, here is this picture. This is my mom and 4 of her closest friends cramming in the photo booth that was at the wedding. This was a funny moment!

I think this blog is long enough for now, so I'll put an end to it. I am thankful for this weekend and the opportunity I've had to spend time with some of my favorite people in the world! I'll head back to the Great White North tomorrow for my next to last week of work and lots of fun times. More updates to come soon!

Thank You!

Hi everybody! I just wanted to post a quick update and let you know how things are going. I am SLOWLY starting to feel like I am getting better. A lot of the worst symptoms are starting to fade, and I am beginning to think there may just be a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm still really tired and also fighting the mad pollen that is floating around outside, but I'm hanging in there. I did want to say thank you for your prayers and hugs over this last week. I do think that there are times when that has helped carry me through a moment of panic or my body feeling horrible or whatever. Jesus has been so faithful to me in every way, so thank you for being a part of His faithfulness.

In the midst of all of the physical issues that I have been battling, God has also really been working in my heart, digging deeper to another layer to bring more and more healing to my life. This can be a painful process at times, but it has also been an incredibly beautiful time to walk through. Sometimes God speaks to us in gentle, quiet ways. Sometimes He shouts His message loud and clear from the rooftops. And this week, He has been in my face with the reminder of how much He loves me. He loves me just for who I am - for who He specially created me to be - and that is enough.

Not long after I moved here, I wrote a post about being free, which if you wish, you can read here. I have been reminded of that day again lately. Because of what Christ did on the cross, I am free for eternity. But eternity has already started, and I'm free now too. I needed that reminder this week and am thankful for God's faithfulness in providing tangible evidence of His love for me. I hope that as we all go through this week, we will live in the freedom that comes from knowing Christ. Thanks again for your prayers - don't stop! :) Much love to you all...

Withdrawal

Greetings from the Great White North, where it is cold and rainy outside and the sun has forgotten how to shine. I looked at the 10 day weather forecast the other day, and every day for 10 days, it said cloudy or rainy. There was not a single sunshine picture!! Sigh.... Remind me when I'm melting in Orlando in July of these cool days, okay??

Anyway, I thought I'd share an update with you guys on this whole anxiety journey I have been on. As I mentioned in a previous post, which you can read a few entries below, I started taking some medication for anxiety to help me get through this time. Well....it has been quite awful! The medicine I got put on was klonopin, and may I please say - don't EVER take this drug!!!! Although it did help me to relax, I ended up having an allergic reaction to it and had to stop taking it immediately. That is problem number one because you make the withdrawal symptoms worse when you stop it suddenly. As I had no choice, too bad for me. It's also a highly addictive drug, and the withdrawal from it is similar to what an alcoholic's is like.

It has been 10 days since I have had any, and I am in the midst of the most awful withdrawal. I have never been through anything like this before, and may I just say, it is not pleasant! I will spare you the details of all of the symptoms, but if you're interested in what they are, click here and scroll down to the list of symptoms. I can say that I am experiencing about 85% of the listed conditions. Awesome.

In the midst of all this madness - and in some of the worst symptoms I've had in this whole process - a friend of mine came to visit over the weekend. Karen and I were best friends in middle school and our freshman year of high school, and then her family moved to VA. In the 15 years since then, we've only seen each other once, and that was 7 years ago, although we have stayed in touch through the years. She'd never been to Boston, so she got to come and hopefully experience a great tour of the city, even though I could barely stand up! All the pictures in the post are from our time downtown. The one of the two of us was after we spent about 8 hours in the city while I was in serious detox. Not too horrible of a picture, right??

Apparently when you go through withdrawal, your symptoms peak, then they plateau, and then they gradually start to improve. All of this can take at least twice as long as you were actually on the medication, if not longer. I'm hoping that this weekend was the peak and that I'm in the midst of the plateau and that really really really soon I will start to improve. I'm having a hard time eating - not much of an appetite, nausea, etc. - and I've already lost at least 5 pounds.

For those of you who know me well, you know I'm a "fix-it" kind of girl. Encounter problem, figure out solution, fix problem, and move on. Only problem in this is that there really isn't a way to fix it. You just have to suck it up and go through it. I have also always kind of figured that in the midst of crap, God is surely trying to teach me some sort of lesson, and the sooner I learn it, the sooner the crap will go away. Except for I don't really believe that anymore after these last 2 years. I do think God uses our circumstances to help refine our faith and smooth away the rough edges, but I don't think the circumstances changing depend on whether or not we've "learned our lesson".

So what now? Folks, I'll be honest - I'm barely hanging in there. It is seriously taking every ounce of everything that I have to make it through these days, fighting my body's reaction, trying to work, just trying to survive. But in the midst of it all, I am clinging to God, trusting that He hasn't fallen asleep, and having great sympathy for those who are drug addicts and people who go through withdrawal. I know now how people end up as addicts because in the worst of all of this, all I wanted to do was take a pill to make it better. Thankfully, God has given me what I needed through each moment (and all pills have been flushed!), but I do have a much better sensitivity towards those who end up where they never dreamed of getting. Hey - this is a good lesson to learn, right? Can we move on now please?? :)

Anyway, for those of you who are my Massachusetts friends, hug me whenever you see me. Hugs are good. For those of you who are my Georgia friends or people from elsewhere in the country, hug me through your prayers. I need them. God is sufficient. His power is made perfect in my weakness. And He carries me when I can't walk.....but I'd prefer that on this particular adventure, He not carry me to a tiny room with padded walls!! :)

Thanks for your support, encouragement, prayer and love. Means more than you know. And maybe even asking for prayer helps - I ate a banana while I wrote this post! I'll keep you guys updated on this journey as it continues to unfold...Beauty out of ashes....spring out of winter....please God, let it be so.