Giving Thanks

Hi Everyone! Happy Thanksgiving week to all! I have much to be thankful for, some of which I will get to in a minute. First though, I wanted to write one of those posts - you know, where I get all reflective and share something that's on my heart. It's been awhile since I've really had a post like this, but one of the things I love about having this blog is being able to go back and read this journal of the past few years. It always helps me remember where I've been and what I've learned and how far I have come. And on this night, when I really should be sleeping, I have a few thoughts to share. I think putting them on "paper" will help me sleep...

Anyway, my parents arrived in town tonight to spend Thanksgiving week with me! Yay for parents and a fabulous family! They are one of my treasures that I am most thankful for. Brother Matthew arrives tomorrow, which will also be awesome. Michael and Bekah couldn't come now, but we will all be together in GA in a few weeks to celebrate Christmas. Due to the fact that we have company in town, Nikki and I decided to decorate our apartment for Christmas last night. We love having it decorated for the holidays, and we wanted it to be all cute for our visitors. We listened to Christmas music while we decorated our trees and put up some other stuff. Here are our completed trees - cute, yes?? :)

I LOVE Christmas. It's my favorite time of year. I love everything about the holiday - the music, the lights and decorations, what we're really celebrating, a time to stop and give thanks, time to be with family, Christmas trees, cinnamon smells...the list could go on and on. But can I confess something? Holidays are hard. In one of my classes, we talked about how fluid our memories are, and how much we actually forget quickly after it happens. One reason we remember so much about holidays is because they involve all of our senses - we remember things by taste, smell, sight, touch, etc. That is fantastic when there are things you want to remember - not so much when those memories also involve pain.

As Nikki and I were decorating our trees last night, we were both rather pensive. All of my ornaments on my tree remind me of something. I love unwrapping them each year because it always jogs memories and reminds me of certain times in my life or places I've gone or of a person who gave it to me. And even though it's been four years, it sometimes still hurts. It seems like the holidays bring out some of those hurts. It makes me mad that it still hurts after all this time. But I'm trying to learn and grow and be more and more comfortable with myself, even in facing emotions I don't like, so I'm attempting to rest in this pain and process through it....thus the reason for a late night blog. :)

Last night after I turned out the lights, I was looking at my tree, and one ornament glowed at me. Here is a picture of my tree...bet you can see which one it is!

Right in the center of my tree is a bright purple sequined ornament that says "joy". Nikki gave it to me last year. It was such a good reminder for me. Even when things hurt, even if this isn't how I would have chosen for my story to be written, even if this isn't "how it was supposed to be", God still sees me. This is His story for me - and He is using it to create beauty out of ashes and glorify Himself - and joy still exists. I might be 32, divorced, living with a roommate and a cat, decorating a tiny Christmas tree, but that doesn't define who I really am. God does. And deep down inside, I have joy. I have a deep abiding joy, and I have joy in the littlest blessings of life. I have a really fabulously decorated apartment, I can wear reindeer antlers to work, I can go to Disney World, I can study to be a counselor, I can spend time with the greatest family and friends ever, and most of all, I can rest my head on my pillow every night knowing Jesus loves me. He loves me so much, He has allowed me to walk the road of these past four years and to come out on the other side a more refined daughter of the King. Even in the hurt, there is still joy. And that is a miracle that I am thankful for.

So even if it sometimes hurts, I will still enjoy this holiday season. And I pray that no matter where circumstances find each of us, we will not lose sight of what we are celebrating. The God of the universe, who knows every fiber of our being, loved us so much that He sent His Son to earth. From birth came death. And from death came Life and a redemption that continues to this day. Thankful does not begin to describe it. Enjoy this week of Thanksgiving and the Christmas season that follows. And may joy be found in each day - in little and small ways!

The State Of Things

Greetings! It's been awhile since I've written a blog, and I felt the need to write a new one tonight. I am completely exhausted, so this is probably not the best time to try to write anything profound, but we'll give it a shot. :) Reasons for the exhaustion... Number one, I just worked 21 hours in two days. Santa arrived at the mall! He arrives on the roof of the mall, amidst much smoke and loud music and such, comes down off the roof, and then there is a parade into the mall where he "lights" a gigantic two story tree, and then he takes his place on his throne for all the little kiddies to come and visit him. Lovely, all of it. I only have a couple of issues with this. To begin with, he arrived two weeks BEFORE Thanksgiving! Can you imagine all of the kids who got to visit him thinking Christmas is soon? "Mommy, when is Santa coming? When will it be Christmas?" "Oh, not for like 48 days!!" The other issue I have with it is that as soon as Santa appears, people become grinchy. I don't know what it is about the holidays that bring out the worst in people, but they do. So as you all do whatever shopping you're going to do this year, remember this: BE NICE to the people that serve you. We have feelings too! We're also making your food and could do any number of things to it....not that we would....I'm just sayin', choose wisely whom you irritate! :) And there is NOTHING you are buying that is worth getting an attitude, hurting another person, or having a sense of entitlement. It's just stuff.

Okay, I'll get off the soapbox now. In an attempt to survive the holiday madness, I am having as much fun at work as possible. We sing Christmas songs and make up dances and quote movie lines all day. On the night of Santa's arrival, I made my entire front counter wear Santa hats, and I wore my reindeer antlers. I think it helped our cheer. :)

Reason number two for my exhaustion is when I have down time from work, I am doing schoolwork. We're getting close to the end of the semester, which is both exciting and hard to believe, but that also means that much work is due in the coming weeks. I'm trying to be very disciplined and proactive and plan ahead so that I don't leave it all to the last week where I won't be able to get it all done. With that said, I just completed one of my projects! We had to videotape ourselves counseling one of our classmates for 15 minutes. We then had to write a verbatim of the video - literally every word that each person said had to be documented. I finished the verbatim a little while ago, and while a pain to do, it was actually quite interesting.

In watching myself on video, I realized how little we get to watch ourselves. I know that I have a perception of myself and how I think I act or present myself to other people. But when you see yourself on video, you are able to see yourself as you really are. It's fascinating. For example, maybe in your mind you are being extremely expressive as you tell a story, but when you see yourself, you realize you're barely showing any emotion. I'm obviously learning so much about being a counselor through my program, but I am also learning a ton about myself. I'm learning just how God has created me, and to be okay with that and comfortable in my own skin. I'm learning how to be challenged and to grow - hopefully without taking on the expectations of how others expect me to grow, but just following how God directs me. It's an amazing process and one I am abundantly thankful for. I hope to sit down and write a much better blog about what I have learned once I get through the semester and the madness that abounds.

In the meantime, please pray for me. These next weeks are going to be insane. I don't want to miss the life going on each day in the stress of all that has to get done. Add school to working 40+ hours a week, in holiday madness, dealing with cranky people....and that's not even counting Black Friday, where I will probably work at least 14 hours on that one day. There's a lot going on, and it's a recipe for disaster if I'm not careful, so pray that I will have wisdom to balance what has to get done with relaxation and fun, and that I will take things one moment at a time.

Towards that end, I have a fun goal for this holiday season...I took this picture last holiday season and thought it was hilarious.

Yes, I have issues. You should be used to this by now. :) Anyway, I was home by myself one day and playing with the self-timer on my camera. I was out on my balcony, so imagine me trying to wrestle my mad that she had on a hat cat, hit the timer, and smile all in about 10 seconds. This was the best I could do. So my goal for this Christmas is to get a fantastic picture of me and my cat in our matching hats. Ellie is thrilled. Hahaha....you can eagerly await the results! In the meantime, have a great week!

A Weekend In Boston

This past weekend, I was able to go to Boston and visit Michael and Bekah. I had a great time getting to see them and spend time catching up on life. They recently made a trip to New York to pick up Bekah's furniture from home and redecorated their apartment. It's so cute!! Here is their "Pottery Barn" living room and bedroom...and yes, we used the fireplace a couple of nights. I even roasted a marshmallow to make a s'more! :)


And here is a picture of my brother and his wife! The second picture is them with the kids who live in the lower level of the house they rent. They love Michael and Bekah and came to trick-or-treat before they went out in the neighborhood.


It was quite chilly while I was there. They all tried to convince me that it had been warm prior to my arrival, but the cold air was there when I arrived and it just got colder as the weekend progressed. I took my puffy with me, and it kept me very warm! Here is a picture of me and Bekah and my lovely puffy. :)

I was able to spend some time with Tim and Joanna and their family while I was there. Tim is the pastor of the church I went to up there, and they were both instrumental in being part of my healing process and helping create a safe place for me to be. I love them and their family, and it was so good to see them and catch up. They have four awesome kids, including a seven year old daughter that I adore and miss, and it was fun to see her as well. It's always nice for a child to run across the room and take a flying leap into your arms when they see you. :) Here we are together...

One of the coolest aspects of the weekend for me was the opportunity to be back in Boston and just be reminded of how much God has done in my life over these last three plus years since I moved there. I think the North Shore will always be special to my heart because of the circumstances that took me to Boston and the healing that took place while I lived there. I used to take long walks around the water, especially the first summer there. I found that I couldn't be in the midst of God's creation without remembering how great He is. I knew that the same God who told the waves how far up on the sand they could come knew I was walking beside them, and knowing that helped me believe He still had a purpose for my life. Being back there this weekend reminded me of those times. I'll be a "work in progress" until I see Jesus face to face, but God really has done miraculous healing in my life. I am grateful for the reminder and so thankful that He loves me enough to meet me wherever I am and continue to mold and shape me into who He's created me to be.

This first picture is from the rocks that were at the end of the street where I lived. I actually didn't alter this photograph to make it greener - the water really did have that fluorescent green color and I thought it looked amazing.

Michael and I lived in an apartment that was surrounded on three sides by the ocean. I used to walk the loop around where we lived. This dock was on one end of the loop, and I thought it looked cool to have the fall colors on the trees in the background.

The fall colors had started to fade, but it was still beautiful, especially living in Florida where we don't really get many leaf changes. Here are a few of my favorite pictures that I took.



All in all, it was a great weekend! I enjoyed the chance to get away and relax, see beautiful scenery, catch up with friends, spend time with Michael & Bekah, and be reminded of how much God loves me. Not bad for one weekend! :) I'll try to write again soon with more updates. In the meantime, I hope you all have a fantastic rest of the week!

School Daze :)

Good Monday morning to you all! I should be working on schoolwork, and I promise I will be soon, but I thought I'd write a blog and catch you up on what's happening with school so far. I'm just past the halfway point in the semester, which is kind of cool. I finished my first class this past Thursday night (YAY!!!) and start a new class this Thursday. Here is a rundown on each class and what I am learning...

*My Tuesday night class is a counseling skills class. We are learning all sorts of important skills on how to counsel people well - asking questions, reflecting back what they have said, observing body language, etc. We have been put in triads, and each week we practice counseling each other with what we are learning. Each time you are in your triad, someone is the counselor, someone is the client, and someone is the observer. We spend about 5 minutes at a time in a "session", and then we switch roles. I've really enjoyed this so far. After reading so much about counseling, it's fun to actually get to try it. It's also cool how much you learn about yourself and your own personal style in watching others counsel. Even though there are skills to learn, it is also emphasized that counseling has to be authentic and real. I love this because each person is a different type of counselor, just based on personality and such. I am definitely learning a lot about myself through this experience.

*My first Thursday night class was a foundations of counseling class where we learned about the history of counseling - where we've come from, how we got where we are, and where we're going. We talked a lot about worldviews and the importance of knowing who you are and what you believe. On the last night, we had to do a group presentation, showing a movie clip that portrayed a worldview we were presenting. My group used the movie Napolean Dynamite, and we even did a little dance. Here's a picture of my group...

*My next Thursday night class is on theories of counseling, and we will be learning about the various theoretical orientations that are used in counseling. I think this will be an interesting class to take. It will be slightly weird at first because we will have a different professor. We've had the same professor for the first two classes, and now it is time to branch out! I'll share more about this class as I get into it.

*Overall, this program should take me about 2 1/2 years to complete. It's going by quickly though! I can't believe it's about to be November already. So far this semester, I have read hundreds of pages in books, written and turned in 4 papers (one that was 20 pages!) and completed one group project. Not bad while also working full time! I have A LOT more work to do to finish out the semester, but I'm trying to take things one day at a time and not worry too much about it. I'm trying to stay really organized and still have fun every now and then, but I'm mostly just working and doing school stuff.

*One thing that is making school even more awesome is that my classmates and I are really starting to connect. Friendships are growing, we are hanging out some together, and we are having a blast. Having that community makes everything better, and I am so thankful that I am getting to share this adventure with some amazing people.

*Finally, going to school is just continuing the healing process in me. I am learning that in order to be a good counselor, you have to know yourself really well and work through your own stuff before you can be much help to another. I have already begun this process by being in counseling this last year, but everything is continuing to be refined and I am being challenged and stretched even more through my classes and interactions there. It is not always fun, but it's good, and I am thankful for the work that God continues to do in my life as He prepares me for what He has for me to do.

So there you have an update on school! I must go get some work done before heading to work for the evening. Have a great week!

Monday Musings

Greetings, readers of the blog! I have to head to work in a bit, but I thought I'd give you all a quick update on the happenings here. It's been a CRAZY two weeks, but I have survived, and it'll be cool to see what happens next. For now, here are the highlights...

*I will finish my first graduate school class on Thursday night!!! It's amazing that 8 weeks of class have already gone by. I start the next 8 week class the following Thursday, but I'm still excited about the accomplishment of finishing the first one. I finished my last paper for that class today, and then I have a group presentation on Thursday night and we'll be done!

*I am learning so much through school right now, which is very cool. I'll write a blog soon that is just about school and what is happening there. It's neat to see how God is using school to continue His healing of my heart.

*I kind of hit a wall last week where I was totally over the insanity of my schedule. Working 40+ hours each week and going to school full time and writing bunches of papers leads to some exhaustion and feelings of being overwhelmed. However, I took some time in these last few days to take care of myself a bit and do some fun stuff. I am feeling much better about where I am now and am thankful for friends and Disney who help me remember to still enjoy life. :)

*I miss fall. I took this picture when I lived in Boston, and I wish I could see sights like this around here....

However, the weather has been cooler, which is awesome AND I am going to visit my brother and sister-in-law next weekend in the Great White North! Can't wait to see them and I'm hoping that there will be a few leaves left on the trees for me to see. Either that or maybe it will snow since I certainly won't get any of that down here. Don't tell my brother I would love to see snow fall though - he'll get mad! :)

*I know a lot of you read my blog and don't like to leave comments for multiple reasons. I understand this. However, if you could, I've love to get some comments from some of you, even if you just put a smiley face as your comment. It's nice to know sometimes that you're not alone and that people have your back. Thanks in advance!!

Must run now so I can read for a bit before heading to the Chick for the night. More to come soon... In the meantime, have a great week!

A Blog On Baseball

So the Braves' season ended last night. I thought it would be appropriate to give them a little shout out on my blog, as well as explain exactly why it is that I love baseball. Plus, this is a nice break from writing my massive paper for school...

I grew up in a sports family. My dad played every sport imaginable in high school until he blew out his knee. My mom's dad was the voice of the Atlanta Falcons the first ten years they were a franchise. And I was the only girl with two brothers who both loved sports. I actually played t-ball when I was little but that was as far as my baseball experiences went personally. When I was a kid, I used to wish that I had been born a boy so that I could be a major league baseball player. :) But that is not how God made me, so I did the next best thing...I learned the game.

My brothers both played baseball growing up, and as we were a family that supported one another, that meant we all grew up at the little league field. I spent more hours, days, weeks and years there than I could count. I figured if I was going to have to be there, I might as well get paid, so I took the classes and was trained as an official scorekeeper. And it was there that I fell in love with the game.

A lot of people think baseball is really boring. It's actually not. There is so much strategy and thought and analysis that goes into each game. When you know the game, you see much more than what is happening on the field, and it's really fun. My brothers and I grew up as Braves fans. We used to go to games in the 80's when they were absolutely horrible. You'd pay $5 and everyone would sit behind home plate because no one would be at the game. It was a bonus if they won the game - just being there was magical.

So as a true fan, it was an amazing experience for them to win the pennant in 1991. Baseball fever took over Atlanta, and when we lost the World Series in seven games, you would have thought we won. They had a parade for the team, and my mom let us skip school and took us to the parade in Atlanta. I was in 7th grade at the time.

My favorite way to watch a game in person is with headphones on so I can hear the announcers. There is nothing like it! For those of you who go to games with me and I don't do this, you should feel honored. :)

I've never been a huge superstar kind of person. I love the team as a whole. And this year's Braves team has been one of my favorites. It was Bobby Cox's last year before retirement, and this team was so much fun to be a part of as a fan. There were many dramatic moments in the season and if we hadn't had so many injuries, who knows what would have happened. But we did, and the season is over, and with it, the end of an era. I can't remember a Braves team without Bobby Cox as the manager. It'll be weird to start next season with someone else. I wish him the best as he moves forward in life.

I know a lot of people don't understand my love of this sport. I'm okay with that. And yes, I know there are a lot more important things going on in the world than baseball. But for today, I'm celebrating an amazing year, a fantastic team, a great manager, and what it means to be a fan. And when spring training starts down here in February....I'll be there. :)

An Update From Me :)

So I should be working on my 20 page paper that is due next week. But my brain is mushy at the moment, and so I am taking a break to write a blog instead. Here are my random tidbits for now....

*I stopped by Five Guys on my way home tonight because I was craving beef and am currently eating a delicious cheeseburger. Let's face it, a girl can only eat chicken for so long before the very thought of chicken makes you want to gag. No offense to my fabulous employer of course...

*I turned in my first graduate school paper last night! I was quite proud of that, I must admit. It's been a lot of years since I wrote papers, so it was cool to get that first one handed in. I have another paper due Tuesday that is already written, and then I have this 20 page paper due next Thursday. It's about worldview and spiritual disciplines and counseling and what we've talked about in class. This is part of the reason for my brain mushiness - it's not an easy paper to write, but it's also a fun challenge. After that paper is done, I have another paper and a project due the following week. But this should be the hardest one to write.

*Another reason for my brain mush is that I went to counseling this afternoon. My counselor is awesome - I love her! But sometimes I feel like I need counseling after counseling so that I can process what I just processed. Hahaha...try to figure that one out! Perhaps I'll just stop thinking for a bit and eat some chocolate. :)

*My Braves made the playoffs!! This is cause for much celebration and rejoicing!!!! I mean, in the grand scheme of life I realize that there are far more important things happening in the world than baseball. But I think it's okay to love it. I think God might be a fan Himself. And can you imagine the baseball games we could have in heaven??? Seriously though, I'm excited about the playoffs beginning tomorrow night. I love my team. I think they have a great story. It's cool that they're sending their manager out on a winning note. We might get killed in the playoffs, but it's still been a fun year. And I love this picture from the other night when they clinched...

*My cat is insane. She makes me smile. I caught her saying her nightly prayers the other night before she went to sleep. I wonder what she was praying for?? :)

*Finally, I shall close my blog with a picture I took on my last visit to the Great White North as a shout-out to all my Boston peeps. I miss you guys! And I miss the glorious scenery from the fall. The weather is finally starting to cool off here, and it's awesome outside right now.

Have a great week everyone! I'm off to work on my paper some more....and to eat some of that chocolate! :)

Sunday Update

Hi everyone! I'm taking a quick reading break to bring you this bloggy update. I don't have much time, so here goes the random updates of life here....

*I finished my first grad school paper today!!! :) I am quite excited about this! I actually have 4 papers and one project due in the next 4 weeks, but let's not think about that right now and ruin the excitement over finishing the first one.

*I actually never ever thought I'd go back to school. Ever. There wasn't anything I was interested in enough to do the school thing again of studying and writing papers. Never say never though. Now that I am back in school, it's really cool to see how awesome it is to study something you are passionate about doing. And I've been reminded how much I like being challenged and learning new things. I LOVE SCHOOL! :)

*The Braves are killing me. The postseason was ours for the taking. And we still have a shot. But if we don't start playing better and win some games, the playoffs will not be ours to experience. 7 more days. C'mon guys!

*I am really tired. It's quite difficult to either be working, sitting in class, or reading/writing. I literally don't have much time for anything else. I'm trying to do one fun thing a week to make sure I keep life balanced. Pray for me though because I don't have any days where I can just relax and do nothing. Pray for amazing energy and strength to make it during this season of life and that I will enjoy each minute of it!

*I am making chili for dinner tonight. I know some of you are actually experiencing fall like weather and temperatures now. We are not - it's really hot here still. But since it's about to be October, I'm pretending like it's fall-like outside and will enjoy my chili immensely!

*Praise Jesus for the invention of ice cream and chocolate. :)

Love you all - have a great week!

The Power Of The Tongue

Happy Sunday everyone! I have SOOOO much work to do for school, but I thought I'd post a blog anyway because I have thoughts to share and it's Sunday and an update is kind of needed. So a really fast update before I get to the point of this blog....

*I LOVE school!! I've had 2 weeks of class now, and I'm so excited at the thought of continuing to go and really start getting into the depth and practice of counseling. It's cool to see even from the very beginning how God is going to use school to continue His refining and healing process in me. I'm starting to get to know some people, and I'm just truly thankful for the opportunity to do this and to see how God continues to affirm that this is what He created me for. Yay for school!!!!

*My mom is coming in town Tuesday night for a brief September visit, with the whole purpose of her trip being theme park visitation. She, Nikki and I have wanted to go to Universal and see all of the new Harry Potter stuff since it opened, but it's been ridiculously hot and crowded and we decided to wait until September to go after all of the tourists left. (As an aside, if you ever want to visit Disney and want to know a great time to come, the first two weeks after the week of Labor Day are perfect. NO lines, no long waiting - just how it should be!) On Wednesday, we shall be spending the day at Universal and on Thursday, we'll be at Disney. Fun times to be had!

*The Braves are currently tied for first place! And it's Sept. 12th! It's been a few years since we were in this position, and it's so much fun to be a part of. Nerve wracking, but fun. I feel like I need to apologize to my professor though - at random times in class, I try to check my phone for score updates, or people text me updates. I'm careful to not be distracting, but let's be honest people. We're in the middle of a pennant race. Class or no class, I'm cheering them on! :)

Anyway, on to the tongue. At church, we are going through the book of James. It's been an awesome series. It's one of my favorite books of the Bible and so challenging. Today we discussed the passage on the tongue and how damaging - or healing - our tongue can be. It was very convicting and a great reminder of the power we yield with our words. At the end of the service, the pastor challenged everyone to confess to God what needed confessing regarding our tongue and to ask forgiveness from a spouse or parent or child or whatever if they were there with you and had been hurt by something you'd said.

From where I was sitting, I had a perfect view of an older couple, at least in their 60's, standing together. As the music played, the husband leaned down to his wife (he was much taller) and whispered something in her ear. You could see her whole body respond to what he said as she just sort of softened. Then she pulled him down so she could speak in his ear. They took turns doing this a few times and then pulled away and looked at each other in the eyes. I couldn't see the man's face, but I could see the wife's face, and the genuine love and affection she had was beautiful. I was literally standing there with tears in my eyes as I watched this expression of love and the power of forgiveness and grace.

Enough time has gone by now and God has done such miraculous healing in my own life that there aren't many things anymore that prick my heart in a big way regarding my own journey and situation, but today was one of them. As I watched this couple relate, I realized I had never had the opportunity to do that. I never got to experience how to disagree or have good conflict or how to move forward from those times deeper in love. I've certainly gotten to learn how to forgive, but it's been without the person being present, which is a different experience.

So for all of you who are married - and even if you're not, we're all in relationship with others - I'd encourage you to love well. It is a privilege to be able to speak life into another person. Guard your words carefully. We all have the power to bring life or to bring death to another person. It's a weighty responsibility to carry.

I think about this as I am preparing to enter into a healing profession myself. I have a great responsibility and privilege to walk with others through often very dark times in their lives. I pray that I will speak life to them and very carefully guard my tongue. I'd ask for your prayers as well, even in these beginning stages of school, that God will continue to give me eyes to see others as He sees them.... That He will continue to expose my prejudices and deal with them.... That I will love and love well, and that He will speak words of truth and life through me so that I may speak hope and healing into the lives of those He entrusts into my care....both professionally and personally. May we all reflect Christ to the world around us, especially in the words that we use. Have a great week!

The Cat & The Lizard

There once was a very cute cat named Ellie. She meowed a lot, ate food, and liked drinking cold water the best. Ellie loved people, especially her Mommy. She slept with her Mommy every night and at the first light of day, she felt it her responsibility to make sure that she woke her Mommy up with loudly meowed greetings. And as if this wasn't enough, there came a day when an enemy approached her home in the form of a great and scary lizard. Ellie wanted to protect her mother and her own safe home so it seemed only natural in her mind to attack the terrible lizard with great ferocity and strength. Only one problem stood in the way......the window.

This window stood between her and the lizard, and no matter how hard Ellie tried, she could not get to the lizard. He knew this and it made him brazen, taunting her with his many tricks. Ellie believed that perseverance was key, so she kept trying every day to get to him. She rattled the blinds, she tried to go through the window, she meowed.....all very early in the morning. And just in case the lizard might make an appearance, she checked the window EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Early in the morning. Rattling the blinds. Standing on her tiptoes to look out the window. Meowing.

Unfortunately, this is the closest she will ever get to the lizard (the brown thing she is leaning over would be her Mommy's bed)...

And if the lizard does not soon find a new home to torture, Ellie's Mommy may have to find a way to destroy the lizard so she can get more sleep. Or the cat's life may be in grave danger if this continues.

The End.